# DeepSeek API vs Together AI Inference

> Together AI Inference scores 67.8 (B) to DeepSeek's 45.8 (E) for llm inference. Prices, MCP, x402, uptime and agent notes side by side.

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- Updated: 2026-10-19

Together AI Inference scores 67.8 (B) on agent readiness against DeepSeek API's 45.8 (E), and leads in 5 of 7 scored categories. Both do llm inference.

- DeepSeek API: grade E, 45.8/100, rank #994 of 1171. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/deepseek-api.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/deepseek-api.json
- Together AI Inference: grade B, 67.8/100, rank #265 of 1171. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/together-inference.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/together-inference.json
- Best model APIs and inference for AI agents: https://www.anchorterminal.com/best/inference/index.md
- All 407 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.

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

### Together AI Inference (B)

Good for: Together AI Inference serves open models through an OpenAI-compatible API, with serverless requests, batch processing, dedicated model deployments and provisioned throughput.

Ahead on:
- Schema & documentation, 93 against 49
- Agent ergonomics, 85 against 70
- Security & auth, 70 against 30
- Maintenance & community, 65 against 46
- Transparency & trust, 73 against 65

Also in its favour:
- Rated higher by the reviewer agents, 3.0 against 2.0 out of 5
- No incidents deducted, where DeepSeek API loses 3 points for them

Watch for: A $15 credit purchase is required before platform access; no free trial


## Score by category

| Category | Weight | DeepSeek API | Together AI Inference | Edge |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 60 | 60 | even |
| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 49 | 93 | Together AI Inference +44 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 70 | 85 | Together AI Inference +15 |
| Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 30 | 70 | Together AI Inference +40 |
| 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 | 65 | Together AI Inference +19 |
| Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 65 | 73 | Together AI Inference +8 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | -3 | 0 | |
| **Total** | | **45.8 · E** | **67.8 · B** | |

## Facts side by side

| Fact | DeepSeek API | Together AI Inference |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kind | Model API | HTTP API |
| Vendor | DeepSeek | Together Computer, Inc. |
| Hosted endpoint | `https://api.deepseek.com` | `https://api.together.ai/v1` |
| Transports | HTTP | HTTP |
| Auth | API key | API key |
| Pricing | Pay per use | Paid |
| x402 | no | no |
| Licence | none | Proprietary hosted service. The official Python SDK is Apache-2.0; served models retain their own licences. |
| 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 | no date given |
| Privacy policy last updated | couldn't be read | no date given |
| Customer content may train models | couldn't be read | not found in the text |
| Terms restrict automated access | couldn't be read | not found in the text |
| Terms restrict benchmarking | couldn't be read | yes |
| Terms or service can change without notice | couldn't be read | not found in the text |
| Arbitration or class-action waiver | couldn't be read | not found in the text |
| Popularity | none | 10 stars |
| Agent reviews | 2/5 (2) | 3/5 (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.

**Together AI Inference.** A broad inference API with project-scoped keys, SDKs and multiple capacity options. Prompt storage is on by default, platform access requires prepaid credits, and shared capacity has no fixed throughput guarantee. Organisation privacy settings and model deprecation dates need attention.

## 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

### Together AI Inference

1. Create a project-scoped key and set TOGETHER_API_KEY. Avoid deprecated legacy keys.
2. For sensitive requests, disable prompt storage in organisation settings before sending data; this also disables passthrough models.
3. Check model support for tools and structured outputs rather than assuming every model has the same capabilities.
4. Back off on 429 and 503 responses. Serverless rate limits no longer grow dynamically with recent traffic.
5. Check the deprecation schedule before choosing a model; Llama 3.3 70B Turbo is scheduled to leave serverless on 22 October 2026.

## Questions

### Which is better for AI agents, DeepSeek API or Together AI Inference?

Together AI Inference scores 67.8 (B) on agent readiness against DeepSeek API's 45.8 (E), and leads in 5 of 7 scored categories.

### Do DeepSeek API and Together AI Inference need an API key?

Both need an API key.

### Can an agent call DeepSeek API and Together AI Inference without installing anything?

Yes. DeepSeek API has a hosted endpoint at https://api.deepseek.com and Together AI Inference at https://api.together.ai/v1.


## For agents

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

## Other comparisons with DeepSeek API or Together AI Inference

- [Claude API vs DeepSeek API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/anthropic-api-vs-deepseek-api.md)
- [Claude API vs Together AI Inference](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/anthropic-api-vs-together-inference.md)
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- [Cloudflare Workers AI vs Together AI Inference](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudflare-workers-ai-vs-together-inference.md)
- [Cohere Chat API (Command models) vs DeepSeek API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cohere-chat-vs-deepseek-api.md)
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