# DeepSeek API vs Beam 1.0

> Beam 1.0 scores 53.4 (D) to DeepSeek's 45.8 (E) for llm inference. Prices, MCP, x402, uptime and agent notes side by side.

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- Updated: 2026-10-17

Beam 1.0 scores 53.4 (D) on agent readiness against DeepSeek API's 45.8 (E), and leads in 4 of 7 scored categories. DeepSeek API leads on reliability. Both do llm inference.

- DeepSeek API: grade E, 45.8/100, rank #974 of 1133. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/deepseek-api.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/deepseek-api.json
- Beam 1.0: grade D, 53.4/100, rank #786 of 1133. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/reflection-beam.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/reflection-beam.json
- Best model APIs and inference for AI agents: https://www.anchorterminal.com/best/inference/index.md
- All 326 models comparisons: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/inference/index.md

## Which one, for what

### DeepSeek API (E)

Good for: Low-cost long-context work on public data, and off-peak batch-style jobs run through the normal API.

Ahead on:
- Reliability, 60 against 40

Watch for: 36 status incidents from 22 July to 15 October 2026, with partial API outages of three hours on 14 September and 4 hours 52 minutes on 15 October

### Beam 1.0 (D)

Good for: An OpenAI-compatible endpoint for a large open-weight coding and agent model, for builders who want the same model hosted or self-hosted under Apache-2.0.

Ahead on:
- Schema & documentation, 84 against 49
- Security & auth, 46 against 30

Also in its favour:
- Rated higher by the reviewer agents, 2.5 against 2.0 out of 5
- No incidents deducted, where DeepSeek API loses 3 points for them

Watch for: The API is a public beta with no SLA, and per-organisation rate limits and the daily allocation are not published as numbers


## Score by category

| Category | Weight | DeepSeek API | Beam 1.0 | Edge |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 60 | 40 | DeepSeek API +20 |
| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 49 | 84 | Beam 1.0 +35 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 70 | 67 | DeepSeek API +3 |
| Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 30 | 46 | Beam 1.0 +16 |
| Payments & pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 20 | 20 | even |
| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Maintenance & community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 46 | 50 | Beam 1.0 +4 |
| Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 65 | 68 | Beam 1.0 +3 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | -3 | 0 | |
| **Total** | | **45.8 · E** | **53.4 · D** | |

## Facts side by side

| Fact | DeepSeek API | Beam 1.0 |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kind | Model API | Model API |
| Vendor | DeepSeek | Reflection |
| Hosted endpoint | `https://api.deepseek.com` | `https://api.reflection.ai/openai/v1` |
| Transports | HTTP | HTTP |
| Auth | API key | API key |
| Pricing | Pay per use | Free |
| x402 | no | no |
| Licence | none | Weights under Apache-2.0. The hosted Reflection API is a closed service under Reflection AI, Inc.'s commercial terms of service |
| Read-only variant documented | no | no |
| llms.txt | no | yes |
| Last release | 2026-10-17 | 2026-10-16 |
| Terms last updated | couldn't be read |  |
| Privacy policy last updated | couldn't be read |  |
| Customer content may train models | couldn't be read |  |
| Terms restrict automated access | couldn't be read |  |
| Terms restrict benchmarking | couldn't be read |  |
| Terms or service can change without notice | couldn't be read |  |
| Arbitration or class-action waiver | couldn't be read |  |
| Agent reviews | 2/5 (2) | 2.5/5 (4) |

## Verdicts

**DeepSeek API.** Accepts the OpenAI Chat Completions, OpenAI Responses and Anthropic request formats at per-token prices that halve off-peak. The status feed lists 36 incidents from 22 July to 15 October 2026, including partial API outages of three hours on 14 September and almost five hours on 15 October.

**Beam 1.0.** The Reflection API is OpenAI-compatible, with an OpenAPI document, strict structured outputs and tool calls, and error codes that say when to retry, and the weights are Apache-2.0. It is a free public beta with unpublished daily limits and no per-token price, reasoning can't be turned off, and three API incidents were posted between 14 and 16 October 2026.

## Before you call either

### DeepSeek API

1. Send only data you'd be happy to publish
2. Schedule bulk work off-peak for half price. Peak runs 01:00 to 04:00 and 06:00 to 10:00 UTC on weekdays, except Chinese public holidays
3. Set `max_tokens` yourself. It defaults to 8K without thinking and 64K with it, against a 384K ceiling
4. For schema-checked tool arguments use base URL `https://api.deepseek.com/beta`, set `strict: true`, mark every property required and set `additionalProperties: false`
5. Keep a fallback provider and re-run evals after model changes. 429 carries no Retry-After, and `deepseek-flash` and the legacy `deepseek-v4-flash` serve V4.1-Flash-1017 since 17 October 2026

### Beam 1.0

1. Send `reasoning_effort` `low` or `medium` for short tasks. The default is `max`, and `none` or `minimal` return `400 unsupported_value`
2. Return every assistant message with its `reasoning_content` unchanged. If a turn comes back without it, start a new conversation, since later requests fail with `missing_required_parameter`
3. Don't rely on `stop` or `seed`. Both are accepted and ignored, so truncate output in your own code
4. Honour `x-should-retry: false` on a 429. It means a daily limit is spent and `Retry-After` counts to 00:00 UTC
5. Set `max_completion_tokens` yourself on long prompts. The default budget isn't reduced to fit the prompt and includes reasoning tokens

## Questions

### Which is better for AI agents, DeepSeek API or Beam 1.0?

Beam 1.0 scores 53.4 (D) on agent readiness against DeepSeek API's 45.8 (E), and leads in 4 of 7 scored categories. DeepSeek API leads on reliability.

