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    Guide for American users

    DeepSeek in the USA

    Everything Americans need to know — free chat access, CCPA privacy considerations, US state bans, API pricing in USD and how DeepSeek stacks up against ChatGPT.

    Open DeepSeek Chat Compare to ChatGPT

    Is DeepSeek available in the United States?

    Yes — DeepSeek works in every US state, from California to New York. No VPN is required. Both the consumer chat at chat.deepseek.com and the developer API at api.deepseek.com are accessible over standard US internet connections.

    There is no federal ban on DeepSeek for private use. However, several US states (Texas, New York, Virginia, Tennessee) and federal agencies (US Navy, NASA, Department of Commerce, Department of Defense) have restricted DeepSeek on government-issued devices over data-sovereignty concerns. These restrictions do not affect private citizens or commercial businesses.

    DeepSeek API pricing in US dollars

    Native USD billing — no FX conversion required.

    ModelInput (USD / 1M)Output (USD / 1M)Context
    DeepSeek-V3$0.27$1.10128K
    DeepSeek-R1$0.55$2.19128K
    DeepSeek-Coder$0.14$0.2816K

    Compare: OpenAI GPT-4o costs $2.50 input / $10.00 output per 1M tokens — roughly 9× more expensive.

    CCPA and US privacy

    Under the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA/CPRA), California residents have the right to know what personal information is collected, to delete it and to opt out of its sale. Because DeepSeek processes data on servers in China, enforcing those rights against the operator is practically difficult.

    US businesses handling consumer data should:

    • Obtain explicit consent before entering customer PII
    • For HIPAA, GLBA or FedRAMP workloads, never use the hosted DeepSeek API
    • Self-host DeepSeek-V3 on AWS us-east-1, Azure East US or Together AI for US data residency

    For personal use, treat DeepSeek like any consumer chatbot — don't paste anything you wouldn't want stored. Full analysis on our DeepSeek safety page.

    DeepSeek USA — FAQ

    Yes. DeepSeek is fully accessible from all 50 US states — both the free web chat at chat.deepseek.com and the developer API work without a VPN. There is no federal ban, although several states (Texas, New York, Virginia) and federal agencies (US Navy, NASA, Department of Commerce) have restricted DeepSeek on government-issued devices.

    DeepSeek processes user data on servers in China, which means personal information leaves US jurisdiction. Under the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) and CPRA, California residents retain rights to know, delete and opt out — but enforcing those rights against an overseas processor is difficult. Businesses handling consumer data should obtain explicit consent and avoid pasting customer PII into the chat.

    The DeepSeek web chat is free for personal use. The API is billed in US dollars: $0.27 per 1M input tokens and $1.10 per 1M output tokens for DeepSeek-V3. That is roughly 90% cheaper than OpenAI GPT-4o ($2.50 input / $10.00 output per 1M tokens) and about 80% cheaper than Anthropic Claude 3.5 Sonnet.

    Yes — the licence permits commercial use. For regulated industries (HIPAA healthcare, GLBA finance, FedRAMP government workloads) you should either self-host the open-source DeepSeek-V3 weights on a US cloud region (AWS us-east-1, Azure East US) or use a proxy provider with US data residency such as Together AI, Fireworks or DeepInfra.

    As of 2026, Texas, New York, Virginia and Tennessee have banned DeepSeek on state-government devices. Federal agencies including the US Navy, NASA, Department of Commerce and Department of Defense have similar restrictions. These bans apply to government-issued hardware only — private citizens and businesses can use DeepSeek freely.

    Go to chat.deepseek.com, click 'Sign in' and register with your email, Google or Apple account. No phone number is required and sign-up is free. The interface auto-detects your locale and presents an English UI for US users.

    Try DeepSeek from the USA — free

    No credit card. No VPN. Works on any US connection.

    Open DeepSeek Chat