C
CGeneral-purpose AI chat assistant for writing, research, coding and everyday tasks
Free, from $8/mo
DeepSeek vs Microsoft Copilot
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
M
Choose Microsoft Copilot if…
- you want a free plan to start with
- you work on Windows, macOS
- you're in its core audience: individuals, students
Side by side
Feature DeepSeek Microsoft Copilot
Pricing modelPaidFreemium
Starting price—$18/mo
Free plan
Free trial
API
Open source
GitHub stars263.8K—
Web search—
Image generation—
PlatformsWeb, iOS, Android, APIWeb, Windows, macOS, iOS, Android
CategoryAI ChatbotsAI Chatbots
CompanyDeepSeekMicrosoft
Based in——
Founded——
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
M Microsoft Copilot
- Chat for brainstorming, summarizing and planning
- Web-grounded answers for research
- Content drafting and image generation
- Researcher for in-depth research
- Guided Learning study mode
- Notebook for organizing projects
- Copilot inside Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook and Teams on business plans
- Pre-built agents for research and data analysis
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
Microsoft Copilot
FreeFree
Microsoft 365 Copilot Business (add-on)$18/user/mo billed yearly (first-year promotional price); $25.20/user/mo monthly
Microsoft 365 Business Standard with Copilot$23.50/user/mo billed yearly; $28.20/user/mo monthly
Microsoft 365 Business Premium with Copilot$32/user/mo billed yearly; $38.40/user/mo monthly
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
Microsoft Copilot
- Free tier available with a Microsoft account
- Apps for web, Windows, Mac, iOS and Android, plus Microsoft Edge
- Works inside Microsoft 365 apps on business plans
- Free tier has usage limits on some capabilities
- Advanced business features such as Cowork and Autopilot are billed by usage on top of the license
- The $18 add-on price is a first-year promotion and requires an eligible Microsoft 365 Business plan
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