--- title: DeepSeek made its name with cheap AI models. Now it’s... description: DeepSeek has launched two new APIs, Search and Fetch, exposing its internally developed search engine to outside developers for retrieving live web search... canonical: https://daily.dev/posts/deepseek-made-its-name-with-cheap-ai-models-now-it-s-undercutting-search-api-rivals-too--bjlcsh5n2 twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:site: @dailydotdev og:type: website og:site_name: daily.dev og:title: DeepSeek made its name with cheap AI models. Now it’s undercutting search API rivals, too. | daily.dev og:description: DeepSeek has launched two new APIs, Search and Fetch, exposing its internally developed search engine to outside developers for retrieving live web search... og:url: https://daily.dev/posts/deepseek-made-its-name-with-cheap-ai-models-now-it-s-undercutting-search-api-rivals-too--bjlcsh5n2 og:image: https://api.daily.dev/og/posts/bjlCSh5N2.png og:image:alt: DeepSeek made its name with cheap AI models. Now it’s undercutting search API rivals, too. og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 630 og:locale: en --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # DeepSeek made its name with cheap AI models. Now it’s undercutting search API rivals, too. **[The New Stack](https://daily.dev/sources/newstack)** · 8 min read · 3 upvotes · 0 comments ## Summary DeepSeek has launched two new APIs, Search and Fetch, exposing its internally developed search engine to outside developers for retrieving live web search results and webpage content. Both are priced at $0.75 per 1,000 successful requests and can be used independently of DeepSeek's AI models. The launch coincided with a minor update, DeepSeek-V4.1-Flash-1017. DeepSeek's search engine reportedly handles hundreds of millions of requests daily and indexes hundreds of billions of webpages, built after years of relying on third-party providers like Bocha and Bing. Pricing undercuts Parallel and Perplexity ($1/1,000) and is far cheaper than Exa ($4/1,000), Brave ($5/1,000), and Tavily ($8/1,000), though Ceramic.ai is cheaper at $0.25/1,000. Requests are capped at five per second per account, and charges are temporarily waived for calls through DeepSeek Harness, Claude Code, and Codex until October 31. Developer reaction has been mixed, with some questioning the need for paid APIs given free alternatives like SearXNG, and others raising concerns about data retention under DeepSeek's China-based privacy policy. ## Full article daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: ## Questions this post answers ### How much does DeepSeek charge for its new Search and Fetch APIs? DeepSeek charges $0.75 per 1,000 successful requests for both its Search and Fetch APIs, usable independently of its AI models. Requests are capped at five per second per account, and DeepSeek only bills for calls that return results, so failed calls, empty searches, and timeouts are free. Individual searches can return up to 50 results without increasing the price. _daily.dev helps developers comparing search API pricing keep tabs on moves like DeepSeek's._ ### How does DeepSeek's search API pricing compare to Perplexity, Exa, and Brave? DeepSeek's $0.75 per 1,000 successful searches undercuts Parallel's Turbo and Fast search services and Perplexity's Fast Search API, both at $1 per 1,000 searches, as well as Exa at $4 per 1,000 Instant Search requests and Brave at $5 per 1,000 searches. Tavily charges $8 per 1,000 basic searches. Ceramic.ai is still cheaper, at $0.25 per 1,000 queries. _teams picking a search provider for AI agents can track pricing shifts like this on daily.dev._ ### Is DeepSeek currently waiving charges for search API calls made through coding agents like Claude Code or Codex? Yes, DeepSeek is temporarily waiving Search and Fetch charges for server-side tool calls made through DeepSeek Harness, Claude Code, and Codex when using its API. That arrangement ends on October 31, after which standard per-request charges apply. Direct calls to the standalone Search and Fetch APIs outside those agents are already billable. _developers wiring coding agents to live web search can follow pricing changes like this on daily.dev._ ## Similar posts on daily.dev - [DeepSeek made its 75% discount permanent. The AI price war just escalated.](https://daily.dev/posts/deepseek-made-its-75-discount-permanent-the-ai-price-war-just-escalated--xkptsmavk) · The Next Web · 4 upvotes · 0 comments - [Models & Pricing](https://daily.dev/posts/models-pricing-6vw4gyejf) · Hacker News · 2 upvotes · 0 comments --- Tags: [#llm](https://daily.dev/tags/llm), [#ai-agents](https://daily.dev/tags/ai-agents), [#deepseek](https://daily.dev/tags/deepseek) [View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/deepseek-made-its-name-with-cheap-ai-models-now-it-s-undercutting-search-api-rivals-too--bjlcsh5n2) ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/dailydotdev","https://github.com/dailydotdev","https://www.linkedin.com/company/daily-dev-ltd"]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://daily.dev/#website","url":"https://daily.dev","name":"daily.dev","publisher":{"@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization"},"potentialAction":{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https://daily.dev/search?q={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"TechArticle","headline":"DeepSeek made its name with cheap AI models. 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Individual searches can return up to 50 results without increasing the price. daily.dev helps developers comparing search API pricing keep tabs on moves like DeepSeek's."}},{"@type":"Question","name":"How does DeepSeek's search API pricing compare to Perplexity, Exa, and Brave?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"DeepSeek's $0.75 per 1,000 successful searches undercuts Parallel's Turbo and Fast search services and Perplexity's Fast Search API, both at $1 per 1,000 searches, as well as Exa at $4 per 1,000 Instant Search requests and Brave at $5 per 1,000 searches. Tavily charges $8 per 1,000 basic searches. 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