C
CGeneral-purpose AI chat assistant for writing, research, coding and everyday tasks
Free, from $8/mo
Claude vs DeepSeek
Pricing, features, platforms and who each one suits — side by side.
C
Choose Claude if…
- you want a free plan to start with
- you work on macOS, Windows, Chrome
- you're in its core audience: knowledge workers, software developers
D
Choose DeepSeek if…
- you're in its core audience: developers, ai app builders
Side by side
Feature Claude DeepSeek
Pricing modelFreemiumPaid
Starting price$17/mo—
Free plan
Free trial
API
Open source
GitHub stars—263.8K
PlatformsWeb, iOS, Android, macOS, Windows, Chrome, APIWeb, iOS, Android, API
CategoryAI ChatbotsAI Chatbots
CompanyAnthropic PBCDeepSeek
Based inUnited States—
Founded——
Part of——
Key features
C Claude
- Chat with web search and memory
- File creation and code execution
- Artifacts, Slides, Docs and Design tools
- Claude Code for software development
- Projects for organizing work
- Scheduled and handed-off tasks
- Chrome, Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace integrations
- Per-token API with batch discount
D DeepSeek
- Web chat at chat.deepseek.com
- Mobile app and DeepSeek Harness desktop client
- OpenAI- and Anthropic-compatible API
- 1M-token context window, 384K max output
- Thinking mode with adjustable reasoning effort
- Web search and page fetch through the API
- Discounted pricing for cache hits and off-peak hours
Plans and prices
From each vendor's site. Prices change — confirm before buying.
Claude
Free$0
Pro$20/mo or $17/mo billed yearly ($200)
MaxFrom $100/mo
Team Standard$25/seat/mo or $20/seat billed yearly
Team Premium$125/seat/mo or $100/seat billed yearly
Enterprise$20/seat billed yearly + usage at API rates
DeepSeek
deepseek-flash API$0.15/1M input tokens (cache miss, off-peak), $0.6/1M output tokens off-peak; peak rates are double
deepseek-v4-pro API$0.66/1M input tokens (cache miss, off-peak), $1.98/1M output tokens off-peak; peak rates are double
Search & Fetch$0.75 per 1,000 successful requests
Strengths and limitations
Claude
- Free plan includes web search, code execution and memory
- Apps for web, desktop, iOS and Android
- Max plans include $100-$200/month in API credits
- Enterprise plan offers a HIPAA-ready option and a Compliance API
- Claude Code is not included in the free plan
- Max plans are billed monthly only
- Enterprise requires a 20-seat minimum
- API is billed separately from chat plans
DeepSeek
- Off-peak API prices are 50% of peak prices
- 1M-token context on both API models
- Works with OpenAI and Anthropic API formats
- Available on web, mobile, and desktop
- Peak-hour API rates are twice the off-peak rates
- Web search and fetch through the API cost extra per request
- The site does not state free-tier terms or limits for the chat apps
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Built from each vendor's public website; we haven't tested them hands-on. Editorial policy