DeepSeek is an AI assistant from Hangzhou DeepSeek Artificial Intelligence Co., Ltd. It is available on the web and mobile, while developers can access DeepSeek models through an API.
What is DeepSeek?
DeepSeek is the consumer-facing service built around the company’s model family. The chat product helps users ask questions, write, reason through problems, work with code and use current model capabilities without building an application.
The tool should be separated from the DeepSeek model family: the models provide the underlying intelligence, while the web app, mobile apps and API provide different ways to use it.
What can DeepSeek do?
DeepSeek can handle general conversation, writing, reasoning and coding tasks. The official service also supports model features that change as DeepSeek releases new versions. Developers can use the API for applications and workflows, with token-based billing and documented compatibility with common API patterns.
Who is it best for?
The chat service is useful for people who want a free general-purpose assistant, especially for reasoning and coding. The API is aimed at developers who want to integrate DeepSeek models into their own products.
It is not suitable for high-stakes decisions without independent verification. Users should also review the privacy policy before sharing personal, confidential or regulated information.
Pricing and access
DeepSeek provides access to its web chat and mobile apps. API use is billed by tokens rather than a fixed monthly subscription. On September 20, 2026, the official platform listed separate input and output prices for DeepSeek-V4-Flash and DeepSeek-V4-Pro, with lower pricing for cache hits. Because model names and prices can change, the official pricing page is the final reference.
Strengths and limitations
DeepSeek combines a simple chat interface with reasoning and coding capabilities and an API for developers. Official documentation also provides clear technical guidance and usage-based prices.
Its limitations include the possibility of inaccurate output, changing model availability and the need to understand where data is processed and how inputs are handled. The company’s terms explicitly tell users to verify output accuracy before publishing it.
Privacy and data use
DeepSeek’s privacy policy states that it collects account data, prompts, uploaded files, photos, voice input, feedback and chat history when users interact with its services. The policy identifies Hangzhou DeepSeek Artificial Intelligence Co., Ltd. in China as the controller. The Responses API documentation states that API responses are stateless and conversations are not stored by that endpoint.
In short
DeepSeek is a general-purpose AI assistant with a free chat experience and a separately priced developer API. It is particularly relevant for reasoning and coding, but important outputs still require verification and sensitive data should be handled carefully.