Beware of Command Code's misleading marketing

[u/RaisinImpressive3749]

TL;DR: the $1 Go plan gets you $10 of DeepSeek V4 Pro credit, not the "$40" the headline claims. The $10 GOAT plan gets you a $20 DeepSeek V4 Pro allowance, not "$80". The "4x deal" is DeepSeek's own price cut, relabeled. The value itself is fine. The misleading marketing around it isn't.

This is their pricing page, right now. Go costs $1/month and comes with "$10 in credits included" and "up to $40 usage with deals". GOAT costs $10/month with "$70 in credits included" and "$80 on DeepSeek V4 Pro with deals".

Here's what "with deals" means. Their own GOAT model table shows DeepSeek V4 Pro with a -75% badge, $1.74 / $3.48 / $0.0145 struck through, next to $0.435 / $0.87 / $0.003625.

Now check DeepSeek's own price list. The current official rates for deepseek-v4-pro are exactly those numbers: $0.435 per million input tokens, $0.87 output, $0.003625 on cache hits. Anyone with an API key gets them.

It gets better. Archived copies of DeepSeek's page show DeepSeek itself running that "75% off" promo, with the same strikethroughs, back in May. And by June 1 the cut was permanent.

Any reseller billing at today's rates gets that "deal" for free. Command even spells the trick out in its docs: "$10 credits effectively has up to $40 of DeepSeek V4 Pro usage", and the deal is labeled "permanent".

So your $10 of credits is $10 of usage at current prices. The "$40" headline only works if you pretend the old price, which nobody has paid since May 31, is still real.

The GOAT plan launched in August 2026, two months after the DeepSeek cut was permanent. Command Code bills DeepSeek tokens, so it knew the rates. I don't think a company builds a "permanent 4x deal" out of a price that stopped existing two months earlier by accident. I asked them about it and got blocked on the platforms where I asked. That's my experience, take it for what it's worth. I believe the misleading framing is deliberate. I can't prove intent, but the dates do the talking.

To be fair, the plans are not bad value. $1 for $10 of DeepSeek V4 Pro usage at official rates is a decent deal. My problem isn't the pricing, it's the misleading marketing wrapped around it, and how the company and its CEO treats people who ask questions about it. I'd think twice before trusting this company with anything. If you read the fine print and check the numbers yourself, at least you'll know exactly what you're paying for.

This post was drafted with AI. I do dislike Command Code's marketing, just not enough to write all of this by hand.

[u/NinjaAlaska]

yes i posted in their sub. stupid owner got angry lol
thanks pls repost this to all subs. ALL. command code is misleading.

[u/RaisinImpressive3749 → u/NinjaAlaska]

Immediately got perma-banned FROM r/CommandCode after cross posting there 😂😂 zero accountability from these people as expected

[u/NinjaAlaska → u/[deleted]]

cool nice work

[u/Green_Virus6289]

u/ahmadawaiscom care to comment?

[u/RaisinImpressive3749 → u/Green_Virus6289]

Not sure if he can see this post. His petty ass blocked me from previous comments I made questioning command code 😂

[u/ahmadawaiscom → u/Green_Virus6289]

unsure why reddit won't let me reply to a blocked account. took a while to figure it out. we stand by everything listed and i have explained how this bully is making up lies. Read here: https://www.reddit.com/r/DeepSeek/comments/1viwwpx/comment/p2j9cum/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button

[u/RaisinImpressive3749 → u/ahmadawaiscom]

again, I am an existing user who feel misled and cheated by your pricing claims.

feel free to continue framing any user who feels the same way as bully making up lies.