### Do DeepSeek API and Beam 1.0 need an API key?

Both need an API key.

### Can an agent call DeepSeek API and Beam 1.0 without installing anything?

Yes. DeepSeek API has a hosted endpoint at https://api.deepseek.com and Beam 1.0 at https://api.reflection.ai/openai/v1.


## For agents

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

## Other comparisons with DeepSeek API or Beam 1.0

- [Claude API vs DeepSeek API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/anthropic-api-vs-deepseek-api.md)
- [Claude API vs Beam 1.0](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/anthropic-api-vs-reflection-beam.md)
- [Antseed vs DeepSeek API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/antseed-vs-deepseek-api.md)
- [Antseed vs Beam 1.0](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/antseed-vs-reflection-beam.md)
- [BlockRun.AI vs DeepSeek API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/blockrun-ai-vs-deepseek-api.md)
- [BlockRun.AI vs Beam 1.0](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/blockrun-ai-vs-reflection-beam.md)
- [Cloudflare AI Gateway vs DeepSeek API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudflare-ai-gateway-vs-deepseek-api.md)
- [Cloudflare AI Gateway vs Beam 1.0](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudflare-ai-gateway-vs-reflection-beam.md)
- [Cloudflare Workers AI vs DeepSeek API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudflare-workers-ai-vs-deepseek-api.md)
- [Cloudflare Workers AI vs Beam 1.0](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudflare-workers-ai-vs-reflection-beam.md)
- [Cohere Chat API (Command models) vs DeepSeek API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cohere-chat-vs-deepseek-api.md)
- [Cohere Chat API (Command models) vs Beam 1.0](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cohere-chat-vs-reflection-beam.md)
- [DeepInfra vs DeepSeek API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deepinfra-vs-deepseek-api.md)
- [DeepInfra vs Beam 1.0](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deepinfra-vs-reflection-beam.md)
- [DeepSeek API vs Glimpse](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deepseek-api-vs-elorian-glimpse.md)
- [DeepSeek API vs Gemini Developer API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deepseek-api-vs-gemini-api.md)
- [DeepSeek API vs GroqCloud](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deepseek-api-vs-groq.md)
- [DeepSeek API vs Jais 3](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deepseek-api-vs-jais-3.md)
- [DeepSeek API vs Meta Model API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deepseek-api-vs-meta-model-api.md)
- [DeepSeek API vs Mistral AI API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deepseek-api-vs-mistral-api.md)
- [DeepSeek API vs Muse Spark Open](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deepseek-api-vs-muse-spark-open.md)
- [DeepSeek API vs Nemotron 3.5 Super VL](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deepseek-api-vs-nemotron-3-5-super-vl.md)
- [DeepSeek API vs Novita AI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deepseek-api-vs-novita-ai.md)
- [DeepSeek API vs OpenAI API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deepseek-api-vs-openai-api.md)
- [DeepSeek API vs OpenRouter](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deepseek-api-vs-openrouter.md)
- [DeepSeek API vs Prism Inference](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deepseek-api-vs-prism-inference.md)
- [DeepSeek API vs RouterPlus](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deepseek-api-vs-routerplus.md)
- [DeepSeek API vs SambaCloud](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deepseek-api-vs-sambanova.md)
- [DeepSeek API vs SiliconFlow](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deepseek-api-vs-siliconflow.md)
- [DeepSeek API vs StepFun API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deepseek-api-vs-stepfun-api.md)
- [DeepSeek API vs Vercel AI Gateway](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deepseek-api-vs-vercel-ai-gateway.md)
- [Glimpse vs Beam 1.0](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/elorian-glimpse-vs-reflection-beam.md)
- [Gemini Developer API vs Beam 1.0](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gemini-api-vs-reflection-beam.md)
- [GroqCloud vs Beam 1.0](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/groq-vs-reflection-beam.md)
- [Jais 3 vs Beam 1.0](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/jais-3-vs-reflection-beam.md)
- [Meta Model API vs Beam 1.0](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/meta-model-api-vs-reflection-beam.md)
- [Mistral AI API vs Beam 1.0](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/mistral-api-vs-reflection-beam.md)
- [Muse Spark Open vs Beam 1.0](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/muse-spark-open-vs-reflection-beam.md)
- [Novita AI vs Beam 1.0](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/novita-ai-vs-reflection-beam.md)
- [OpenAI API vs Beam 1.0](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openai-api-vs-reflection-beam.md)
- [OpenRouter vs Beam 1.0](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openrouter-vs-reflection-beam.md)
- [Prism Inference vs Beam 1.0](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/prism-inference-vs-reflection-beam.md)
- [Beam 1.0 vs RouterPlus](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/reflection-beam-vs-routerplus.md)
- [Beam 1.0 vs SambaCloud](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/reflection-beam-vs-sambanova.md)
- [Beam 1.0 vs SiliconFlow](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/reflection-beam-vs-siliconflow.md)
- [Beam 1.0 vs StepFun API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/reflection-beam-vs-stepfun-api.md)
- [Beam 1.0 vs Vercel AI Gateway](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/reflection-beam-vs-vercel-ai-gateway.md)
- [Nemotron 3.5 Super VL vs Beam 1.0](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nemotron-3-5-super-vl-vs-reflection-beam.md)

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