What does DeepSeek web search cost per request?
Answer: DeepSeek charges $0.75 per 1,000 successful Search API requests and $0.75 per 1,000 successful Fetch API requests, i.e. $0.00075 per request. Billing is per successful request, not per token or per result returned. Server-side tool calls through DeepSeek Harness, Claude Code and Codex were free until 00:00 Beijing time on 2026-11-01 (2026-10-31 16:00 UTC, 12:00 PM ET). Source: DeepSeek pricing page, checked 2026-10-31.
- Search API: $0.75 / 1,000 successful requests
- Fetch API: $0.75 / 1,000 successful requests
- Billing start: 2026-10-31 16:00 UTC (00:00 Beijing, 2026-11-01)
- Not billed: failures, empty results, timeouts
- Rate limits: Search 100 QPS, Fetch 25 QPS per account
The per-1,000 math
| Successful requests / month | Search only | Search + Fetch (same count each) |
|---|---|---|
| 1,000 | $0.7500 | $1.50 |
| 10,000 | $7.50 | $15.00 |
| 100,000 | $75.00 | $150.00 |
| 1,000,000 | $750.00 | $1,500.00 |
Why an agent bill can jump
Tokens got cheap; requests did not. A short RAG answer on deepseek-flash (12K input / 700 output tokens, no cache) costs $0.00444 in tokens at peak and $0.00222 off-peak. Add 1 search + 2 fetches and the tool fees are $0.00225, about 51% on top of the peak token cost and 101% of the off-peak token cost.
| Workload (per month) | Tool requests | Tool fees |
|---|---|---|
| 10,000 agent tasks × (1 search + 2 fetches) | 30,000 | $22.50 |
| 1,000 coding sessions × 40 server-side tool calls | 40,000 | $30.00 |
| 100,000 RAG answers × 1 search | 100,000 | $75.00 |
Example workloads are illustrations, not measurements. Plug in your own request count in the calculator (the “Search/Fetch requests / month” input; the 79% off-peak share is the share of weekly hours outside DeepSeek’s peak windows).
Billing rules, quoted
- “Search and Fetch are billed per successful request, not by tokens or by the number of returned results.”
- “Failed requests, empty search results, and timeouts are not billed.”
count“does not affect the per-request price.” - Through DeepSeek Harness, Claude Code or Codex, “server-side tool calls already hit the Search and Fetch APIs … per-request billing starts at 00:00 Beijing time on November 1, 2026.”
- Token rates: off-peak is half of peak; peak is 01:00-04:00 and 06:00-10:00 UTC, Monday-Friday (excluding Chinese public holidays).
Questions
What does DeepSeek web search cost per request?
DeepSeek charges $0.75 per 1,000 successful Search API requests and $0.75 per 1,000 successful Fetch API requests, i.e. $0.00075 per request. Billing is per successful request, not per token or per result returned. Server-side tool calls through DeepSeek Harness, Claude Code and Codex were free until 00:00 Beijing time on 2026-11-01 (2026-10-31 16:00 UTC, 12:00 PM ET). Source: DeepSeek pricing page, checked 2026-10-31.
Which DeepSeek tool requests are billed?
Only requests that return HTTP 200 with a result: Search must return a non-empty results array and Fetch must return page content. Failed requests, empty search results and timeouts are not billed, and the count parameter (1-50 results) does not change the per-request price. Source: DeepSeek Search & Fetch guide, checked 2026-10-31.
When did DeepSeek start charging for Search and Fetch?
At 00:00 Beijing time on 2026-11-01, which is 16:00 UTC (12:00 PM ET) on 2026-10-31. Before that, server-side tool calls via DeepSeek Harness, Claude Code and Codex were free.
How much do 100,000 DeepSeek searches cost?
100,000 successful Search requests cost $75.00. 1,000,000 cost $750.00. Fetch is billed at the same rate, separately.
Do DeepSeek off-peak discounts apply to Search and Fetch?
DeepSeek’s pricing page lists one flat Search/Fetch price; its “off-peak rates are half of the peak rates” note is attached to the token price table. We model tool fees at the flat rate at all hours.
Sources (read 2026-10-31): DeepSeek Models & Pricing · DeepSeek Search & Fetch guide. Model pages: deepseek-flash (V4.1 Flash) · deepseek-v4-pro. List prices before taxes; DeepSeek “reserves the right to adjust them”.
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