# DeepSeek Raises V4 Prices — Monetizing the Share It Won on Cheap Tokens

Times of AI Desk · 2026-08-13 · Work

[https://timesof.ai/2026/08/deepseek-v4-api-pricing](https://timesof.ai/2026/08/deepseek-v4-api-pricing)

> DeepSeek will raise API prices for V4-Flash and V4-Pro and introduce peak and off-peak rates — increases Reuters put in a 50% to 1,100% range depending on model, token type, and hour — effective 16:00 UTC on August 16. Peak/off-peak plus a brutal cache-hit reset is how a price winner starts collecting.

DeepSeek’s pitch was **frontier-adjacent tokens at commodity prices**. Peak/off-peak plus a brutal cache-hit reset is how a lab that won share on price starts **monetizing that share** — and how Western buyers who routed batch work through Hangzhou will revisit Gemini 3.7 Flash’s **$0.75/$3.75** intro and Grok 4.6’s **$2/$6**.

**DeepSeek** posted an **API pricing update** for **V4-Flash** and **V4-Pro**, adding **peak / off-peak** rates (off-peak is **half** of peak). **Peak hours**: **01:00–04:00** and **06:00–10:00 UTC**. New prices take effect **16:00 UTC, August 16, 2026** (DeepSeek’s X post and docs). **Reuters** said the new rates run **~50% to ~1,100%** above prior list depending on model, cache hit/miss, and hour. This is a first-party **GTM / pricing** ship — not a new model.

## New list (api-docs.deepseek.com, per 1M tokens)

| | V4-Flash cache hit | V4-Flash cache miss | V4-Flash output | V4-Pro cache hit | V4-Pro cache miss | V4-Pro output |
|--|--------------------|---------------------|-----------------|------------------|-------------------|---------------|
| **Off-peak** | **$0.007** | **$0.22** | **$0.66** | **$0.022** | **$0.66** | **$1.98** |
| **Peak** | **$0.014** | **$0.44** | **$1.32** | **$0.044** | **$1.32** | **$3.96** |

Prior vendor list commonly cited before the change: Flash **$0.0028 / $0.14 / $0.28** (hit / miss / out); Pro **$0.003625 / $0.435 / $0.87**. Cache-hit Pro is the steepest step (**+$507% / +1,114%** off-peak / peak vs the old $0.003625). Concurrency caps on the new card: Flash **2,500**, Pro **500**. Reuters dated the company statement **August 13** and in one wire converted the effective instant to **August 17** local; the **primary clock** is DeepSeek’s **16:00 UTC, Aug 16**.

## Limits

- Whether off-peak still undercuts everyone after FX is open.
- Whether OpenRouter mirrors the new vendor list is unsettled.
- Reuters range is secondary aggregation across model × cache × hour.

## Sources

- [DeepSeek API docs: Models & Pricing](https://api-docs.deepseek.com/quick_start/pricing)
- [DeepSeek on X: API pricing update, effective 16:00 UTC Aug 16, 2026](https://x.com/deepseek_ai/status/2087864589895798968)
- [Reuters: DeepSeek raises API pricing for its V4 models (August 13, 2026)](https://www.reuters.com/world/china/deepseek-raises-api-pricing-its-v4-models-2026-08-13/)