open-weightopen-weight · V4.1 Flash · MIT license
DeepSeek
the thrifty thinker
An economical way to start on reasoning, technical questions and coding help. Low prices let you test a workflow cheaply and save pricier models for the hard cases.
the short version
best forstudents on ₱0, builders testing cheap pipelines, and anyone who just wants good answers to straightforward questions.
skip it ifyou need image generation, voice or tight app integrations.
who it’s best for
1
The student on ₱0
Math, logic and technical questions through a free official app.2
The builder testing cheap pipelines
Input-heavy coding help, document analysis and multi-step tasks where cost decides if it’s viable.3
The straightforward-question person
Good reasoning without a pile of extra tools.what it’s good at
Free official app
Image understanding and a 1M-token context (V4.1 Flash)
Very low prices through some hosts
MIT-licensed weights
watch out for
Cheap doesn’t mean more accurate.
Prices differ a lot from host to host.
Self-hosting needs its custom prompt encoding.
how to get it
freeOfficial DeepSeek app
paidOpenCode Go $10/mo (coding)
API per 1M tokensV4.1 Flash from ~$0.03 in, $0.29–$0.60 out via OpenRouter
whereDeepSeek app, OpenRouter, OpenCode
the quiz picks it first for
any + B · any task, when you want open weights≤$10 · Claude and ChatGPT tasks on $10 or less with technical access, or under $20 with confidential accessB-A · coding → work inside a project ($10 or less)D-D · everyday → straightforward questions ($10 or less)B-B · coding → repeated app tasks ($10 or less)B-D · coding → cheap experimentsB-E · coding → motion graphics and design ($10 or less)B-C · coding → UIs from screenshots ($10 or less)
and as the backup for
A-C · studying → math and logic ($10 or less)