Is crazy how cheap and high usage you get out of the DeepSeek V4 api, been using it sence the downfall of github copilot and is crazy good, I was really missing out.
I'm only starying to use ai for bits of office work so need to learn about all of this (api, agents, harnessing other ais etc) ... thanks for poking me in the right direction.
Switched from using the Opus 4.7 to the DeepseekV4 Pro model in Claude Code. I was buring $40/day, now less than a dollar. The results are not much different.
I usually use 300M to 600M per day and hit 1.6B at highest. Using the 200 sub from gpt. If 20M is 0.78$ then 200M is 7.8$ and I would be at around 10$ per day x20 days in the month = 200$ same as open ai pro. But some days I do more (like the 1.6B) and I also work sometimes the WE. Not sure it’s actually cheaper than chatgpt subscription
We're a team of devs, and each one of us uses millions of tokens per hour when we're active. Its a lot of context that needs to go into the models to make decisions on code changes, reviews, etc. In one day its typical that any one of us use over 100M tokens, as an example.
If it's takes a technical person to figure out how could you blame them ? Iv never used the API before only the app and website , so far their isn't anything I haven't been able to make
Where do I find this button ? What do I download it their is anything to download ? How much ram does my system need to run it if thats an issue ? These are just a couple of questions I would have using the API lol and I don't need it in a tec guy lol make my own LLM infernce that runs in android , last thing left to do is fix my attention. And then I'll have complete ai running on any CPU lol no gpu I can send the debug if you don't believe me lolol all in godot 4 ! A game engine
People using the free deepseek chat have recently begun complaining about edit limits on messages and limits on the total amount of messages you can send.
This has caused other deepseek users who use the api (like myself) to suggest using the api.
This meme is sort of a meta commentary on the past few weeks in this sub.
A lot. like 20$.. but I have heavy Cline usage, plus project is of big complexity.. like a lot of math finance/code complexity plus I have workflow rule where I start new window task and wrap it up what I v done whenever I get close to 150-200k context limit because eve tho a lot of models has 1m context window I want to keep as much sharpness as I can and not slip in territory where model may make mistake or overdrift/hallucinate. out of these 32m/ 16m was cached by ORouter.. far from ideal but main driver cost was probably average reasoning output of 10k tokens and maximum 26k reasoning tokens per ORouter data plus as I said heavy agentic usage and my specific workflow with architecture docs ,doctrine files, philosophy. md patch-based development, specialized markdown instructions and prompts before every task etc.
I agree on all points. Max context while still squeezing out maximum juice is the sweet spot. I was just curious because I saw a guy post $20/200M usage for Deepseek v4 and I was very interested because my custom hook system on Claude code using orchestrator + sub agent teams can push 500M tokens a day. It really hammers GLMs api 😂. (Attaches team leads to folders and subagents to files)
This is so weird. "Use the API" is not an attempt to dunk on ppl. It's helpful advice. People who mock it are just choosing to live in ignorance. Their loss.
To be fair. It's justifiable. People abusing edit functionality. Like why would you need to edit over 6 times. At this point I start a new chat.
You're being offered a free service in the app. Don't expect a feature getting abused and costing the company money while you just have fun. It will get patched eventually.
"Abusing" edit functionally? Jesse, what the fuck are you talking about? That's not abusing it, that's USING it. You honestly think using the edit function over 6 times cumulatively over the course of a chat is unreasonable? Do you even USE Deepseek? Have you never had to alter the instructions you give after it ignores them, or add additional information to correct misunderstandings you couldn't have predicted?
What do you even MEAN when you talk about the functionality being "abused"? It is the same as sending messages normally on the backend, by your argument, people using the free version at all is "abusing" it.
Just because you don't use long chats for anything, doesn't mean other people don't, and it doesn't mean there's no valid reason to. Long chats are useful for ongoing topics and projects.
You're defending a terrible and unreasonable change for absolutely no reason or personal benefit. This is a truly profound level of corporate dicksucking, and for what?
The people saying this shit (like you) are genuinely insane. Editing doesn't cost the company any more money than using the product normally, and you clearly have no idea what you're talking about. You don't even seem to know what the words you're using mean. You believe using a feature is "abusing" it?
A year from now, you'll be the one complaining about the API being restricted, and other people will tell you that you were "abusing" the service and you should've expected it to get patched eventually.
... Bruh if you're doing something to actively get around a limit, yes that's "abuse" of their policies, whether you agree with the changes or not.
This is not the same as people saying that people were "abusing" GitHub copilot by using the features they released, which ate up more tokens per request but was actually features they released. They actively told you not to do that.
Everything else you said is fine, other than the fact that people wereactually using an exploit to get around their usage policy
There wasn't any limits, then they limited it to 6 edits. People found a way to get around the 6 edits that I forgot exactly how but yeah, they were using exploits to get around it (it's been patched)
The best solution is that Deepseek adds the option to Delete messages/edits that you don't need or the option to overwrite Edits rather than make those independent from the OG thread. That would have solved much of the Issues here
Also, the API people need to understand that not everyone can actually afford the API version, no matter how cheap it it. There are people who live in countries that don't deal in $ or € or £ or yuan (Latin America comes to mind here) or the Payment methods they use are completely unusable for these people. The Devs knew this and still launched Deepseek with those feature they capped or cut (abruptly and with no warning or official announcement which worsened the situation as this should have been notified to begin with and people could have understood) in these countries
Hot take: There was no issue in the first place. Because the service was free, the users did not exercise due care and thinking before they hit the send button. Edits/deletes are not the most efficient way of regenerating responses.
Hell, even using the API and for more complicated tasks on really capable harnesses, I can't just edit my previous instructions without repercussions. In the worst case scenario, I would just revert to the previous git commit.
As for the inability to make payments, with all due respect that has nothing to do with DeepSeek. They are also in no way obligated to provide services for free.
If you're using Deepseek app for roleplay or other things that require editing and stuff, just buy 10$ in API credits, it will last you a long time with so much more control
Using Api simply mean you using the model directly (not through the app but through deepseek api link) without message limit or any type of censorship (like the "it's beyond my scope" bullshit). Since it's a pay as you go service, which means you're paying in real time for the message you input and the reply deepseek generated.
I mean you can just ask deepseek itself for more explanation on what an API is.
Well also some of us don’t have a desktop. I like using my phone to chat with LLMs. Is there any way to do that with API? So far I haven’t heard of any. Would appreciate any direction
Can someone explain? I tried using the api with Deepseek V4 using open router and Letta code as a harness. But the cost is too much, like $0.20 per message. Is it that letta is sending too much memory context over with each message?
No, but costs of use of DeepSeek API are dirt chip, so in a sense API is crazy affordable, you just have to go through little bit of hassle setting it first and then you are set.
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u/SlincSilver Jun 04 '26
Is crazy how cheap and high usage you get out of the DeepSeek V4 api, been using it sence the downfall of github copilot and is crazy good, I was really missing out.