On Aug 13, 2026, Chinese AI company DeepSeek officially released the general‑availability version of DeepSeek‑V4‑Pro (codename V4‑Pro‑0813). The model focuses on strengthening Agent capabilities, supports adjustable inference intensity, and is natively compatible with the OpenAI Responses API. At the same time, DeepSeek announced it will apply busy/idle segmented pricing (peak‑off‑peak pricing) to the V4‑series API; off‑peak rates will be half of peak rates. The new prices take effect on Aug 16 at 16:00 UTC (Beijing Time Aug 17 00:00).
Model details
The V4‑Pro production release builds on the preview with post‑training improvements that significantly raise production‑level Agent performance. Key disclosed metrics include:
- Terminal Bench 2.1: score 87.9
- DeepSWE: score 62.7
- Other Agent‑related benchmarks (such as CyberGym, NL2Repo) also show substantial gains
The model supports a 1M token context window and a maximum output length of 384K tokens, offering switchable reasoning (thinking) and non‑reasoning modes. Users can experience this via an "Expert Mode" on the App/Web; the API model name remains unchanged.
New feature highlights:
- Adjustable inference intensity: three tiers—low (simple tasks), high (daily Agent workflows), and max (complex tasks)—available for V4‑Pro and V4‑Flash.
- Native support for the OpenAI Responses API, optimized for tools like Codex, enabling one‑click configuration.
- Support for JSON output, tool calling, and Anthropic API compatibility.
The V4‑Flash production release was launched at the end of July and performed well in some evaluations. The V4‑Pro GA release addresses higher‑end capability gaps, forming a dual‑track strategy with "Pro for high‑intelligence Agents, Flash for cost‑effective efficiency."
Details of busy/idle segmented pricing
DeepSeek simultaneously adjusted API pricing, introducing a peak‑off‑peak mechanism to optimize resource allocation and service stability:
Peak periods (Beijing Time 09:00–12:00, 14:00–18:00; corresponding to UTC 01:00–04:00, 06:00–10:00):
- V4‑Pro: cache‑hit input 0.30 CNY per million tokens, cache‑miss input 9.0 CNY, output 27.0 CNY
- V4‑Flash: cache‑hit 0.10 CNY, cache‑miss 3.0 CNY, output 9.0 CNY
Off‑peak periods (all other times): prices are halved.
The new pricing is generally higher than previous levels, but the peak‑off‑peak differential is intended to encourage users to schedule non‑urgent tasks during low‑demand periods, lowering average costs and alleviating peak compute pressure. Cache hits still receive substantial discounts.
Potential impacts: cost structure and market competition
1. Impact on developers and enterprises The substantial Agent capability improvements make V4‑Pro more suitable for complex multi‑step workflows, code generation and tool‑invocation scenarios. Busy/idle segmented pricing requires users to optimize call strategies: high‑priority tasks may accept peak premiums, while batch or delay‑tolerant tasks shift to off‑peak windows to control costs. Compatibility with the OpenAI ecosystem lowers migration barriers.
2. Impact on DeepSeek The GA release helps consolidate its position in cost‑effective and open‑weight model segments, while the pricing changes aim to improve revenue structure to support compute expansion and continued R&D. The earlier phenomenon of V4‑Flash outperforming the Pro preview in some tests also prompted accelerated refinement of Pro.
3. Impact on industry competition V4‑Pro's strong Agent performance intensifies competition with domestic models such as Kimi K3 and Qwen, while offering near‑leading capabilities at prices far below OpenAI and Anthropic flagships. The peak‑off‑peak pricing model may be adopted by other vendors, pushing API billing toward finer‑grained resource matching.
4. Potential challenges
- Price increases may reduce usage among cost‑sensitive users.
- Higher peak‑period costs require users to replan workflows.
- Stability and long‑range consistency in production environments still require large‑scale validation.
Industry takeaway: from low‑price competition to refined operations
The GA release of DeepSeek V4‑Pro and the rollout of busy/idle segmented pricing mark a shift among Chinese large‑model vendors from pure "low‑price volume" strategies toward "capability upgrades + refined resource operations." Agent capabilities are becoming a central selling point, and peak‑off‑peak pricing reflects pragmatic consideration of compute supply and demand balance.
For developers, this is both an opportunity to access stronger Agent tools and the start of adapting to a more flexible cost structure. With the stabilization of the V4‑series dual‑model pattern, DeepSeek is likely to find a more sustainable balance between open‑source ecosystems and commercial APIs and continue to promote globally cost‑effective AI adoption.
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