Head-to-head · profiles checked Oct 5, 2026
Pick ChatGPT for a finished chat app and DeepSeek for a pay-per-token API. ChatGPT has a Free plan, Plus at $20/month and apps for web, desktop and mobile. DeepSeek's documented offer is its API: deepseek-flash starts at $0.15 per 1M input tokens off-peak. We could not verify the DeepSeek chat app's price, free status or privacy terms.
We based this comparison on our ChatGPT profile verified 2026-09-30 and our DeepSeek profile verified 2026-10-05, both built from official vendor pages; it uses no third-party benchmarks and no vendor paid for placement.
ChatGPT is the better-documented choice for everyday chat: it has a free tier, web, desktop and mobile apps, and published business privacy controls. DeepSeek's verified strength is its API, which is billed per 1M tokens and accepts OpenAI- or Anthropic-format requests. We could not verify the DeepSeek chat app's free status, plans or privacy terms, so a like-for-like chat comparison is incomplete. Developers who pay per token should look at DeepSeek; people who want one subscription app should look at ChatGPT.
Based on our ChatGPT profile verified 2026-09-30 and DeepSeek profile verified 2026-10-05; the DeepSeek chat app could not be checked because the site blocked automated access, and no benchmark was run.
If you only want the answer, this is the table. Everything below is the evidence from the two documented profiles.
| You want to | Use | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Chat about everyday questions for free | ChatGPT | ChatGPT Free gives unlimited everyday text chat; DeepSeek's chat app free status is unconfirmed |
| Write or edit documents | ChatGPT | ChatGPT lists drafting and editing text plus editable documents via ChatGPT Work |
| Summarize or analyze uploaded files | ChatGPT | ChatGPT documents file uploads and data analysis; DeepSeek's profile lists none for chat |
| Generate images | ChatGPT | ChatGPT lists image generation; DeepSeek lists no image output |
| Research with cited web search | ChatGPT | ChatGPT has web search with citations and deep research; DeepSeek has a Search mode with undocumented sources |
| Work through a multi-step problem | Either | ChatGPT offers reasoning models on Plus; DeepSeek offers DeepThink mode |
| Build an app on a model API | DeepSeek | DeepSeek's API takes OpenAI- or Anthropic-format requests with JSON output and tool calls |
| Pay per token instead of a subscription | DeepSeek | DeepSeek bills per 1M tokens; no ChatGPT plan includes API usage |
| Run a team workspace with SSO | ChatGPT | ChatGPT Business and Enterprise offer shared workspaces, SAML SSO and SCIM |
| Use a coding agent | Either | ChatGPT includes Codex; DeepSeek's API docs list agent integrations |
| Plan | Tool | Price | Limits |
|---|---|---|---|
| ChatGPT Free | ChatGPT | $0 | Unlimited everyday text chat subject to safeguards; separate caps on uploads, images, voice |
| ChatGPT Go | ChatGPT | Not confirmed (US price) | Higher limits than Free; may include ads |
| ChatGPT Plus | ChatGPT | $20/mo | May include message caps during high demand |
| ChatGPT Pro | ChatGPT | $100, $200 or $500/mo | Allowances vary by tier |
| ChatGPT Business Standard | ChatGPT | $25/seat/mo ($20 annual) | Minimum 2 seats |
| ChatGPT Business Premium | ChatGPT | $125/seat/mo | 5x more usage than Standard |
| ChatGPT Enterprise | ChatGPT | Custom (sales) | Depends on agreement |
| deepseek-flash API | DeepSeek | $0.15 / $0.60 per 1M input / output tokens off-peak ($0.30 / $1.20 peak) | Context 1M, concurrency 2,500 |
| deepseek-v4-pro API | DeepSeek | $0.66 / $1.98 per 1M input / output tokens off-peak ($1.32 / $3.96 peak) | Context 1M, concurrency 500 |
| DeepSeek chat app | DeepSeek | Not confirmed | Not stated |