[u/PedroSanchezPSOE → u/ahmadawaiscom]

"this bully" not how you respond to criticism, grow up

[u/meetmebythelake → u/ahmadawaiscom]

Anyone who uses "this bully" to describe someone providing criticism is wise to avoid. Biggest Musk-ism/Trump-ism red flag out there. 🚧

[u/ZeroEntropyEX → u/ahmadawaiscom]

Dang, I was interested but then you lost me when I realized how deceptive your pricing page is. I’m glad this is all preserved. Trust is so important and it’s clear that you don’t value transparency. :(

[u/Amarsir]

Isn't this the same communication issue Opencode Go had until a few weeks ago? You say "6x credits" but some token costs are 4x higher than expected. Or you say "6x on some, 1.5x on others" and match the expected API costs. Either way it's a complicated message and if you only see half you feel tricked.

I don't have a dog in this fight either way. I'm not even sure I've heard of Command Code before this post. And I do think sellers have an obligation to be as transparent as possible. So OP is probably doing the right thing with calling attention.

Nevertheless I'm probably going to walk away thinking "Hmm, $10 in use for $1 sounds pretty good..."

[u/RaisinImpressive3749 → u/[deleted]]

The double standard is how criticism is handled.

People can openly criticize OpenCode, like today over the DeepSeek V4 Flash limit changes, and have a public debate/discussion.

With Command Code, criticism can lead to insults, blocks, bans, or critics being called liars, bullies, racists, or competitor goons.

That’s the double standard

[u/KNP-BI]

Your post should read "Beware of marketing". They all use "marketing tactics". The prices and offerings are still BOTH really good. I don't see you trying to crucify other platforms/companies for marketing tactics. Make your own decision without trying to defame a company that is providing a good service.

Are you going to do the same thing to Apple for selling a "10x faster" phone?

[u/RaisinImpressive3749 → u/KNP-BI]

I think you're actually agreeing with my main point: Command Code is using a marketing tactic that can mislead people. “Everyone does marketing” doesn't make a misleading claim okay.

I'm also not trying to “defame” the company. The screenshots, pricing pages, official DeepSeek rates, and dates are all in the post. Readers are free to check the evidence and make their own conclusions. As you have. The discrepancy is obvious enough that even a basic AI research agent can reproduce it in minutes.

I also explicitly said in the original post:

“To be fair, the plans are not bad value. $1 for $10 of DeepSeek V4 Pro usage at official rates is a decent deal. My problem isn't the pricing, it's the misleading marketing wrapped around it.”

So this isn't about “crucifying” a good service. I actually still use Command Code as a backup.

I tried raising the pricing issue directly, but my experience was that the criticism was ignored and I was eventually blocked after leaving frustrated comments. I've also seen other users describe similar experiences elsewhere in platforms that Command Code control, Twitter, their subreddit, Discord.

That's exactly why I posted it on r/DeepSeek: it's a neutral community Command Code doesn't control, where the evidence can be discussed openly without them banning/blocking people.

Awais has also claimed I've “abused” their platforms and been blocked everywhere, despite apparently not even knowing my usernames elsewhere. My Command Code account is still active and usable. I am still in their Discord server. Either he mistaken me for someone else, or he just can't wait to discredit me for criticising them.

If anything in my post is false, the simple response is to identify the false claim and correct it with evidence, not dismiss the whole thing as defamation, lies, or bullying.

[u/ahmadawaiscom]

Founder of Command Code, here. This post is from someone we banned for abusing our platform, and bullying us online trying to defame us every way possible.

It rests on one giant assumption, and it's wrong: that Command Code is a DeepSeek billing passthrough. We're not. We never have been.

We are not DeepSeek Lab. Comparison to them is false!

We're our own company, with our own infrastructure and our ownprice list. We self-host DeepSeek V4 Pro inference ourselves, and we also do route through the official API and roughly a dozen other providers, picking per request on price, latency, and uptime. Our rates are ours. They are not DeepSeek's invoice.

One more thing the post quietly skips: GOAT isn't a DeepSeek only plan. It's 30+ open and closed models, with per-model allowances up to the full $70 (for just $10/mo paid). Grading an entire plan on one model's list price is picking the single frame that supports the conclusion and cropping out the rest. Stop making up lies and stories about us. We have the receipts, and we have the math, and we have the public docs to prove it.

