Tokens vs DeepSeek API
DeepSeek's own API sets the list price for its models and halves it off-peak. Tokens adds BDT billing and other providers on the same key.
Buying from DeepSeek directly gets you the maker's list price with nobody in between: V4.1 Flash costs $0.30 / $1.20 per million tokens at peak and half that off-peak (peak is 01:00 to 04:00 and 06:00 to 10:00 UTC on weekdays). You also get DeepSeek's own features, such as FIM completion, chat prefix completion and its Anthropic-format endpoint, and you pay into a prepaid USD balance. Tokens makes sense when DeepSeek is one of several providers you call: the same key also reaches Claude, GPT, Gemini, Kimi, GLM and Qwen, you pay by BDT invoice, and each key can carry a monthly spend cap. If DeepSeek is the only model you use and you can top up in USD, go direct.
Tokens
- Pricing model
- Prepaid plan or USD wallet, paid in BDT; per-model prices in USD and BDT on /models
- Payment methods
- Invoice via billing portal
- Currencies
- USD and BDT
- Model prices
- Live in the model catalog, in BDT and USD
DeepSeek API
- Pricing model
- Prepaid USD balance, charged per token; off-peak rates are half of peak (peak 01:00-04:00 and 06:00-10:00 UTC, Mon-Fri)
- Payment methods
- Prepaid USD balance, topped up on the DeepSeek platform
- Prices checked
- 3 Oct 2026
- DeepSeek V4 Pro, peak (per 1M tokens, in / out)
- $1.32 / $3.96
- DeepSeek V4 Pro, off-peak (per 1M tokens, in / out)
- $0.66 / $1.98
- DeepSeek V4.1 Flash, peak (per 1M tokens, in / out)
- $0.30 / $1.20
- V4.1 Flash cache hit (per 1M tokens, peak / off-peak)
- $0.006 / $0.003
- DeepSeek V4.1 Flash, off-peak (per 1M tokens, in / out)
- $0.15 / $0.60
Side by side
A tick marks the better option for that row. Some rows go to the other side.
| Topic | Tokens | DeepSeek API |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Set per model by Tokens; see /models | The maker's list price, halved outside peak hours |
| Paying from Bangladesh | BDT invoice through the billing portal | Prepaid top-up in USD. International cards fall under Bangladesh Bank FE Circular 26 (2019): USD 300 per online transaction, OTAF each time |
| Providers on one key | DeepSeek plus Claude, GPT, Gemini, Grok, Kimi, GLM, Qwen, MiniMax and others | DeepSeek models only |
| First-party features | Chat Completions, Responses and Anthropic Messages through /v1; no FIM-specific support documented | FIM completion, chat prefix completion, JSON output, Responses and Anthropic formats from DeepSeek itself |
| Network path | One extra gateway hop, with failover to another upstream on errors | Direct to the model maker |
| Spend control | Monthly cap and model allow-list per key; alerts at 50/75/90/100% and on low balance | Spending is bounded by the prepaid balance |
| Agent setup | One command configures OpenCode, Claude Code, Codex CLI and Crush | Set DeepSeek's base URL and key in each agent |
Choose Tokens when
- Pay a BDT invoice instead of topping up in USD with an international card.
- Switch between DeepSeek and Claude, GPT, Kimi or GLM by changing the model name, not the endpoint or key.
- Per-key spend caps and model allow-lists, plus usage and low-balance alerts.
- Receipts and support tickets in one dashboard.
Choose DeepSeek API when
- DeepSeek's list price is the floor. Check /models to see how Tokens prices DeepSeek against the peak and off-peak rates.
- Adds a gateway hop and one more party in the data path (Tokens does not store prompt or response content).
- DeepSeek-specific extras such as FIM are documented for DeepSeek's own API, not for Tokens.
Switch your client
Point the client at Tokens and swap the key. Your code and agent setup stay the same.
bash
# Before: DeepSeek direct # OPENAI_BASE_URL=https://api.deepseek.com/v1, model deepseek-flash # After: Tokens export TOKENS_API_KEY=tok_live_your_key export OPENAI_BASE_URL=https://tokens.bd/v1 export OPENAI_API_KEY=$TOKENS_API_KEY # Model ids use provider/model form, e.g. deepseek/deepseek-v4.1-flash curl -s https://tokens.bd/v1/models -H "Authorization: Bearer $TOKENS_API_KEY"
Other comparisons
- Tokens vsAlibaba Cloud Qwen API (Model Studio)Alibaba Model Studio sets Qwen's list prices, with regional rates and input-length tiers. Tokens bills Qwen in BDT beside other providers.
- Tokens vsAnthropic API (Claude)Anthropic's API has Claude at list price, a half-price Batch API and first-party tools. Tokens puts Claude next to other providers on one BDT-billed key.
- Tokens vsCommand CodeCommand Code is a coding agent sold with credit plans from $1/month. Tokens is a gateway, paid in BDT, for the agents you already use.
- Tokens vsGoogle Gemini APIGoogle's Gemini API has a free tier, Batch at half price and Search grounding. Tokens serves Gemini Flash in OpenAI and Anthropic formats, billed in BDT.
- Tokens vsMoonshot Kimi APIMoonshot sells Kimi K3 and K2.x at flat prices in OpenAI and Anthropic formats. Tokens adds BDT billing and other providers on the same key.
- Tokens vsOpenAI APIOpenAI's API has GPT at list price with Batch and Flex at half price. Tokens puts GPT beside Claude, Gemini and open models on one key billed in BDT.
- Tokens vsOpenCode ZenZen sells tested coding models at cost plus card fees, and OpenCode Go adds $10 and $40 plans. Tokens bills in BDT with one base URL per API format.
- Tokens vsOpenRouterOpenRouter has the larger catalog, free models and fine routing controls. Tokens lets you pay in BDT and sets spend caps and model lists per key.
- Tokens vsZ.ai GLM APIZ.ai sells GLM-5.3 and GLM-5.3 Flash at flat list prices, plus a GLM Coding Plan from $18/month. Tokens bills GLM in BDT beside other providers.