Module 1 · Foundations — what DeepSeek is Lesson 2 of 15
Signing in: what is free, what is paid, and what you actually need
You do not need the paid plan to finish this course. Start on the free tier — the chat app is free to use, and the open weights can be downloaded and run yourself. Upgrade only when you hit a wall you can name: a longer file, a newer model, or a rate limit you keep meeting.
The concept
Every one of these tools has a free tier that is good enough to learn on and a paid tier that removes a limit. the API is priced far below the frontier labs per token, which is why small teams build on it. The mistake is buying the paid plan in week one, before you know which limit you hit — you end up paying to remove ceilings you were never going to touch.
Work out your own honest usage first. How many questions a day do you actually ask? How big are the files you upload? Do you need the newest model, or the fast one? For revision, for drafting, for coursework, the answer is usually the free tier.
Common mistakes
If your college or workplace provides an account, use it: self-hosted weights or a managed provider inside your own network is how most people in a job get access, and asking your placement cell whether one exists costs nothing.
Worked example
A half-hour reasoning pass on a maths or data problem costs nothing in the chat app, and the visible working is the part that teaches you.
Your practice task
Create the account, find the plan page, and write down in one line which limit you would hit first in your own week. It is usually a message cap or a file-size cap, not the model.
Do this before moving on. Reading a solution teaches the shape of it; typing it teaches you.
Key takeaway
Every one of these tools has a free tier that is good enough to learn on and a paid tier that removes a limit.
Keep your place in this course
A free account saves which lessons you have finished and unlocks the certificate. The lesson itself stays free to read.
Create free account or sign inCourse complete
You finished every lesson.
Your certificate is ready, and the projects you built are the proof to attach to an application.
Almost there
15 lessons left of 15
Finish every lesson to unlock the certificate. Each one ends in a practice task — do them and the final project brief writes itself.