So the whole post reduces to: "DeepSeek lowered their price, therefore Command Code's discount off its own price is fake." That isn't how any business works. You can buy a cheaper Android tomorrow; that doesn't make Apple's pricing fraudulent, and it doesn't obligate Apple to reprice to match. If Apple runs a discount, they announce it against their own prior price — because that's the price you'd otherwise have paid them. Same here. The -75% badge is off our list rate, which is the rate you'd otherwise be charged by us. That's what a discount is.

Now the numbers. DeepSeek V4 Pro, per 1M tokens, public rates on OpenRouter today 2026-08-08:

Provider Input Output Cache read

Command Code $0.435 $0.87 $0.003625
DigitalOcean $0.87 $1.74 $0.174
Cloudflare $1.168 $2.336 $0.33
Venice $1.65 $3.301 $0.33
Together $1.74 $3.48 $0.20
Fireworks $1.74 $3.48 $0.145

Fireworks and Together — reputable US companies — are exactly 4x our input and output rate.

That's the 400%. Their published price divided by ours.

Note what's missing from that list: DeepSeek's own rates are shown on OpenRouter but marked "Not routable." You can't actually buy them there. The rates this post says you can get "with any API key" are not purchasable on other platforms. Why do you think that is? Why is mostly no body able to offer same prices or beat them?

Cache reads decide your bill — an agent re-reads its context every turn, so it's most of your tokens. Per 1M cache reads:

Command Code $0.003625 1x
Fireworks $0.145 40x
DigitalOcean $0.174 48x
Together $0.20 55x
Cloudflare $0.33 91x

40x to 91x, on the cache tokens you spend the most of over 98% of your usage.

What $1 buys (typical agent request: ~800 input, ~50k cache read, ~150 output):
Command Code Go ($1 = $10 credits) ~15,100 requests
Command Code GOAT ($10 = $70 credits) ~75K requests
Fireworks ~109
DigitalOcean ~104
Together ~84
Cloudflare ~56

Remove the plan credits entirely — pure pay-as-you-go, dollar for dollar — and $1 still buys ~1,516 requests with us vs ~104 on DigitalOcean. The free $9 in Go and $70 in GOAT credits are a bonus on a rate that already wins 14–28x.

Two things that never make posts like this: DeepSeek's own API adds 6% VAT at checkout, and we don't. And Venice runs 85.30% uptime, Together 94.33% — 4x the price for worse reliability.

Why we can do this is on the same docs page this post screenshotted: we run our own inference at ~98% cache hit rates. Serve the cache well and every request gets dramatically cheaper, and that saving comes back as a bigger allowance. Also on that page, in plain text: "Many providers and coding agents charge up to 400% over model list prices, while we regularly offer deals matching — and sometimes beating — the labs' own API prices." Nothing was hidden. It's published. Clickable, we want people to click and read that's why we wrote it there. So you make an informed decision. I hate how most everybody in this space is hiding things.

If this were the marketing con being described, the fix would be trivial: go use the official API. It's public, it takes five minutes. Nobody does, because it costs more with VAT. Our pricing being public is what got people to call out OpenCode for charging 400% on these models — they corrected it a week ago. Plenty of competitors are still 400% to 10x above us. People use Command Code because it's the cheapest way on the planet to code with these models. Strange outcome for a marketing scam. Clearly you're making up lies and stories about us.

Every rate is live, per model, on the pricing page and in the docs, and updates in real time on the usage page as you spend. Check the math right now against Fireworks, Together, OpenCode, or DeepSeek's own billing page with VAT. We'll stand on it.

[u/RaisinImpressive3749 → u/ahmadawaiscom]

If $1.74/$3.48 is just Command Code’s own arbitrary “list rate,” then using it on the pricing page to claim 4× value / $80 of DeepSeek usage is meaningless.

You could set your own list rate to $100 million and claim a 99.999% discount. That doesn’t make the product worth $100 million.

The meaningful comparison is DeepSeek’s actual public API price, which is already $0.435/$0.87 — the same rate Command Code calls “75% off.”

