DeepInfra vs DeepSeek
A comparison of DeepInfra and DeepSeek built from values read directly from each provider's own documentation, with the source recorded against every figure.
The short answer
- Pick DeepInfra if
- Running open-weight models at the lowest published per-token rates here — DeepSeek-V4-Flash at $0.06 per million input is a fraction of what the lab itself charges — with dedicated H100s at $2.20 an hour if throughput demands it.
- Pick DeepSeek if
- Batch-shaped work that can run outside weekday mornings UTC, where off-peak halves an already low rate and a cache hit costs about 3% of a cache miss.
5 sourced criteria separate them:
- Pricing model
- DeepInfra: Two products on one bill: per-token serverless inference with a separate cached-input rate for each model, and dedicated GPUs billed per minute and invoiced weekly. Models without per-token pricing are billed for inference execution time instead.
- DeepSeek: Per million tokens, with every rate doubling at peak: off-peak is half price, and peak is 01:00–04:00 and 06:00–10:00 UTC on weekdays. Cache hits are priced roughly 30x below cache misses.
- Input price, top model
- DeepInfra: $1.30 per million input tokens for DeepSeek-V4-Pro, the most expensive model in its catalogue. Cached input is $0.10.
- DeepSeek: $1.32 per million input tokens for deepseek-v4-pro at peak on a cache miss, halving to $0.66 off-peak. A cache hit is $0.044 peak.
- Output price, top model
- DeepInfra: $2.60 per million output tokens for DeepSeek-V4-Pro.
- DeepSeek: $3.96 per million output tokens for deepseek-v4-pro at peak, $1.98 off-peak.
- Input price, cheapest model
- DeepInfra: $0.06 per million input tokens for DeepSeek-V4-Flash-0731, with cached input at $0.015 and output at $0.18. DeepSeek itself charges $0.44 at peak for the same checkpoint and Fireworks $0.22.
- DeepSeek: $0.44 per million input tokens for deepseek-v4-flash at peak on a cache miss, $0.22 off-peak, with output at $1.32 peak.
- Context window
- DeepInfra: 1024k tokens on the DeepSeek V4 models it serves; 160k on the V3 generation. The window is the model's rather than a platform limit.
- DeepSeek: 1M tokens on every model in the current line.
Pick the criteria you care about. The chart counts how many of them lean toward each provider — the same read as scanning the bars below, just totalled for the ones you chose.
DeepInfra 0
DeepSeek 0
At a glance.
| Criterion | DeepInfra | DeepSeek |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | ||
| Pricing model | Two products on one bill: per-token serverless inference with a separate cached-input rate for each model, and dedicated GPUs billed per minute and invoiced weekly. Models without per-token pricing are billed for inference execution time instead. | Per million tokens, with every rate doubling at peak: off-peak is half price, and peak is 01:00–04:00 and 06:00–10:00 UTC on weekdays. Cache hits are priced roughly 30x below cache misses. |
| Inference | ||
| Input price, top model | $1.30 per million input tokens for DeepSeek-V4-Pro, the most expensive model in its catalogue. Cached input is $0.10. | $1.32 per million input tokens for deepseek-v4-pro at peak on a cache miss, halving to $0.66 off-peak. A cache hit is $0.044 peak. |
| Output price, top model | $2.60 per million output tokens for DeepSeek-V4-Pro. | $3.96 per million output tokens for deepseek-v4-pro at peak, $1.98 off-peak. |
| Input price, cheapest model | $0.06 per million input tokens for DeepSeek-V4-Flash-0731, with cached input at $0.015 and output at $0.18. DeepSeek itself charges $0.44 at peak for the same checkpoint and Fireworks $0.22. | $0.44 per million input tokens for deepseek-v4-flash at peak on a cache miss, $0.22 off-peak, with output at $1.32 peak. |
| Context window | 1024k tokens on the DeepSeek V4 models it serves; 160k on the V3 generation. The window is the model's rather than a platform limit. | 1M tokens on every model in the current line. |
| Prompt caching | Supported | Supported |
Where they differ.
Pricing model
- DeepInfra
- Two products on one bill: per-token serverless inference with a separate cached-input rate for each model, and dedicated GPUs billed per minute and invoiced weekly. Models without per-token pricing are billed for inference execution time instead.
- DeepSeek
- Per million tokens, with every rate doubling at peak: off-peak is half price, and peak is 01:00–04:00 and 06:00–10:00 UTC on weekdays. Cache hits are priced roughly 30x below cache misses.
Sources (2) →Sources ↓
- Pricing — DeepInfra ↗
“Some of our langauge models offer per token pricing. Most other models are billed for inference execution time. [...] Billed in minute granularity Invoiced weekly”
Read 2026-09-06 · official pricing
- Models & Pricing — DeepSeek API Docs ↗
“The prices listed below are in units of per 1M tokens. [...] Off-peak rates are half of the peak rates. Peak hours are 01:00 - 04:00 and 06:00 - 10:00 UTC, Monday through Friday (all other hours are off-peak).”
