Is it a fit for you?
You want a free chat starting point or can define small Chinese-language extraction and coding tasks with clear checks. Developers can separately explore the API, with a spending cap and inspectable outputs.
A task you can try today
A task you can try todayStart small. Keep the useful result.
Everyday task: paste the public descriptions of three products you are comparing. Ask for a table of price, features, unknowns and a source for every claim; forbid filling gaps from memory. Open each cited page yourself. Try one follow-up that changes your budget. Keep any unsupported claim marked unknown rather than buying an API key to make the answer seem more authoritative.
Suggested practice, not a newly observed product trial. Use public or non-sensitive inputs.
The trade-off
The trade-offThe company reported the web/app update; V4.1 tests and the low-bill story in this guide use the API. They do not establish the performance, allowance or reliability of your own chat session. Check the model if your app displays it; otherwise treat it as unknown. Verify search claims against original sources.
Is free enough? When would I pay?
Is free enough? When would I pay?The official assistant has free entry. We have not established a consumer subscription tariff or a fixed free-project allowance. Continue free when it completes your small tasks. Developer API access is a separate usage-billed route, useful for software you intentionally build; do not buy it merely because a chat answer failed or a server was busy.
Read the experiences behind this advice
- Chinese short tasks passed; a money parser did notThird-party small-sample test · Text tests 18 October; visual follow-ups 20–21 October 2026
- A low bill with an important catch: cached inputPublic user self-report · Read 25 October 2026; exact posting date not established
WRS editorial advice, informed by dated reports and current official plans. An API test is not a test of the app subscription.
What you can try
- Ask questions and revise text
- Use the app's documented search and thinking features
- Work with uploaded text where available
Access and cost
The official download page advertises free app use. DeepSeek reported on 17 October that its web and app models had moved to V4.1 Flash 1017. Availability, the model shown in a particular session and account limits may differ; we have not measured the free allowance.
App free entry · Free entry
Free use advertised on the current official download page. Developer API and other services are separate; exact app quotas remain unknown.
Make the choice with your own task
The company reported the web/app update; V4.1 tests and the low-bill story in this guide use the API. They do not establish the performance, allowance or reliability of your own chat session. Check the model if your app displays it; otherwise treat it as unknown. Verify search claims against original sources.
- Open an account and plan you are authorized to use. Look for the feature needed by your task.
- Copy the public example brief, or substitute a small piece of your own non-sensitive work.
- Inspect the output. Record the corrections, any quota encountered, and the price actually shown to you.
- Try an alternative only when there is a concrete unmet need. Keep the useful output and checking method.
Use the same example across products
Original sources
- DeepSeek: current official app and desktop downloads (Chinese)Official product page · Living page · Checked 2026-10-28
- DeepSeek: original app capabilitiesHistorical official app announcement · Published 2025-01-15 · Checked 2026-10-28
- DeepSeek: 17 October 2026 web, app and API updateOfficial provider change log · Published 2026-10-17 · Checked 2026-10-28
Tell us what happened
A useful note names the product and plan, date, task, outcome, human corrections and observed cost or UNKNOWN. Remove private conversation details and credentials.
Send a usage note or correction · Compare the alternatives
Guide edition 2026-10-28.1. Documented capabilities and editorial fit, without a WRS cross-product performance test.