C
CGeneral-purpose AI chat assistant for writing, research, coding and everyday tasks
Free, from $8/mo
DeepSeek vs DuckDuckGo
Pricing, features, platforms and who each one suits — side by side.
D
Choose DeepSeek if…
- you need an API to build on
- you're in its core audience: developers, ai app builders
D
Choose DuckDuckGo if…
- you want a free plan to start with
- you work on macOS, Windows, Chrome
- you're in its core audience: privacy-conscious internet users, everyday searchers
Side by side
Feature DeepSeek DuckDuckGo
Pricing modelPaidFree
Starting price—Free
Free plan
Free trial
API
Open source
Trains AI on your content—No
GitHub stars263.8K—
PlatformsWeb, iOS, Android, APIWeb, iOS, Android, macOS, Windows, Chrome
CategoryAI ChatbotsAI Search
CompanyDeepSeekDuck Duck Go, Inc.
Based in—United States
Founded—2008
Part of——
Key features
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
D DuckDuckGo
- Private web search
- Duck.ai chat available from the search box
- Browsers for iOS, Android, Mac and Windows
- Browser extension that blocks web trackers
- Email Protection service
- Themes and search settings
Plans and prices
From each vendor's site. Prices change — confirm before buying.
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
DuckDuckGo
FreeFree
Strengths and limitations
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
DuckDuckGo
- Search is described as private and free
- Browsers available for iOS, Android, Mac and Windows
- Free tracker-blocking extension
- AI chat (Duck.ai) built into the search experience
- The home page does not describe Duck.ai's features or which AI models it uses
- No API or developer access listed
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Built from each vendor's public website; we haven't tested them hands-on. Editorial policy