ChatGPT vs DeepSeek
ChatGPT and DeepSeek are both AI assistants tools. ChatGPT is aimed at small businesses and creators, while DeepSeek is aimed at developers and small businesses. Both have a free plan.
OpenAI's conversational assistant
Free AI chat app and low-cost API built on open-weight models
| Pricing | Freemium · $8 | Freemium |
| Starting price | $8/mo | Not published |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Built for | Small businesses, Creators, Developers | Developers, Small businesses, Enterprise, Freelancers |
| Platforms | web, ios, android, macos, windows | web, ios, android |
| Country | US · 2022 | CN · 2023 |
| Rating | — | — |
Choose ChatGPT if
Knowledge workers, students and teams who want one general-purpose assistant with wide capabilities.
- Broadest feature set and app ecosystem
- Strong free tier
- Desktop and mobile apps are polished
Look elsewhere if: Workflows that need deterministic outputs or on-premise deployment; use APIs with structured outputs instead.
Choose DeepSeek if
Developers and cost-conscious teams who want strong reasoning and coding models at very low API prices or as open weights.
- Consumer chat is completely free
- Among the cheapest frontier-class API token prices
- Open weights allow self-hosting and fine-tuning
Look elsewhere if: Organisations with strict data residency or public-sector rules (Mistral Le Chat, Claude, ChatGPT Enterprise).
ChatGPT vs DeepSeek pricing
ChatGPT
- Free$0Ad-supported, limited usage
- Go$8/moAd-supported, higher limits than Free
- Plus$20/moAdvanced models and features
- Pro (5x)$100/mo5x Plus usage
- Pro (20x)$200/mo20x Plus usage
DeepSeek
- Chat app$0Web, iOS and Android; no paid consumer tier
- deepseek-flash API$0.30/1M input tokensPeak cache-miss rate; output $1.20/1M; off-peak rates are half
- deepseek-v4-pro API$1.32/1M input tokensPeak cache-miss rate; output $3.96/1M; off-peak rates are half
- Search & Fetch API$0.75/1,000 requestsBilled per successful request
ChatGPT · Key features
- Chat with web search, citations and file/image analysis
- Deep Research for long-form multi-source reports
- Image generation and editing
- Advanced Voice mode and desktop apps
- Custom GPTs with Actions and a GPT Store
- Projects, memory and Business/Enterprise admin controls
Cons
- Usage limits on Plus for the best models
- Pro tier is expensive
- Hallucinations still require verification
DeepSeek · Key features
- Free chat app with thinking and instant modes on web and mobile
- 1M-token context window on V4 models
- API compatible with OpenAI and Anthropic request formats
- Automatic context caching with much cheaper cache-hit pricing
- Off-peak API rates at half the peak price
- Tool calls, JSON output and FIM completion for coding tools
Cons
- Hosted service stores user data on servers in China
- Banned on government devices in several countries
- Answers on politically sensitive Chinese topics are censored
ChatGPT vs DeepSeek: FAQ
Do ChatGPT and DeepSeek have a free plan?
Yes, both ChatGPT and DeepSeek have a free plan; paid plans add more usage and features.