Both DeepSeek and ChatGPT can be used for free. DeepSeek's official download page describes its app as a way to "chat with leading AI models for free", and ChatGPT has a Free plan with unlimited text chats (subject to abuse guardrails). The main differences are in the paid options: ChatGPT sells monthly plans from Go to Pro, while we found no paid consumer plan on DeepSeek's official site, only pay-as-you-go access for developers through its API.
This guide compares the two using only what each company says on its own website, checked on 20 October 2026.
Quick comparison
| DeepSeek | ChatGPT |
|---|
| Free access | Yes. The official download page says you can chat with its AI models for free in the app | Yes. The Free plan has unlimited text chats, subject to abuse guardrails |
| Paid consumer plans | None found on the official site | Go ($8 USD per month in the US, as listed in OpenAI's pricing docs), Plus ($20 per month), Pro (from $100 per month) |
| Developer access | API, pay as you go, priced per million tokens | API is billed separately from ChatGPT plans |
| Web search | "Search" option on the homepage; web search is described in the January 2025 app announcement | Yes, available on Free and paid plans |
| Reasoning mode | "DeepThink" on the homepage | Free and Go have a "Think" option; Plus and Pro have higher thinking levels |
| Desktop app | DeepSeek Harness (open source, public preview) | ChatGPT Work, with access that varies by plan |
| Open weights | Yes, DeepSeek-V4 weights are published on Hugging Face | Not described on the pages we checked |
DeepSeek: what it is and what is free
DeepSeek is an AI assistant and model developer. On its homepage it offers a web chat, a mobile app and a desktop product called DeepSeek Harness, and it shows two options next to the chat box: DeepThink and Search.
Free access. DeepSeek's download page calls the DeepSeek app "the official AI assistant from DeepSeek" and says you can chat with leading AI models for free. Its app announcement, dated 15 January 2025, went further, saying the app was free to use, with "no ads, no in-app purchases". That announcement is old and we could not confirm it still applies, so treat it as the launch position rather than a promise about today. The current download page is the better guide.
Features listed by DeepSeek. The 15 January 2025 app announcement lists sign-in by email, Google or Apple ID, chat history that syncs across devices, web search with a Deep-Think mode, and file upload with text extraction; these are launch features and may have changed. DeepSeek's V4 Preview page, dated 24 April 2026, says you can try the model at chat.deepseek.com using Expert Mode or Instant Mode, and that a 1M-token context window is now the default across all official DeepSeek services.
Open weights. DeepSeek says its V4 Preview is open-sourced, and its page links to the open weights on Hugging Face. This matters mainly to developers who want to run or study the models themselves.
DeepSeek Harness. This is a desktop tool, offered for macOS (Apple silicon) and Windows, that DeepSeek describes as open source under the MIT licence and in public preview. It is designed to work with documents, analyse spreadsheets, write code and schedule tasks, and it supports composable plugins. DeepSeek's page says Harness is in preview, with evolving core plugins and APIs, and it does not state a price for Harness.
DeepSeek paid options
We did not find a paid subscription for the DeepSeek chat app on its official site. The paid route is the API, which is billed per million tokens from a topped-up balance. DeepSeek's API pricing page lists two models (prices in US dollars):
- deepseek-flash: $0.15 per million input tokens (cache miss) and $0.6 per million output tokens at off-peak times; $0.3 and $1.2 at peak times.
- deepseek-v4-pro: $0.66 per million input tokens (cache miss) and $1.98 per million output tokens at off-peak times; $1.32 and $3.96 at peak times.
The page says peak hours are 01:00-04:00 and 06:00-10:00 UTC, Monday to Friday excluding Chinese public holidays, and that all other times are off-peak. It also warns that prices may change. See DeepSeek's official API pricing page for the current rates. Most everyday users will never need the API.
ChatGPT: what it is and what it costs
ChatGPT is OpenAI's general-purpose assistant. It handles writing, questions, analysis, images, voice chats, deep research and coding help, with the amount of each depending on your plan.
OpenAI's official pricing page lists these plans:
- Free: unlimited text chats (subject to abuse guardrails), with limited messages for uploads, image creation, voice chats and deep research.
- Go: more messages with tools, more uploads, more image creation and longer memory. The page says it may include ads. Go is $8 USD per month in the US, as listed in OpenAI's pricing docs.
- Plus: $20 per month according to OpenAI's help centre. It adds advanced reasoning models, expanded deep research, projects, scheduled tasks and custom GPTs.
- Pro: from $100 per month, with $100, $200 and $500 tiers listed in OpenAI's help centre. It adds higher usage allowances and a Pro reasoning option.
- Business and Enterprise: for teams. Business starts at 2 users, and Enterprise is sold through OpenAI's sales team.
OpenAI's help centre also says web search works on the Free plan and for people who are not signed in, and that answers can include citations. It warns that search results and citations can be incomplete, outdated or incorrect.
For a closer look at the paid tiers, see our separate guide to ChatGPT Plus vs Pro.
Which one suits you?
- You want a capable assistant at no cost: both have a free option. Try each with your own questions and see which answers suit you.
- You want to pay for more usage: ChatGPT is the one with consumer subscription plans. On DeepSeek's official site we found no equivalent.
- You are a developer watching costs: DeepSeek's API lists per-token prices, and its model weights are open. Compare them with OpenAI's API prices for your own workload.
- You want images, voice and a wide set of built-in tools: ChatGPT lists image creation, voice chats, projects and custom GPTs. DeepSeek's pages do not describe these, so we cannot say either way.
How we chose
We compared the two tools against their official websites on 20 October 2026: DeepSeek's homepage, download page, news pages and API documentation, and OpenAI's ChatGPT pricing page and help centre. We did not use review sites. Where an official page did not state a fact, we left it out. We have not compared answer quality, speed or privacy, because we could not confirm those from official pages.
Frequently asked questions
Is DeepSeek free?
DeepSeek's official download page says you can chat with its AI models for free in the DeepSeek app. Its homepage also links to a web chat. API use for developers is paid per token.
Does DeepSeek have a paid plan like ChatGPT Plus?
We did not find a paid consumer subscription on DeepSeek's official site. Its paid option is the API, billed from a topped-up balance.
Is ChatGPT free?
Yes. The Free plan includes unlimited text chats, subject to abuse guardrails, with limits on uploads, image creation, voice chats and deep research.
Can DeepSeek search the web?
DeepSeek's homepage shows a Search option, and its 15 January 2025 app announcement describes web search alongside a Deep-Think mode. That announcement is old, so check the app for how search works today.
Is DeepSeek open source?
DeepSeek says its V4 Preview is open-sourced, with open weights linked on Hugging Face, and that DeepSeek Harness is open source under the MIT licence. Check the licence terms on each model page before you use them in a product.
How much does ChatGPT cost?
Free costs nothing. Plus is $20 per month. Pro starts at $100 per month. Go is $8 USD per month in the US, as listed in OpenAI's pricing docs. Prices can change, so check the official pricing pages.
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