DeepSeek: peak-hour billing now excludes Chinese public holidays
What happened
Between the Sep 14, 2026 and Sep 21, 2026 captures of DeepSeek's pricing page, Pulse recorded one change: peak/off-peak billing window redefined so Chinese public holidays (and weekends) are always billed at off-peak (50% discount) rates, previously holidays fell under normal Mon-Fri peak pricing. In detail: Peak/off-peak billing window redefined: Chinese public holidays are now explicitly off-peak (50% discount), previously they fell under normal Mon-Fri peak-hour pricing. Pulse files it as a packaging change (metric change) with a neutral direction. Pulse's latest capture (Oct 19, 2026) lists DeepSeek Flash at $0.15 per 1M input tokens (cache miss) + $0.3 per 100M input tokens (cache hit) and DeepSeek V4 Pro at $0.66 per 1M input tokens (cache miss) + $2.2 per 100M input tokens (cache hit).
It lands one day after DeepSeek's previous change, "DeepSeek extends 50% off-peak API discount to Chinese public holidays all day" (Sep 20, 2026). Before that Pulse recorded "DeepSeek merges v4-flash and vision-exp into cheaper Flash V4.1" (Sep 14, 2026), "DeepSeek reverses V4 Pro retirement, keeps API billing unchanged past Sept 14" (Sep 12, 2026) and "DeepSeek slashes Flash pricing up to 57%, retires V4 Pro Sept 14" (Sep 11, 2026). DeepSeek has been tracked since 2026-05-16.
In the same window Anthropic, OpenAI, Google, X and Metabase also changed their AI & Machine Learning pricing pages. Those moves are listed further down, and the Pulse Agent can compare them side by side.
- — · Pricing modelMetric change
Peak/off-peak billing window redefined: Chinese public holidays are now explicitly off-peak (50% discount), previously they fell under normal Mon-Fri peak-hour pricing.
| Plan | Field | Before | After | Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| — | Pricing model | Peak/off-peak billing window redefined: Chinese public holidays are now explicitly off-peak (50% discount), previously they fell under normal Mon-Fri peak-hour pricing. | Metric change | |
Values as written on DeepSeek's public pricing page in the two captures Pulse compared; where the page states no number, the cells give the wording before and after.
Evidence
The two captures Pulse comparedFull-page captures of DeepSeek's pricing page (deepseek.com) from Sep 14, 2026 and Sep 21, 2026; the change is marked in the lower part of the page.
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DeepSeek, the last 90 days
Full history- Oct 19, 2026improvedDeepSeek launches Search and Fetch APIs at $0.75 per 1K requests from Nov 1
- Oct 17, 2026packagingDeepSeek launches Search and Fetch APIs at $0.75 per 1,000 requests
- Sep 21, 2026packagingDeepSeek: peak-hour billing now excludes Chinese public holidays · this change
- Sep 20, 2026packagingDeepSeek extends 50% off-peak API discount to Chinese public holidays all day
- Sep 14, 2026packagingDeepSeek merges v4-flash and vision-exp into cheaper Flash V4.1
- Sep 12, 2026packagingDeepSeek reverses V4 Pro retirement, keeps API billing unchanged past Sept 14
- Sep 11, 2026packagingDeepSeek slashes Flash pricing up to 57%, retires V4 Pro Sept 14
- Aug 24, 2026packagingDeepSeek adds vision model, exempts weekends from peak pricing
- Aug 17, 2026increaseDeepSeek: API pricing restructured to peak/off-peak billing, prices roughly double
Across AI & Machine Learning in the same window
All AI & Machine Learning changes- AnthropicSep 21Anthropic boosts context window to 1M across all Claude plans
- OpenAISep 20OpenAI refreshes ChatGPT plan taglines across Free, Go, Plus, Pro
- GoogleSep 7Google Workspace: promo discount cut from 50% to 30%/20% off
- XAug 24X drops grok-4.5, adds Imagine image/video models and free Playground perk
- MetabaseAug 24Metabase quietly reveals Enterprise-only paid air-gapped deployment option
Questions about this change
Did DeepSeek raise prices in September 2026?
No list-price increase was recorded between Sep 14, 2026 and Sep 21, 2026. The change Pulse detected was a packaging change: metric change.
What changed on DeepSeek's pricing page between Sep 14, 2026 and Sep 21, 2026?
Peak/off-peak billing window redefined: Chinese public holidays are now explicitly off-peak (50% discount), previously they fell under normal Mon-Fri peak-hour pricing. Pulse compared the captures it took on Sep 14, 2026 and Sep 21, 2026; the before/after table above lists each item as written on the page.
How often does DeepSeek change its pricing?
Pulse recorded 8 other pricing-page changes for DeepSeek in the 90 days before this one; the previous change was "DeepSeek extends 50% off-peak API discount to Chinese public holidays all day" on Sep 20, 2026; DeepSeek has been tracked since 2026-05-16.