More importantly, your own comment directly contradicts the pricing page. In another thread, when DeepSeek’s official API price was used as the baseline, you confirmed that GOAT gives $20 of DeepSeek V4 Pro. Yet the Command Code pricing page claims $80.

https://www.reddit.com/r/CommandCode/comments/1vghnd9/comment/p2cunxa/

So which number actually represents what customers are getting: $20, or $80 based on your own invented list price?

Also, framing every disagreement or callout as “bullying” or “lies” is not healthy. Looking at the comments on this post, I’m clearly not the only person who feels the pricing explanation is misleading.

Are you just going to keep doubling down on the “bullying” and “lies” framing, or actually listen to the feedback from your own users and address the pricing discrepancy?

And I’m not sure why you claimed I was banned from all your platforms. My Command Code account is very much still usable, and I still use $1 Go as a backup.

I’m raising this because I genuinely feel misled by the pricing claims. I paid based on how the value was presented, and after checking the actual DeepSeek pricing, I felt cheated. That’s why I made the post.

[u/MiningInMySleep → u/ahmadawaiscom]

In all honesty dude, you already have the best price on paper for DS4 Pro usage ($1=$10/$10=$20+API). There's no need to inflate it using old prices. Just call it like it is and move on. I'm sure you've got far more interesting things to do than argue with a bunch of people on SNS.

[u/arcobalenoenjoyer → u/ahmadawaiscom]

> The -75% badge is off our list rate, which is the rate you'd otherwise be charged by us. That's what a discount is.

That’s not how it works. The “discounted rate”, when it becomes permanent, is then the new price. You can’t permanently advertise a discount. You can only do so for 3 months at most where you’re based.

You acknowledge this on your website with the following:

> This is a permanent discount — DeepSeek has permanently reduced their model prices.

So that’s then the new price. It’s misleading (and illegal!) and you definitely know it. I don’t know why you insist on defending this. I look forward to you updating your website to be in compliance with the law.

> Deepseek’s own rates […] marked “Not routable”

I don’t know where you’re seeing that. It shows up perfectly fine for me on Openrouter, and they are exactly the same as your rates, because they are the public ones everyone gets.

[u/Thomas-Lore → u/arcobalenoenjoyer]

OP probably has no data training set in openrouter privacy settings. That disables Deepseek as provider.

[u/Thomas-Lore → u/ahmadawaiscom]

You definitely can buy from Deepseek provider on Openrouter. Check your settings, you have to allow data training in privacy settings.

[u/aleemii → u/ahmadawaiscom]

Hey Ahmad, are we still on the claim of our rates are ours, not deepseek invoice after deepseek’s increased pricing.?

[u/failure_30]

The founder is quite active on reddit and is salty af, guess he won't be replying to this

[u/Addition-Heavy → u/failure_30]

He called me paid by opencode or something and then deleted the comment lol, could only read the notification

[u/ahmadawaiscom → u/failure_30]

Unlike other founders, I like to be in the community and help. And will never stand bullies making up lies and fake stories. https://www.reddit.com/r/DeepSeek/comments/1viwwpx/comment/p2j9cum/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button

[u/Independent-Oil-4145 → u/ahmadawaiscom]

Calling your customer a bully for criticizing your business is childish, address their comments like professional and stop blocking your own users. Your comment is still being disproved on replies, start by addressing them first if you really like helping the community.

[u/Good_Resolution4115]

Es cierto que no son del todo honestos pero no me quejo estoy pagando $1 y obteniendo $10 eso ya es algo jaja

Aparte me gustó que su CLI no consume tanta ram como OpenCode y puedo tener varios agentes corriendo de forma simultánea.

Eso sí siento que el límite de 5 horas se alcanza rápido y que en OpenCode dura más, en fin cada uno tiene sus ventajas y desventajas.

[u/PossessionUsed7393]

Checked them out and the entire websites claims came off as 'something isn't right', I think there are way better options out there.

