DeepSeek served directly. Among the cheapest live routes anywhere.
Three pinned builds, all on a 1,048,576-token context, priced to be the cheapest available route, not bundled into a mid-tier plan. One OpenAI-compatible endpoint, a free flagship model, and DeepSeek-style automatic prompt caching billed at a fraction of fresh input.
| Model | Input $/1M | Output $/1M | Cached input $/1M | Context |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| deepseek-v4.1-flash | $0.045 | $0.09 | $0.025 | 1.0M |
| deepseek-v4.1-flash-1017 | $0.05 | $0.11 | $0.025 | 1.0M |
| deepseek-v4-flash-0731 | $0.045 | $0.1 | $0.025 | 1.0M |
Prices refreshed from the live model catalog. Machine-readable rates: pricing.md.
Observed market floors, October 2026
The table below compares listed Fikra rates with the cheapest provider floors on major gateways on October 20, 2026. My comparison numbers move as competitors move, so run your own spot check via the quoted source before you commit a workload.
| Model | Fikra in / out | Cheapest observed gateway floor |
|---|---|---|
| deepseek-v4.1-flash-1017 | $0.05 / $0.11 | $0.10 / $0.60 |
| deepseek-v4-flash-0731 | $0.045 / $0.10 | $0.05 / $0.16 |
| deepseek-v4.1-flash | $0.045 / $0.09 | $0.036 / $0.14 |
| fikra-free-deepseek | $0 / $0 | rate-limited free pools elsewhere |
Floors change weekly. Fikra passes most cache savings to you, which the headline price rows on most gateways do not show.
Cached input at $0.025/M.
DeepSeek builds reuse the longest stable prefix of your prompt automatically. Cached tokens bill at $0.025/M against the $0.045-0.05 fresh input rate, which is why code agents, RAG pipelines and long system prompts get the most out of the line: the parts you repeat cost 50% or more less every turn.
No flags to set. Keep your system prompt stable and the cache does the rest. Cached and fresh tokens are itemized separately in your usage logs.
from openai import OpenAI client = OpenAI( base_url="https://api.fikraapi.co.ke/v1", api_key="your_fikra_key" ) response = client.chat.completions.create( model="deepseek-v4.1-flash-1017", messages=[...] )
Which build should I pick?
deepseek-v4.1-flash is the day-to-day flagship of the line: the latest stable schedule. deepseek-v4.1-flash-1017 is the October 17 build with better reasoning, coding and vision numbers and lower task cost. deepseek-v4-flash-0731 is the pinned older build kept for API stability. fikra-free-deepseek is a free evaluation tier.
How is cached input billed?
Cached tokens bill at each model's cached rate (see the table above). Fresh and cached tokens are priced separately and itemized in both the usage response and your billing history.
Do you keep the old builds around?
Yes. The DeepSeek line is served from pinned builds with all three listed as long-term offerings. If a build ever has to retire, it will be announced on the feed with a sunset date rather than pulled.
What can I pay with?
Cards, USDC (x402, on Base) and mobile money. Agents can pay per request over x402 with no signup at all, against the same endpoint. The prepaid wallet top-up starts from $1.
Is there a free way to test?
fikra-free-deepseek is free on every account (30 requests/min, 300 requests/day unpaid), and every new account starts with a $1 signup credit. Your prompt, not ours, budgets the test.
Where does traffic run?
Fikra is operated from Nairobi, Kenya, routed through a hardened upstream grid of verified providers, with documented retention rules at /.well-known/traffic-rules and live usage/uptime at /usage. DeepSeek ZDR handling is available for compliance-sensitive workloads.