Microsoft Copilot vs DeepSeek
Microsoft Copilot and DeepSeek are both AI assistants tools. Microsoft Copilot is aimed at enterprise and small businesses, while DeepSeek is aimed at developers and small businesses. Both have a free plan.
AI assistant inside Windows and Microsoft 365
Free AI chat app and low-cost API built on open-weight models
| Pricing | Freemium · $10 | Freemium |
| Starting price | $9.99/mo | Not published |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Built for | Enterprise, Small businesses | Developers, Small businesses, Enterprise, Freelancers |
| Platforms | web, macos, windows, ios, android | web, ios, android |
| Country | US · 2023 | CN · 2023 |
| Rating | — | — |
Choose Microsoft Copilot if
Organizations standardized on Microsoft 365.
- Deep integration where people already work
- Enterprise-grade security and compliance
- Uses organizational context
Look elsewhere if: Google Workspace teams (Gemini) or individuals who prefer ChatGPT or Claude.
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).
Microsoft Copilot vs DeepSeek pricing
Microsoft Copilot
- Copilot (free)$0Limited free version subject to capacity
- Microsoft 365 Personal$9.99/mo$99.99/yr; Copilot in Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook
- Microsoft 365 Family$12.99/mo$129.99/yr; 1-6 people, AI for owner only
- Microsoft 365 Premium$19.99/mo$199.99/yr; extensive Copilot usage, agentic AI
- Microsoft 365 Copilot Business$25.20/user/moAdd-on; $21 paid yearly (promo $18 to 31 Dec 2026)
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
Microsoft Copilot · Key features
- Copilot in Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, Teams
- Grounded in Microsoft Graph work data
- Meeting recaps and action items in Teams
- Copilot Studio for custom agents
- Enterprise data protection
- Free consumer Copilot with web grounding
Cons
- Per-user business add-on is expensive
- Quality depends on permissions and data hygiene
- Uneven experience across apps
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
Microsoft Copilot vs DeepSeek: FAQ
Do Microsoft Copilot and DeepSeek have a free plan?
Yes, both Microsoft Copilot and DeepSeek have a free plan; paid plans add more usage and features.