A negotiable agreement
Send us your legal team's amendments. We will work through them before you commit, and we can sign a data processing agreement.
Comparison
Should you just go direct to DeepSeek?
Often, yes — and we would rather say that first than pretend otherwise. Here is the specific case where we are useful, taken from DeepSeek's own documentation.
Start with the honest answer
If you are a small team, or an individual, or a company whose procurement process can accommodate a self-service purchase, then going direct to DeepSeek is likely cheaper and simpler. Their API is good, their pricing is published, and there is no reason to add a party to the transaction.
We exist for the case where that does not work — and it is a specific, documented case, not a sales story.
What DeepSeek says about their own API
These are quotes from DeepSeek's published help center, verified 2026-09-27. We are not characterising them; we are reading them. Each row names the help-center item it comes from so you can check it yourself.
| Their words | What it means for an enterprise buyer |
|---|---|
| The API is provided via a self-service and standardized model Help center: "Do you support signing cooperation agreements?" | There is no account manager. DeepSeek does have a way in — a Cooperation Agreement Application ticket for enterprise vendor onboarding, which they say they will assist with — so this is not a closed door. But it is a form rather than a counterparty, and nothing in the agreement can be changed. For a team that just wants an API key, self-service is a feature. For procurement that needs someone who can agree to terms, it is a dead end. |
| The agreement is a standard framework agreement and cannot be modified Help center: "Do you support signing cooperation agreements?" | You can obtain and sign a standard agreement. What legal review cannot get is a single change to it. Any organization with a standard set of amendments — liability caps, data protection clauses, termination rights — has nothing to negotiate. |
| Payment is prepaid — top up via PayPal, bank card, Alipay or WeChat Pay. The invoice is a Chinese VAT invoice issued by the Chinese operating entity Help center: "How to Top Up?" and "How to request an invoice" | There is no credit account, no purchase order and no net terms — finance pays in advance and reconciles afterward. Invoicing itself is self-service from the billing console, but what arrives is a Chinese VAT invoice, not a domestic tax invoice. |
| Registration requires an email domain on the support list; they recommend Gmail, Outlook, Hotmail or Yahoo Help center: "Your email domain is currently not supported for registration" | A corporate address on your own domain can be refused at sign-up. The account model is built around individuals rather than corporate entities. |
What we are not claiming
We are not saying you cannot pay DeepSeek. Their help center documents PayPal and card payment, and anyone claiming otherwise is wrong. The blocker for enterprise buyers is the procurement process — who signs, who you call, and what the invoice looks like — not the payment method. If someone tells you the official API is unusable for payment reasons, they have not checked.
What we add
An invoice, not a top-up
One monthly invoice, payable by bank transfer, shaped around what your accounting team needs to see. Net terms available for established accounts.
A person, not a queue
A named account contact who knows your workload. That is a real difference when something needs explaining to a non-technical colleague.
Compliance screening
We screen companies and end users against applicable export controls and sanctions before onboarding. If that is a step your process needs documented, we do it.
When you should go direct instead
- Your procurement can handle a self-service purchase
- Your legal team has no standard amendments
- You do not need an invoice to match a purchase order
- You want the lowest possible price and can accept standard terms
In any of those cases, go direct. If several of them describe you, we are probably the wrong choice and we would rather you found that out from this page than three weeks into a procurement process.
Questions about the difference
Are you an official DeepSeek partner or reseller?
We are an independent provider. We are not affiliated with, endorsed by, or acting as an agent of DeepSeek. We buy access and resell it, and we handle the commercial layer around it.
Is it the same model?
Yes — DeepSeek V4.1 Flash, the same model, through the same underlying service. What differs is the contract, the invoice and who you talk to.
Does going through you add latency?
We are a pass-through, so there is some. Whether it matters depends entirely on your workload — for batch document processing it is irrelevant, for interactive use it may not be. Test it before you commit; we will give you a key to do that.
What happens to our data?
We process request data to serve your requests and do not sell it. The full detail is in our privacy policy and data processing agreement.
Can we start direct and move to you later?
Yes, and it is a common path. Both are OpenAI-compatible, so the change is a base URL and a key.
GOING DIRECT, OR THROUGH US
| The alternative DeepSeek official self-service and standardized | Workhorse Workhorse the same model, with a contract around it | |
|---|---|---|
| Access model | Self-service, standardized | Account-based, with a contact |
| Agreement | Standard framework agreement | Negotiable, DPA available |
| Amending terms | Cannot be modified | Discussed and agreed |
| Payment & invoicing | Prepaid top-up | Monthly invoice, bank transfer |
| Sign-up | Corporate email domains not supported | Corporate accounts |
| Account contact | A ticket queue | A named person |
| Which one to pick | Yes, if self-service works for you | We will say so if we cannot beat it |
Tell us what you're running.
Send us your monthly volume and what you use today. We usually reply within one business day with a price and a named contact.