Our Verdict
ChatGPT wins
Use DeepSeek free if your work is mostly text — writing, coding, studying — and nothing you type is sensitive: near-frontier reasoning at $0, with open weights you can self-host. Pay for ChatGPT Plus ($20/mo) when you need the full toolbox — image generation, voice, memory, deep research, agents — or when your data cannot leave US servers. At the thinking levels Plus unlocks, the two models score nearly the same on independent benchmarks; you are paying for tools and trust, not brains.
DeepSeek V4
Free (open-weight) | API: $0.14/M input, $0.28/M output
DeepSeek V4 is an open-source AI model by Chinese startup DeepSeek, featuring the Engram conditional memory architecture, 1M token context window, and hybrid attention (CSA/HCA) that reduces FLOPs by 73%. Two SKUs: V4-Pro (1.6T params, 49B activate) and V4-Flash (284B params, ~10B activate). MIT licensed with open weights on HuggingFace. Pricing: $0.14/M input tokens, $0.28/M output tokens — disrupting the AI market.
Strengths
- High-quality chat tool
- User-friendly interface and easy to use
- Provides useful core features
Could be better
- Free tier has usage limits
- Premium features require a paid subscription
✓ Winner
ChatGPT
Free $0 | Plus $20/mo | Pro $100-200/mo
OpenAI's flagship conversational AI. GPT-5 powers ChatGPT Plus with unlimited access, DALL-E image generation, voice mode, and Advanced Voice. The most widely-used AI assistant in the world.
Strengths
- Larger ecosystem
- DALL-E + voice built-in
- Advanced Voice mode
- Plus includes Sora video
Could be better
- Long context limited vs Gemini
- Can be verbose
- Creative writing not as polished as GPT-4o
| Features |
DeepSeek V4 |
ChatGPT |
| Rating |
4.5 / 5.0 |
4.5 / 5.0 |
| Pricing Model |
freemium |
freemium |
| Pricing Detail |
Free (open-weight) | API: $0.14/M input, $0.28/M output |
Free $0 | Plus $20/mo | Pro $100-200/mo |
| Category |
chat |
chat |
| Popularity |
0 views |
0 views |
| Official Site |
Visit DeepSeek V4 → |
Visit ChatGPT → |
* Disclosure: This page contains affiliate links. If you click and sign up or make a purchase, we may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.