DeepSeek vs Glean
DeepSeek and Glean are both AI assistants tools. DeepSeek is aimed at developers and small businesses, while Glean is aimed at enterprise. Only DeepSeek has a free plan.
Free AI chat app and low-cost API built on open-weight models
Enterprise AI search and assistant across all your company apps
| Pricing | Freemium | Paid |
| Starting price | Not published | Not published |
| Free plan | Yes | No |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Built for | Developers, Small businesses, Enterprise, Freelancers | Enterprise |
| Platforms | web, ios, android | web |
| Country | CN · 2023 | US · 2019 |
| Rating | — | — |
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).
Choose Glean if
Large companies with knowledge spread across dozens of SaaS tools that need permission-safe AI search and assistants.
- Among the most mature permission-aware enterprise search products
- Very broad connector library including code and ticketing tools
- Model-agnostic, so companies are not tied to one AI vendor
Look elsewhere if: Small teams or firms already standardized on one suite's AI (Microsoft 365 Copilot, ChatGPT Enterprise or Notion AI are simpler).
DeepSeek vs Glean pricing
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
Glean
- EnterpriseCustom quoteSales-led, seat-based; Search, Assistant and Agents via demo
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
Glean · Key features
- Permission-aware enterprise search across 275+ connected apps
- Glean Assistant answers questions with citations to company sources
- Glean Agents that automate multi-step tasks from plain-language instructions
- Enterprise Graph mapping people, content, projects and activity
- Near real-time permission sync so users only see what they may access
- Model routing across 40+ open and frontier models
Cons
- No public pricing and no self-serve trial
- Priced for enterprises; reported seat minimums put off small firms
- Answer quality depends on tidy permissions and content in sources
DeepSeek vs Glean: FAQ
Do DeepSeek and Glean have a free plan?
DeepSeek has a free plan. Glean has no free plan.
Which is better for small businesses, DeepSeek or Glean?
DeepSeek lists small businesses as a core audience, while Glean is aimed more at enterprise.