# Cohere Chat API (Command models) vs DeepInfra

> Cohere Chat scores 64.7 (B) to DeepInfra's 63 (B) for llm inference. Prices, MCP, x402, uptime and agent notes side by side.

- Canonical: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cohere-chat-vs-deepinfra
- Markdown: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cohere-chat-vs-deepinfra.md (~2,850 tokens)
- Slim: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cohere-chat-vs-deepinfra.min.md (~730 tokens, same facts, less prose, for token-sensitive contexts)
- JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cohere-chat-vs-deepinfra.json (this page as data, same URL with Accept: application/json)
- Site index for agents: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms.txt (full text: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms-full.txt)
- API: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/index.json
- Updated: 2026-10-09

Cohere Chat API (Command models) scores 64.7 (B) on agent readiness against DeepInfra's 63 (B), and leads in 4 of 7 scored categories. DeepInfra leads on reliability, agent ergonomics and security & auth. Both do llm inference.

- Cohere Chat API (Command models): grade B, 64.7/100, rank #342 of 950. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/cohere-chat.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/cohere-chat.json
- DeepInfra: grade B, 63/100, rank #411 of 950. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/deepinfra.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/deepinfra.json
- Best model APIs and inference for AI agents: https://www.anchorterminal.com/best/inference/index.md
- All 136 models comparisons: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/inference/index.md

## Which one, for what

### Cohere Chat API (Command models) (B)

Good for: Teams that want Command models for RAG with citations, tool use and multilingual work, and that may later move to a private deployment or Model Vault.

Ahead on:
- Schema & documentation, 84 against 69
- Payments & pricing, 30 against 20
- Maintenance & community, 72 against 65
- Transparency & trust, 74 against 67

Also in its favour:
- Free to start without a card

Watch for: Production keys work like trial keys on Command A+, Reasoning, Translate and Vision. The docs send production use of those models to sales or to Model Vault

### DeepInfra (B)

Good for: Agents that want many open-weight models, embeddings, image and speech behind one OpenAI-style key at low per-token prices, with spend-capped tokens.

Ahead on:
- Reliability, 70 against 64
- Agent ergonomics, 77 against 72
- Security & auth, 64 against 57

Watch for: A deprecated model gets at least one week's notice, and requests are then forwarded to a replacement model under the old id


## Score by category

| Category | Weight | Cohere Chat API (Command models) | DeepInfra | Edge |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 64 | 70 | DeepInfra +6 |
| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 84 | 69 | Cohere Chat API (Command models) +15 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 72 | 77 | DeepInfra +5 |
| Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 57 | 64 | DeepInfra +7 |
| Payments & pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 30 | 20 | Cohere Chat API (Command models) +10 |
| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Maintenance & community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 72 | 65 | Cohere Chat API (Command models) +7 |
| Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 74 | 67 | Cohere Chat API (Command models) +7 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | 0 | 0 | |
| **Total** | | **64.7 · B** | **63 · B** | |

## Facts side by side

| Fact | Cohere Chat API (Command models) | DeepInfra |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kind | Model API | Model API |
| Vendor | Cohere | Deep Infra Inc. |
| Hosted endpoint | `https://api.cohere.com/v2/chat` | `https://api.deepinfra.com/v1/openai` |
| Transports | HTTP | HTTP |
| Auth | API key | API key |
| Pricing | Freemium | Pay per use |
| x402 | no | no |
| Licence | Proprietary service under Cohere's Commercial SaaS Agreement. The SDKs are MIT | Proprietary service under the DeepInfra Terms of Service. The Python and Node SDKs and the docs repository are MIT |
| Read-only variant documented | no | no |
| llms.txt | yes | yes |
| Last release | 2026-09-09 | 2026-10-07 |
| Terms last updated | 2025-04-08 | 2026-08-17 |
| Privacy policy last updated | 2026-05-01 | 2026-08-15 |
| Customer content may train models | yes | not found in the text |
| Terms restrict automated access | not found in the text | not found in the text |
| Terms restrict benchmarking | yes | yes |
| Terms or service can change without notice | yes | not found in the text |
| Arbitration or class-action waiver | not found in the text | yes |
| Popularity | none | 21 stars, 1.2k npm/wk, 50 PyPI/wk |

## Verdicts

**Cohere Chat API (Command models).** A public OpenAPI file, Markdown twins of every docs page and SDKs in four languages make the Chat API easy for an agent to read. Production keys do not cover the four newest Command models, whose limits are set by sales, and the SaaS agreement lets Cohere share API data with third parties.

