DeepSeek off-peak hours in US time zones
DeepSeek API calls cost half price during off-peak hours. Peak hours are 01:00 to 04:00 and 06:00 to 10:00 UTC, Monday to Friday, which is 9:00 am to 12:00 pm and 2:00 pm to 6:00 pm Beijing time. Every other hour is off-peak, including all of Saturday and Sunday in UTC and every Chinese public holiday.
Because the schedule follows China's working week, peak hours land on US evenings and nights. In every continental US time zone, peak starts on Sunday evening and the last window ends early on Friday morning. The US working day, 9 am to 5 pm, is off-peak in all four zones all year.
Peak hours during US daylight time (March to early November)
| Time zone | Evening peak (Sunday to Thursday) | Overnight peak (Monday to Friday) |
|---|---|---|
| Pacific (PDT, UTC-7) | 6 pm to 9 pm | 11 pm the night before to 3 am |
| Mountain (MDT, UTC-6) | 7 pm to 10 pm | 12 am to 4 am |
| Central (CDT, UTC-5) | 8 pm to 11 pm | 1 am to 5 am |
| Eastern (EDT, UTC-4) | 9 pm to 12 am | 2 am to 6 am |
Peak hours during US standard time (early November to March)
| Time zone | Evening peak (Sunday to Thursday) | Overnight peak (Monday to Friday) |
|---|---|---|
| Pacific (PST, UTC-8) | 5 pm to 8 pm | 10 pm the night before to 2 am |
| Mountain (MST, UTC-7) | 6 pm to 9 pm | 11 pm the night before to 3 am |
| Central (CST, UTC-6) | 7 pm to 10 pm | 12 am to 4 am |
| Eastern (EST, UTC-5) | 8 pm to 11 pm | 1 am to 5 am |
Every hour not listed is off-peak. China does not change its clocks, so each US window moves one hour earlier when daylight time ends (November 1, 2026) and one hour later when it starts again (March 14, 2027). Arizona stays on UTC-7 all year, so it matches the Pacific row in summer and the Mountain row in winter.
DeepSeek peak and off-peak prices
USD per 1 million tokens. Off-peak is half of every peak rate.
| Model | Rate | Input | Cached input | Output |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| DeepSeek V4.1 Flash | Peak | $0.30 | $0.006 | $1.20 |
| DeepSeek V4.1 Flash | Off-peak | $0.15 | $0.003 | $0.60 |
| DeepSeek V4 Pro | Peak | $1.32 | $0.044 | $3.96 |
| DeepSeek V4 Pro | Off-peak | $0.66 | $0.022 | $1.98 |
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Source: DeepSeek API pricing, checked October 11, 2026.