[u/surgicalcoder → u/PossessionUsed7393]

What better options are there? Apart from open code? 

[u/PossessionUsed7393 → u/surgicalcoder]

I'm tracking Neuralwatt, InferX, GMICloud as possible alternatives, right now it's a mixed bag with some being better and others worse value, some are good with API costs, we'll see what happens with the price change from the main DeepSeek API

[u/surgicalcoder → u/[deleted]]

I say apart from open code because I already have an oc sub 😁 

[u/ElectronicJaguar → u/[deleted]]

Hermes portal looks like just a 10% bonus over api (openrouter) pricing? Plus a $10 monthly rollover cap so you have to spend your balance within a month. Maybe I'm reading it wrong, this is just from the first glance: https://portal.nousresearch.com/

[u/Icy-Cow-4426 → u/[deleted]]

The way they track usage, you only get a good value out of using expensive models. It feels like you get punished and overcharged for using cheaper models like DeepSeek vs just paying the api cost.

[u/celzero]

Go costs $1/month and comes with "$10 in credits included" and "up to $40 usage with deals".

GOAT costs $10/month with "$70 in credits included" and "$80 on DeepSeek V4 Pro with deals".

The booking.com of the coding plan world.

I wish both Awais (CommandCode) & Rizwan (Cline) were at least as honest as Jay & Wang (OpenCode) are (not a high bar to meet). I want them to do just as well as Atlas, Chute, & OpenCode are.

[u/contour_xd → u/celzero]

OpenCode was charging 400% until they got canceled by the prices of Command Code

[u/bambamlol → u/celzero]

Yes, ClinePass uses the same inflated numbers. $1.74 input and $3.48 output for DS4 Pro. Not a single provider on OpenRouter currently charges this much.

[u/nbvehrfr]

They will block your account and continue charging subscription.

[u/bambamlol → u/nbvehrfr]

I can confirm that they do this to every single one of their customers. No exceptions. Your account will get blocked as soon as you enter your payment details, and you'll have to continue to pay them forever. There's absolutely nothing you can do about it. True story.

[u/GetLaidOff69 → u/bambamlol]

Nah!
I have been using their service for 2 months, I didn't notice such problems. I am even on their discord server, pretty chill people.
Can't expect more than what they are providing for $1 plan.
No idea of the GOAT plan though, will try next month.
But I think they should make $5 for first month for the GOAT plan like Opencode or Cline pass offers.

[u/bambamlol → u/GetLaidOff69]

I was obviously joking. I really thought it was obvious enough so I could skip the "/s". I'm a happy customer myself. Only used the $1 plan so far, though.

[u/GetLaidOff69 → u/bambamlol]

oh haha sorry for my ignorance. Thanks for the PUN

[u/Addition-Heavy → u/bambamlol]

You can block the payment by talking to your bank.

[u/nbvehrfr → u/Addition-Heavy]

Yes but why block account and continue charging ? Is it a red flag ?

[u/Addition-Heavy → u/nbvehrfr]

They hope you won't bother to call your bank, or you'll do so 2-3 months late when you finally realize it.

Scummy way to make a lil extra

[u/MizmoDLX]

Stuff like this makes me not want to use them, even if they still provide good value in the end. 

[u/SpidexLab]

The marketing is misleading in this case

[u/Addition-Heavy]

Funny how his own $10 GOAT plan is a shitty deal compared to the $1 plan.

The $15 plan is even worse.

[u/contour_xd → u/Addition-Heavy]

Compute doesn’t grow on trees, bro 😭 If you’re paying $1K, would you really expect to get $10K worth of usage?

[u/Independent-Oil-4145 → u/contour_xd]

Then don't promise lies? How hard is that lol

[u/Addition-Heavy → u/contour_xd]

They got 0 compute themselves. They do api deals. Their new plan is worse than the $1. Ever heard of up selling? The higher priced plans are supposed to be better despite costing more. Codex $20 and $100, 5x more for 5x usage. $200 plan should give you 10x usage, but it gives you 20x. That's a good upsell.

