# DeepSeek Opens Its App's Search, Files and Voice to API Developers, With Per-Call Fees

Mohit Tyagi · 2026-11-14 · Products

[https://timesof.ai/2026/11/deepseek-api-app-stack-web-search-files-voice-tool-fees](https://timesof.ai/2026/11/deepseek-api-app-stack-web-search-files-voice-tool-fees)

> DeepSeek said on November 13 that the capabilities behind the DeepSeek app are now available through its API: web search with citations, search during multi-step reasoning, file input, link reading, a safety-check parameter and standalone OCR, speech-recognition and text-to-speech APIs. Its V4.1-Flash model supports them across Messages, Responses and Chat Completions, with tool calls and context assembly handled on DeepSeek's servers. Tool use is billed on top of tokens; DeepSeek's English price list puts search and web fetch at $0.75 per 1,000 calls. The Paper reports that developers offering public services must turn the safety check on.

DeepSeek is now selling the parts of its chatbot that are not the model. On **November 13** it opened the capabilities behind the DeepSeek app to API developers, so that, in its words, "the capabilities behind the DeepSeek App are now available through the DeepSeek API." The pitch is less work for developers, and the price is that more of each application runs on DeepSeek's servers and its bill.

## What shipped

DeepSeek's **V4.1-Flash** model (`deepseek-flash`) now supports the new features across the Messages, Responses and Chat Completions interfaces, "with tool calls and context assembly handled server-side," the company said on X. According to The Paper, which described the release in detail, the features are:

- **Web search**, with cited answers, in non-thinking mode, and search with link reading during multi-step reasoning in thinking mode.
- **File input** for PDF, Office documents and images, parsed into the conversation context.
- **Link reading**, which fetches pages a user pastes in.
- A **safety-check parameter** that adds basic review of model inputs and outputs and returns a refusal flag when it detects risk.
- Standalone **OCR**, **speech recognition (ASR)** and **text-to-speech (TTS)** APIs that can be called separately or combined.

DeepSeek said earlier this month that [its Harness agent app had reached 1.54 million daily users](https://timesof.ai/2026/11/deepseek-harness-1-54m-daily-users-92-trillion-tokens); this release hands the plumbing of its own chat app to anyone building a similar product.

## What it costs

Tools are billed on top of token charges. DeepSeek's English price list sets text and image search and web fetch at **$0.75 per 1,000** calls each, file parsing and OCR at **$0.225 per 1,000 pages**, text-to-speech at **$0.45 per 10,000 characters** and speech recognition at **$0.116 per hour of audio**, with the two speech services at half price for a limited time. The Chinese list gives the matching yuan prices, 5 yuan per 1,000 searches.

The safety check comes with obligations. DeepSeek requires developers who offer applications to the public to turn the parameter on, and they remain responsible for content-safety review, model registration and AI labelling, The Paper reported. The Paper's own read is that a one-stop API raises the cost of switching model providers. The release came the same day the FBI said DeepSeek's Flash models dominate usage in attacker-run instances of the ARTEX attack framework, citing their cost and a lack of observable guardrails when requests are framed as penetration testing. DeepSeek did not connect the two announcements.

## Limits

- The feature list relies on DeepSeek's X thread and The Paper's account; we read the price pages directly, but not a full technical changelog.
- DeepSeek published no usage, quality or latency figures for the new tools, and we have seen no independent tests.
- The requirement to enable the safety check for public services is reported by The Paper; we did not find it stated on the English pages we read.

## Sources

- [DeepSeek on X: The full DeepSeek App experience, now via API (November 13, 2026)](https://x.com/deepseek_ai/status/2121247896918253875)
- [DeepSeek on X: Built-in tools. Flexible APIs. (November 13, 2026)](https://x.com/deepseek_ai/status/2121247899699036516)
- [DeepSeek API Docs: Models & Pricing (accessed November 14, 2026)](https://api-docs.deepseek.com/quick_start/pricing)
- [DeepSeek API Docs (Chinese): Models & Pricing (accessed November 14, 2026)](https://api-docs.deepseek.com/zh-cn/quick_start/pricing)
- [The Paper: DeepSeek opens full app-stack API (November 14, 2026)](https://www.thepaper.cn/newsDetail_forward_34470944)
- [FBI FLASH-20261113-001: Threat Overview of ARTEX Autonomous Penetration Testing Framework (November 13, 2026)](https://www.ic3.gov/CSA/2026/261113.pdf)