US$0: 40 standard-model uses per day on a shared quota across Claude 4.5 Haiku / Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite / GPT-5.4 mini, limited trial of image and video generation, limited trial of ChatPDF, time-limited AI Agent trial, up to 3 logged-in devices (read directly in a browser from the Traditional Chinese monica.im/pricing on 2026-08-09)
Cheapest paid plan: US$8.3 / mo (Annual plan (monthly avg.))
Model name deepseek-flash (DeepSeek-V4.1-Flash, launched 2026-09-10; the legacy names deepseek-v4-flash / deepseek-v4-flash-vision-exp still work, but are served by V4.1-Flash and billed at the Flash price). Per million tokens (off-peak/peak): cache-hit input US$0.003/0.006, cache-miss input US$0.15/0.30, output US$0.60/1.20. Peak hours are 01:00-04:00 and 06:00-10:00 UTC, Monday to Friday (Chinese public holidays excluded); peak prices are 2x off-peak. ⚠️ Price cut in September 2026: on 9/4 we recorded cache-miss input US$0.22 and output US$0.66 (off-peak). Read directly from the api-docs.deepseek.com English and Chinese pricing pages on 2026-09-25.
API - DeepSeek-V4-Pro
API pay-as-you-go (usage-based)
Model version DeepSeek-V4-Pro-0813. Per million tokens (off-peak/peak): cache-hit input US$0.022/0.044, cache-miss input US$0.66/1.32, output US$1.98/3.96 (read directly from the official site on 2026-09-25; prices unchanged). Concurrency limit 500 (Flash: 2500).
Monica
Plan
Price
What you get
Pro
US$8.3 / mo (Annual plan (monthly avg.))
US$99/year billed annually (about US$8.3/month); 5,000 base-model messages + 200 advanced-model messages per month, 1,500 premium credits, 5 devices. The official site doesn't display a monthly-billed list price (2026-08-09 tested: the toggle switch had no effect)
Max
US$16.6 / mo (Annual plan (monthly avg.))
US$199/year billed annually (≈ US$16.6/month), a limited-time 33% off, list price US$299/year; unlimited use of standard + premium models, 4,500 premium credits, 5 devices. Formerly named Unlimited; officially still marked as in beta. Monthly list price not shown on the official site
Ultra
US$82.9 / mo (Annual plan (monthly avg.))
Annual billing US$995/year (≈US$82.9/month), 17% savings with annual billing; unlimited use of standard + advanced models, 20,000 advanced points, 10 devices. The monthly list price is not shown on the official site
Which one should you pick?
Both offer a free plan. Compare paid tiers against your needs.
Neither publishes paid pricing — check whether the free tier covers your needs.
FAQ
Is there a free version of DeepSeek?
Yes. The web version is basically free, but has peak traffic limits.
How much does DeepSeek cost?
The cheapest is the plan from DeepSeek named API - DeepSeek-V4-Flash, at about Official quote (upon inquiry).
Does DeepSeek support Chinese?
DeepSeek offers full Chinese interface support.
Is there a free version of Monica?
Yes. US$0: 40 standard-model uses per day on a shared quota across Claude 4.5 Haiku / Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite / GPT-5.4 mini, limited trial of image and video generation, limited trial of ChatPDF, time-limited AI Agent trial, up to 3 logged-in devices (read directly in a browser from the Traditional Chinese monica.im/pricing on 2026-08-09)
How much does Monica cost?
The cheapest is the plan from Monica named Pro, at about US$8.3 / mo (Annual plan (monthly avg.)).
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