Read 2026-09-06 · official pricing
Input price, top model
- DeepInfra
- $1.30 per million input tokens for DeepSeek-V4-Pro, the most expensive model in its catalogue. Cached input is $0.10.
- DeepSeek
- $1.32 per million input tokens for deepseek-v4-pro at peak on a cache miss, halving to $0.66 off-peak. A cache hit is $0.044 peak.
Sources (2) →Sources ↓
- Pricing — DeepInfra ↗
“DeepSeek-V4-Pro 1024k $1.30 / $0.10 cached $2.60”
Read 2026-09-06 · official pricing
- Models & Pricing — DeepSeek API Docs ↗
“1M INPUT TOKENS (CACHE MISS) OFF-PEAK $0.22 $0.66 $0.22 PEAK $0.44 $1.32 $0.44 [...] 1M INPUT TOKENS (CACHE HIT) OFF-PEAK $0.007 $0.022 $0.007 PEAK $0.014 $0.044 $0.014”
Read 2026-09-06 · official pricing
Output price, top model
- DeepInfra
- $2.60 per million output tokens for DeepSeek-V4-Pro.
- DeepSeek
- $3.96 per million output tokens for deepseek-v4-pro at peak, $1.98 off-peak.
Sources (2) →Sources ↓
- Pricing — DeepInfra ↗
“DeepSeek-V4-Pro 1024k $1.30 / $0.10 cached $2.60”
Read 2026-09-06 · official pricing
- Models & Pricing — DeepSeek API Docs ↗
“1M OUTPUT TOKENS OFF-PEAK $0.66 $1.98 $0.66 PEAK $1.32 $3.96 $1.32”
Read 2026-09-06 · official pricing
Input price, cheapest model
- DeepInfra
- $0.06 per million input tokens for DeepSeek-V4-Flash-0731, with cached input at $0.015 and output at $0.18. DeepSeek itself charges $0.44 at peak for the same checkpoint and Fireworks $0.22.
- DeepSeek
- $0.44 per million input tokens for deepseek-v4-flash at peak on a cache miss, $0.22 off-peak, with output at $1.32 peak.
Sources (2) →Sources ↓
- Pricing — DeepInfra ↗
“DeepSeek-V4-Flash-0731 1024k $0.06 / $0.015 cached $0.18”
Read 2026-09-06 · official pricing
- Models & Pricing — DeepSeek API Docs ↗
“MODEL deepseek-v4-flash [...] 1M INPUT TOKENS (CACHE MISS) OFF-PEAK $0.22 [...] PEAK $0.44 [...] 1M OUTPUT TOKENS [...] PEAK $1.32”
Read 2026-09-06 · official pricing
Context window
1024k tokens on the DeepSeek V4 models it serves; 160k on the V3 generation. The window is the model's rather than a platform limit.
1M tokens on every model in the current line.
Sources (2) →Sources ↓
- Pricing — DeepInfra ↗
“DeepSeek-V4-Pro 1024k [...] DeepSeek-V3.2 160k $0.26 / $0.13 cached $0.38”
Read 2026-09-06 · official pricing
- Models & Pricing — DeepSeek API Docs ↗
“CONTEXT LENGTH 1M”
Read 2026-09-06 · official pricing
When these numbers change, hear about it. Sources are re-checked monthly; a repricing goes out as a short note.
Which should you choose?
Choose DeepInfra if…
Running open-weight models at the lowest published per-token rates here — DeepSeek-V4-Flash at $0.06 per million input is a fraction of what the lab itself charges — with dedicated H100s at $2.20 an hour if throughput demands it.
Editorial · Palash Bagchi · approved
Choose DeepSeek if…
Batch-shaped work that can run outside weekday mornings UTC, where off-peak halves an already low rate and a cache hit costs about 3% of a cache miss.
Editorial · Palash Bagchi · approved
Consider something else if…
- DeepInfra: Only some models carry per-token pricing; the rest bill for inference execution time, which is a different and harder thing to forecast.
- DeepSeek: Capacity is expressed as concurrent requests rather than tokens per minute, which is a different thing to plan against, and the peak window lands on European working hours.
Documented by only one.
These criteria are published by one provider and not the other. An absence here means we have not found a source, not that the feature is missing.
Questions this comparison answers.
Should I choose DeepInfra or DeepSeek?
Pick DeepInfra if Running open-weight models at the lowest published per-token rates here — DeepSeek-V4-Flash at $0.06 per million input is a fraction of what the lab itself charges — with dedicated H100s at $2.20 an hour if throughput demands it.
Pick DeepSeek if Batch-shaped work that can run outside weekday mornings UTC, where off-peak halves an already low rate and a cache hit costs about 3% of a cache miss.