u/untracked5465 — reddlx

DeepSeek V4 Flash Cache Read on GOAT plan seems higher than the table. Am I calculating this wrong?

TL;DR – Used 86.4M tokens on DeepSeek V4 Flash (GOAT plan).
• Cache Read official: $0.007/M → real: ~$0.0107/M (+53%)
• Input + Output: match the table perfectly
• Expected cost: $1.65 → Actual bill: $1.97 ($0.31 difference)
• Is anyone else seeing this?

I recently subscribed to Command Code's GOAT plan. I used DeepSeek V4 Flash over two days and noticed what looks like a discrepancy between the official pricing table and my actual bill, though I fully admit I might be missing something.

Usage over 2 days:

Concept	17 Aug	18 Aug	Total 2 days
Cache Read	40.2M	42.9M	83.1M
Input (uncached)	1.5M	1.0M	2.5M
Output	489.8K	297.6K	787.4K (0.7874M)
Total	42.2M	44.2M	86.4M

According to the official GOAT pricing table for DeepSeek V4 Flash:

Input: $0.22/M
Output: $0.66/M
Cache Read: $0.007/M

The theoretical cost based on the table:

Input: 2.5M × $0.22 = $0.55
Output: 0.7874M × $0.66 = $0.5197
Cache Read: 83.1M × $0.007 = $0.5817
Total expected = $1.65

But my actual bill on the platform shows $1.97 for DeepSeek V4 Flash (+ $0.01 for web_search).

That's a $0.31 difference.

The numbers:

Day	Cache Read (M)	Real cost	Input+Output (table)	Remainder for Cache	Real price/M
17	40.2	$1.09	$0.6533	$0.4367	$0.01086
18	42.9	$0.87	$0.4164	$0.4536	$0.01057
Avg	83.1	$1.96	$1.0697	$0.8903	~$0.0107

If Input and Output are charged exactly as the table says (which they are, they match perfectly), the implied price for Cache Read is ~$0.0107/M, noticeably higher than the advertised $0.007/M (about 53% more).

Summary:

Official table	Real cost	Difference
Day 17	$0.9347	$1.09
Day 18	$0.7167	$0.87
Total	$1.6514	$1.96

I'm not sure if this is a documentation error, or any fee fee on GOAT plan that isn't listed on the /docs/plans/goat page. Input and output prices are spot on, but cache reads appear to be billed at a different rate.

That said, I fully acknowledge that I might be misreading the usage dashboard, misapplying the pricing tiers, or overlooking a detail in the fine print. If anyone can spot an error in my math or point out something I've missed, I'd really appreciate the correction!

u/untracked5465 — 1 day ago

▲ 5 r/DeepSeek

Can I pay for DeepSeek API with Alipay from Europe? And is it cheaper than paying in USD?

Hey everyone,

Has anyone from Europe actually managed to pay with Alipay without having a Chinese bank account or a +86 phone number?

I've read conflicting reports:

· Some say API registration requires a Chinese number (+86) and an Alipay/WeChat account linked to a Chinese bank. · Others say if you register with an email (not a phone number), the payment gateway still lets you use Alipay. · I've also seen that available payment methods vary by region.

I've read that paying with Alipay in RMB is way cheaper than paying in USD via Mastercard or PayPal.

From what I understand, if you top up the equivalent of $10 using Alipay, you pay exactly 10 RMB (about €1.30). But if you pay those same $10 with Mastercard, you get hit with the currency exchange (roughly 72 RMB at market rate) plus VAT / extra taxes – so your final cost could easily exceed 72 RMB (around €9-10). That's almost 7 times more expensive.

Can anyone confirm if this is true? Is the RMB top‑up really 1:1 (i.e., $1 = 1 RMB)? Or am I misunderstanding the conversion? Because if that's accurate, the difference is massive.

Edit: I was thinking about token cost, not exchange rate.

If anyone has recent experience (2026) paying for the DeepSeek API from outside China, I'd really appreciate hearing how you did it and what it actually cost you in EUR.

Thanks in advance!

Edit:

The 6% VAT is the biggest factor, paying in CNY skips it entirely.

For the Pro model, DeepSeek's USD conversion ($0.145/CNY) is worse than the real market rate, making USD even more expensive. If you use Wise to pay, charges only 0.47% for conversion, while most banks charge 1.5–3% on foreign transactions.

If you can top up via Alipay, do it. It's significantly cheaper. Only pay in USD if you have no other choice.

More info:

DeepSeek lists different base prices:

Model Input (cache miss) Output

v4-Flash 1 CNY / $0.14 2 CNY / $0.28 v4-Pro 3 CNY / $0.435 6 CNY / $0.87

For v4-Pro, 1 CNY maps to ~$0.145 – a worse conversion than Flash.

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u/untracked5465 — 18 days ago

▲ 98 r/DeepSeek

Really impressed with Deepseek

I'm really surprised by Deepseek.

I'm a Claude Code user (the $20 plan), and I hit the limits very quickly, both the 5-hour window and the weekly one.

I've been trying Minimax M3, practically unlimited in the Max version ($50), but I wasn't very satisfied with the results, a bit slow and going around in circles over and over again. On several occasions I had to stop it, launch Opus, and continue because the model didn't know what it was doing or got confused.

Then I tried Kimi K3... What a disappointment. It burns through tokens like the forges of Mordor, and the results didn't convince me.

Then, click, I tried Deepseek, put $40 into the API, used Deepseek Flash and the Pro, what a blast, really really good results. I tested it with Reasonix, incredible how well it works. Pleasantly surprised. And the cost is ridiculously low.

I'll very likely cancel Minimax, and I'll stick with Claude for planning, Deepseek for implementing, and Claude again for reviewing.

Very surprised with Deepseek.

reddit.com

u/untracked5465 — 20 days ago

▲ 3 r/MiniMax_AI

What tool do you use for MiniMax?

Currently using OpenCode with MiniMax M3 for coding tasks. Wanted to ask the community what everyone else is using. I also have Claude Code (paying the 20$/month).

How's your experience been with OpenCode vs other options like Claude Code or Pi?

Thank you guys!

reddit.com

u/untracked5465 — 1 month ago