DeepSeek API billing adjustment for weekends flatly charged at low-speed hour prices

The DeepSeek API Open Platform will begin at 00:00 on Sunday, 23 August 2026, to optimize the Peak Valley Billing Rules. After this adjustment, all weekends (on Saturdays and Sundays) will no longer distinguish between peak valley hours and will be charged at a flat rate. The costs incurred prior to the entry into force of the new rules are still settled at the original costing rates. Previously, DeepSeek had issued an API price-fixing, twice the price of the peak period low time, leading to the production of a million tokens at the peak time of Deepseek-v4-pro, with a maximum price of $27. The peak period is Beijing time from 09:00 to 12:00, 14:00 to 1800 hours (the rest is low-lying time). "The Daily Journal of Science"