USD as published on each vendor's pricing page, checked Oct 5, 2026. ChatGPT pricing in full · DeepSeek pricing in full
| ChatGPT | DeepSeek | |
|---|---|---|
| Messages / rate limits | Free: unlimited everyday text chat subject to safeguards; other tools capped by plan | API concurrency 2,500 (deepseek-flash) and 500 (deepseek-v4-pro); chat app limits not stated |
| Context / file size | Free Library storage of 500 MB; context length not stated | 1M-token context, 384K max output |
| Seats / team | Business needs 2 seats minimum; Enterprise via sales | No team plans documented |
| Feature | ChatGPT | DeepSeek |
|---|---|---|
| Image generation | Yes | No |
| Voice | Yes | Not stated |
| File upload | Yes | Not stated |
| Web search | Yes | Yes (Search mode) |
| Reasoning mode | Yes (reasoning models on paid plans) | Yes (DeepThink) |
| Agents / tools | Codex and ChatGPT Work | Tool calls through the API |
| API | Yes, separate product billed by usage | Yes, billed per 1M tokens |
| Mobile apps | Yes | Not verified |
| ChatGPT | DeepSeek | |
|---|---|---|
| Training on your data | Consumer chats may be used unless you opt out or use temporary chat; Business, Enterprise and API not by default | Not stated |
| Retention | Temporary chats may be kept up to 30 days for safety; consumer default not verified | Not stated |
| Business controls | SAML SSO, SCIM, role-based access, DPA, SOC 2 | Not stated |
Taken from each vendor's published policy pages at the time of our check. Policies change; the source links are at the bottom.
Support assistant: 2,500 input + 500 output tokens
| Model | Tool | Cost per answer |
|---|---|---|
| gpt-6-luna | ChatGPT | $0.0005 |
| gpt-6.1-sol | ChatGPT | $0.0100 |
| gpt-6-astra | ChatGPT | $0.0500 |
| DeepSeek V4.1 Flash | DeepSeek | $0.0014 |
| DeepSeek V4 Pro 0813 | DeepSeek | $0.0053 |
USD at list API prices from research/pricing/models.json (DeepSeek at peak rates); chat subscriptions are flat-rate and not included Run your own numbers in the calculator.
OpenAI's general-purpose AI assistant for writing, research, analysis, image generation and coding help.
Free stops at: Unlimited everyday text chats subject to abuse-prevention safeguards, Separate usage limits for file uploads,…
Free · paid from $20/mo US · checked Sep 30
DeepSeek offers an AI chat assistant and a usage-priced API for its V4-series language models.
Free stops at: Chat app free status not confirmed; the fetched chat site returned an error to the bot. The API deducts from …
Pricing US price unconfirmed
For API use, DeepSeek publishes per-token prices, from $0.15 per 1M input tokens off-peak for deepseek-flash. ChatGPT subscriptions are monthly (Plus is $20/month) and its API is billed separately. We could not confirm a DeepSeek chat app price, so a chat-to-chat price comparison is not possible.
Unconfirmed: we could not verify whether the DeepSeek chat app is free. The chat site blocked our automated check, so the free status and plans are unverified. ChatGPT has a documented Free plan with unlimited everyday text chat, subject to guardrails and caps on other tools.
ChatGPT consumer plans may use conversations to improve models unless you turn that off or use temporary chat; Business, Enterprise and API data is not used by default. DeepSeek's training and retention terms were not verified, so check its policy before sharing sensitive data.
ChatGPT and DeepSeek both have an API. OpenAI's API is a separate usage-billed product that no ChatGPT plan includes. DeepSeek's API is billed per 1M tokens and offers OpenAI- and Anthropic-format endpoints, with rates that depend on peak or off-peak hours.
Only official vendor pages. No third-party benchmarks, forum threads or press were used. How we review.
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