Use DeepSeek V3 in Kilo Code
Premium AI performance at a fraction of the cost. 671B parameters, 37B activated, fully open source with MIT license. Looking for the latest generation? Check out DeepSeek-V4.
How to use DeepSeek in Kilo Code
Set up in minutes with your own API key
Get DeepSeek API Key
Sign up at DeepSeek Platform and get your API key.
Install Kilo Code
Add Kilo Code extension to VS Code, JetBrains IDE, or use the CLI.
Open Kilo Code Settings
Open Command Palette and search "Kilo Code" to access settings.
Add DeepSeek API Key
Go to BYOK providers and add your DeepSeek API key.
Select DeepSeek Model
Choose a DeepSeek model from the model selector and start coding!
Why DeepSeek in Kilo Code?
Open source power meets unbeatable cost efficiency
Open Source (MIT License)
Fully open source with MIT license. No vendor lock-in, audit the code, self-host on your infrastructure. 101k+ GitHub stars and growing.
10-50x Cost Savings
Just $0.21/1M input tokens compared to $3+ for competitors. Get frontier-level performance without the frontier-level bills.
Hybrid Reasoning
Toggle thinking mode on/off via parameter. Get detailed step-by-step reasoning when needed, or fast direct responses for simpler tasks.
Coding Optimized
Built specifically for agents and code generation. Excellent performance on coding benchmarks with Intelligence Index #8 out of 58 models.
128K Context Window
Handle large codebases with ease. Up to 128K-163K tokens of context lets you work with entire projects, not just snippets.
MoE Architecture
671B total parameters, but only 37B activated per token. Mixture of Experts gives you massive model capacity with efficient inference.
Trusted by developers at the world's most innovative companies
Related and alternative models in Kilo Code
Not just DeepSeek — explore 500+ models including other free and affordable options
Popular Frontier Models
Most-used flagship models on the Kilo leaderboard this week
Free Models for Everyday Coding
Start building without spending a cent
Nemotron 3 Super
NVIDIA's 120B-parameter open hybrid MoE model — only 12B active per token. Ranks in Kilo's top coding models this week, and it's free.
Ling-2.6-flash
inclusionAI's instant instruct model, 104B total / 7.4B active parameters. Fast, capable, and a regular fixture in the daily leaderboard's free tier.
MiniMax M2.5
SOTA large language model built for real-world productivity. The free variant gives you MiniMax M2.5 performance at zero cost.
Affordable High-Performers
Frontier-level quality at a fraction of the cost
Grok Code Fast 1
The model that powered the free frontier era. Kilo Coders have been using over 700B tokens per month. Now at a remarkably low price point.
MiniMax M2.1
Competitive performance on practical coding benchmarks. Reliable for production use cases at a fraction of frontier model costs.
GLM 4-7
Open-weight model with strong agentic coding capabilities. Handles multi-phase implementation tasks with excellent context understanding.
Gemini 3 Flash Preview
Outperforms Gemini 3 Pro on many benchmarks at 1/4 the cost. Excellent for high-volume coding tasks.
Agentic Engineering
Glide through your workflow with a mode for every step
Ask mode
A knowledgeable technical assistant focused on answering questions without changing your codebase
Frequently Asked Questions
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Ready to code with DeepSeek?
Join 2.3M+ developers using Kilo Code. Get open source AI power at 10-50x lower cost.