# DeepSeek now bills Chinese public holidays at off-peak rates

DeepSeek's rate card now excludes Chinese public holidays from its weekday peak window, so those days bill at half the peak rate. Per-token rates are unchanged, and the V4 Pro routing question is still open.

By Neomanex. Updated 2026-10-13.

**Our take:** a small, real saving for anyone who batches DeepSeek work, and nothing more. Chinese public holidays now bill at off-peak rates around the clock, which halves the cost of weekday work in the 01:00-04:00 and 06:00-10:00 UTC windows on those days. Per-token prices did not move, so our verdicts on [DeepSeek V4.1 Flash](/models/deepseek-v4-1-flash) (conditional), [DeepSeek V4 Pro](/models/deepseek-v4-pro) (recommended) and [DeepSeek V4 Flash](/models/deepseek-v4-flash) (recommended) stand.

## What happened

DeepSeek's API rate card now takes Chinese public holidays out of its peak window. The footnote reads: "Peak hours are 01:00 - 04:00 and 06:00 - 10:00 UTC, Monday through Friday, excluding Chinese public holidays. All other hours are off-peak, including weekends and Chinese public holidays in full."

When we read the same footnote on 9 September, it said only "Monday through Friday (all other hours are off-peak)". DeepSeek does not date the change, and the page lists no holiday calendar.

## Why it matters

Off-peak is half the peak rate, and the rates themselves are unchanged:

| Model id | Serves | Input, off-peak / peak (per 1M) | Output, off-peak / peak (per 1M) |
|---|---|---|---|
| deepseek-flash | DeepSeek-V4.1-Flash | $0.15 / $0.30 | $0.60 / $1.20 |
| deepseek-v4-pro | DeepSeek-V4-Pro-0813 (per the rate card) | $0.66 / $1.32 | $1.98 / $3.96 |

On a Chinese public holiday that falls on a weekday, a peak-hour V4 Pro job now costs $1.98 per 1M output tokens instead of $3.96. The legacy deepseek-v4-flash id is still accepted, but the rate card says its requests are served by DeepSeek-V4.1-Flash and billed at the Flash price.

### V4 Pro: three DeepSeek pages, three answers

DeepSeek's own pages still do not agree on what the deepseek-v4-pro id serves after 14 September:

- **Launch post (10 September):** "Starting at 04:00 UTC on Sept 14, 2026, all deepseek-v4-pro requests will route to V4.1-Flash at V4.1-Flash rates." It adds that this "will continue until V4.1-Pro launches."
- **API changelog (entry dated 10 September):** DeepSeek will "continue providing API services for DeepSeek V4 Pro after September 14, 2026, with the billing method remaining unchanged."
- **Rate card (read 23 September):** still lists deepseek-v4-pro as DeepSeek-V4-Pro-0813 at the prices above, but no longer carries the sentence about continuing the service.

We are not picking a side the sources do not support. Our V4 Pro entry keeps its rates and says nothing about routing.

## What changes for you

- If a scheduler shifts DeepSeek work out of the weekday peak window, mark Chinese public holidays as off-peak days.
- Check holiday dates against a calendar you trust: DeepSeek names the rule but lists no dates.
- If you depend on V4 Pro behaviour specifically, confirm which model answers your own requests until DeepSeek publishes one answer.

Canonical: https://neomanex.com/news/deepseek-peak-pricing-excludes-chinese-public-holidays