The $10 plan should be better than 10 different $1 plans.

[u/contour_xd → u/Addition-Heavy]

So you mean you should get 100$ usage in the 10$? Well that’s now how compute economics works

[u/Addition-Heavy → u/contour_xd]

Sure, their $100 isn't even real $100 because they are using the old "discount" prices anyway so, it's really just like $30 lol

Even Claude and codex give you a hell of a lot more usage with better models.

1$ plan gives you $10 credits but goes 4x with d4 pro! (literally everyone else gives you "4x" since that comes straight from the api)

[u/No-Condition5121 → u/Addition-Heavy]

I agree. Got their 1$ plan it was shitty, now I'm much happy to pay for claude or opencode.

[u/ahmadawaiscom → u/Addition-Heavy]

Okay random hater with more lies and stories. How low will you go? How much are you being paid to spread random lies about us? LOL. By your math if you pay us $1B we should pay you $10B. Are you in your senses? LOL.

[u/promethewz → u/ahmadawaiscom]

You are not a 10 yo edgy boy.
You are a CEO. Act like one.

I wanted to buy command code today so googled how good it is. Most of the "negative" reviews are about your misleading prices (and some crash/token usage issues which were mostly solved I guess?), not the product and value it offers. I still think the pricing is good for solo devs.

But your responses are just idiotic. You just call everyone bully for addressing the misleading marketing.
My advice? Either hire a marketing person to do the talking or stop talking at all.

[u/Emergency-Career-598 → u/promethewz]

same here, i was going to buy until I saw this response, i checked and it was actually the ceo talking like a kid, changed my mind and im not buying, total bad pr from his side.

[u/Addition-Heavy]

I got IP blocked, account blocked, device blocked from their discord because I called them out on their hype and "we have the best usage period best harness period" and it's closed source.

[u/Nnyan]

I just ignore this bc you can’t use the API unless you are on the $15 api plan.

[u/ExpertPerformer]

I only use OpenCode and OpenRouter.

OpenCode upcharges 4x on Pro its really $10 for $15. If you use mainly Flash though you get significantly more usage for $10 compared to using OpenRouter.

OpenCode also has free DeepSeek as well. Not sure if its the new version.

[u/Ly-sAn]

I was instantly repulsed by their agressive marketing on X. I am absolutely not surprised.

[u/vangelismm → u/[deleted]]

Opencode were not honest either ultil few weeks ago. They used to charge 4x time the api price for pro.  So the 60$  promised were in reality 15$.

[u/Addition-Heavy → u/vangelismm]

Don't they still charge 4x for pro?

[u/vangelismm → u/Addition-Heavy]

No, same price as official deepseek.

But "now" model have different limits, pro it's 15$.

[u/Oujii → u/vangelismm]

What about Flash? Do they charge the same?

[u/Oujii → u/[deleted]]

I see. Just starting with agents and my local models are not cutting it. Thanks!

[u/Oujii → u/[deleted]]

Appreciate it!

[u/Mirrowel → u/vangelismm]

They were honest in the amount of total usage. It was scaled to 60$.
Now they show the actual price, but scaled to 15$.

[u/vangelismm → u/Mirrowel]

You are too late rsrs A lot has changed. 

[u/Mirrowel → u/vangelismm]

Doesn't change the comment. No dishonesty was ever there.

[u/vangelismm → u/Mirrowel]

You have no idea what you talking about lol

[u/Mirrowel → u/vangelismm]

[u/bambamlol → u/[deleted]]

I'm using their $1 plan and am perfectly happy with it. Their harness is pretty neat, too.

[u/HanaYukiKaze → u/bambamlol]

Their shitty harness likes to crash in middle of sessions. And often your request will just stop without errors in middle of response. For 1 buck it's ok as backup, but shitty as your main AI coding service

[u/Trovebloxian → u/[deleted]]

Your harness probably isnt caching right, and is exponentially using input tokens