Their popularity is based on their significantly more affordable price - whether the application is actual programming work or software that uses AI itself.
The best known and most popular of these "alternative" AI providers has long been the Chinese DeepSeek.
But now DeepSeek has warned its customers, both in China and abroad, that it intends to raise its prices "significantly" in the near future. The price increase specifically concerns DeepSeek's programming interface (API), which is utilized in both programming and software.
According to the South China Morning Post, this is the company's first significant price increase ever.
Written by: Petteri Pyyny @ 8 Aug 2026 5:39