**DeepInfra.** The model list, context sizes and per-token prices are readable without a key, and keys can carry an IP allowlist, a monthly spending cap and model-limited JWTs. Deprecated models get one week's notice and are then redirected to another model, there is no changelog or SLA, and an account needs a card or prepayment before any call.

## Before you call either

### Cohere Chat API (Command models)

1. Call `POST https://api.cohere.com/v2/chat` with `Authorization: bearer <key>`. `model` and `messages` are the only required fields
2. Use `command-a-03-2025`, `command-r-08-2024`, `command-r-plus-08-2024` or `command-r7b-12-2024` for production traffic. Newer variants stay at trial limits on a production key
3. Keep a trial key under 20 chat requests a minute and 1,000 calls a month, and do not use it for commercial work
4. Set `response_format` with a `json_schema` for structured output, and tell the model to produce JSON when using `json_object` without a schema
5. Ask the account Owner to turn off training under Data Controls in the dashboard before sending confidential prompts

### DeepInfra

1. Call `GET https://api.deepinfra.com/v1/openai/models` at start-up for ids, context sizes and prices. No key is needed
2. Check the `model` field of each response. After a deprecation date, requests to the old id are served by a replacement model
3. Ask the account owner for a scoped JWT limited to the models and spend the task needs, not the full API key
4. Stay under 200 concurrent requests per model. On 429 `engine_overloaded`, retry after a delay, or send `models` with up to four fallbacks
5. Never inspect a JWT with `GET /v1/scoped-jwt?jwtoken=`, which puts the token in the URL. Keep credentials in the `Authorization` header

## Questions

### Which is better for AI agents, Cohere Chat API (Command models) or DeepInfra?

Cohere Chat API (Command models) scores 64.7 (B) on agent readiness against DeepInfra's 63 (B), and leads in 4 of 7 scored categories. DeepInfra leads on reliability, agent ergonomics and security & auth.

### Do Cohere Chat API (Command models) and DeepInfra need an API key?

Both need an API key.

### Can an agent call Cohere Chat API (Command models) and DeepInfra without installing anything?

Yes. Cohere Chat API (Command models) has a hosted endpoint at https://api.cohere.com/v2/chat and DeepInfra at https://api.deepinfra.com/v1/openai.


## For agents

- This comparison as JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cohere-chat-vs-deepinfra.json, and with the fewest tokens: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cohere-chat-vs-deepinfra.min.md
- Over MCP at https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp (no key): `compare_tools {"a": "cohere-chat", "b": "deepinfra"}`. From a terminal: `anchor compare cohere-chat deepinfra`
- Each listing in full: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/cohere-chat.json and https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/deepinfra.json

## Other comparisons with Cohere Chat API (Command models) or DeepInfra

- [Claude API vs Cohere Chat API (Command models)](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/anthropic-api-vs-cohere-chat.md)
- [Claude API vs DeepInfra](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/anthropic-api-vs-deepinfra.md)
- [Antseed vs Cohere Chat API (Command models)](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/antseed-vs-cohere-chat.md)
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- [BlockRun.AI vs Cohere Chat API (Command models)](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/blockrun-ai-vs-cohere-chat.md)
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- [Cloudflare AI Gateway vs DeepInfra](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudflare-ai-gateway-vs-deepinfra.md)
- [Cloudflare Workers AI vs Cohere Chat API (Command models)](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudflare-workers-ai-vs-cohere-chat.md)
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- [Cohere Chat API (Command models) vs Gemini Developer API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cohere-chat-vs-gemini-api.md)
- [Cohere Chat API (Command models) vs GroqCloud](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cohere-chat-vs-groq.md)
- [Cohere Chat API (Command models) vs Mistral AI API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cohere-chat-vs-mistral-api.md)
- [Cohere Chat API (Command models) vs Novita AI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cohere-chat-vs-novita-ai.md)
- [Cohere Chat API (Command models) vs OpenAI API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cohere-chat-vs-openai-api.md)
- [Cohere Chat API (Command models) vs OpenRouter](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cohere-chat-vs-openrouter.md)
- [Cohere Chat API (Command models) vs Prism Inference](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cohere-chat-vs-prism-inference.md)
- [Cohere Chat API (Command models) vs SambaCloud](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cohere-chat-vs-sambanova.md)
- [Cohere Chat API (Command models) vs SiliconFlow](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cohere-chat-vs-siliconflow.md)
- [DeepInfra vs DeepSeek API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deepinfra-vs-deepseek-api.md)
- [DeepInfra vs Gemini Developer API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deepinfra-vs-gemini-api.md)
- [DeepInfra vs GroqCloud](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deepinfra-vs-groq.md)
- [DeepInfra vs Mistral AI API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deepinfra-vs-mistral-api.md)
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