DeepSeek free plans: access, quotas, supported features, and key differences from paid tiers
- Graziano Stefanelli
- 1 hour ago
- 3 min read
DeepSeek offers a robust free tier for individual users, students, and developers who want to experiment with its large language models for research, prototyping, and educational purposes.
The free plan covers model access, API usage, file uploads, and open-source downloads, with clear quotas and limits set for non-commercial use.
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The free plan provides direct access to DeepSeek models for chat, API, and research.
Users who register with DeepSeek can access major models such as DeepSeek-V3.2-Exp, DeepSeek-V3, and DeepSeek-R1 through both the web playground and the API.
Open-source weights and inference code are available for local experimentation, with no cloud quota when running models on personal hardware.
A free API key is issued upon sign-up, enabling immediate development and integration within the provided monthly quota.
Free accounts are restricted to personal, academic, or non-commercial projects, with stricter controls on commercial deployment.
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DeepSeek free plan: core features
Feature | Free plan | Notes |
Model access | Yes | V3.2-Exp, V3, R1, and others |
API usage | Yes (with quota) | Token and rate limits apply |
Web chat/playground | Yes | Full-featured, file upload allowed |
Open-source download | Yes | No quota when running locally |
File upload | Yes (limits apply) | PDF, DOCX, TXT, max 10 MB per file |
Community support | Yes | Forums, Discord, GitHub |
Commercial use | No | Requires upgrade to paid plan |
Fine-tuning | Not free | Available for enterprise/paid users |
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Free quota and usage limits are set to balance open research with platform stability.
The DeepSeek free tier allocates a set monthly token allowance, generally between one and three million tokens depending on model and application.
API requests are rate-limited, typically allowing 10–30 requests per minute, with a cap on concurrent jobs per account.
File uploads are allowed in the web playground and via API, subject to limits on file size (usually up to 10 MB) and the number of uploads per session.
Local inference using downloaded weights is unlimited for research, but hosted cloud APIs enforce quotas to ensure fair use.
If higher or commercial usage is required, users can upgrade to paid tiers or request enterprise access.
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Free plan usage limits
Metric | Limit |
Tokens per month | 1,000,000–3,000,000 |
Requests per minute | 10–30 |
Concurrent requests | 1–3 |
File upload per session | 1–3 files (max 10 MB) |
Open-source download | Unlimited (local use) |
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Key differences between the free plan and paid (Pro/Enterprise) tiers
The paid tiers are designed for organizations and developers with advanced or commercial needs.
Paid plans offer significantly higher quotas, priority support, access to advanced features (like fine-tuning), and permission for commercial deployment.
The free tier remains ideal for students, researchers, and open-source contributors who want to experiment, prototype, or build on top of DeepSeek’s models without immediate cost.
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DeepSeek free vs paid plan comparison
Feature | Free plan | Paid plan |
Token quota | 1–3M/month | 10M+/month, custom options |
Rate limits | Moderate | Higher or negotiable |
Commercial use | Not allowed | Permitted |
Priority support | No | Yes, with SLA |
Fine-tuning | Not included | Included or available |
All models | Yes | Yes |
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Getting started with DeepSeek’s free plans
To access DeepSeek’s free tier, users need to register with a valid email or GitHub account, request an API key for online access, or download model weights for local deployment.
After sign-up, users can immediately access the web playground, upload files, and start building API-based applications within their quota.
Community support is available through official forums and GitHub repositories.
To move beyond the free tier—such as for production applications or high-volume research—users can request pricing for Pro or Enterprise plans, or apply for academic partnership where available.
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