If you're comparing DeepSeek vs ChatGPT, you're trying to decide between two fundamentally different approaches to AI: an open-source, reasoning-focused model at rock-bottom prices versus a polished, multimodal product backed by massive infrastructure.
Both are excellent. The right choice depends on what you're doing.
The Quick Answer
Choose DeepSeek if you want strong reasoning and coding at minimal cost, self-hosting options, or need to run AI locally/privately.
Choose ChatGPT if you want multimodal capabilities (vision, voice, image generation), seamless integrations, and a polished consumer experience.
Pricing Comparison
This is where DeepSeek changes the game.
DeepSeek V3.2 API pricing:
Input (cache hit): $0.028/million tokens
Input (cache miss): $0.28/million tokens
Output: $0.42/million tokens
ChatGPT/OpenAI GPT-4 class pricing:
Input: $2.50–$10/million tokens
Output: $10–$30/million tokens
DeepSeek costs roughly 10–25× less for comparable tasks. For API-heavy workloads—running agents, processing documents, building applications—the savings are significant.
The consumer apps tell a different story. DeepSeek's web and mobile apps are free with no usage limits. ChatGPT Plus costs $20/month for priority access and advanced features. If you're using AI through a chat interface rather than building with APIs, DeepSeek's free tier is hard to beat.
Model Capabilities
DeepSeek V3.2 (released December 2025) integrates "thinking mode" directly into tool use. It scores 96% on AIME 2025 math benchmarks and competes with GPT-5 on reasoning tasks. The architecture uses Mixture of Experts—671B total parameters with only 37B activated per query—making it efficient without sacrificing capability.
Key strengths:
Mathematical and logical reasoning
Code generation and analysis
Long-context handling (128K tokens)
Agent workflows and tool use
ChatGPT (GPT-5/GPT-4.1 series) leads in multimodal integration—text, images, voice, video in one interface. GPT-4.1 offers up to 1 million tokens of context. The ChatGPT product layer adds web browsing, DALL-E image generation, file analysis, and integrations with thousands of apps.
Key strengths:
Multimodal input/output (see images, generate images, voice)
Polished consumer product
Enterprise security and compliance
Extensive plugin/integration ecosystem
When to Use Each
DeepSeek excels at:
Coding and technical tasks
Math-heavy problems
Building cost-sensitive AI applications
Self-hosted or privacy-focused deployments
Agent workflows requiring many API calls
ChatGPT excels at:
Tasks requiring image understanding or generation
Voice-based interactions
General consumer use cases
Enterprise deployments needing compliance
Workflows requiring app integrations
The Self-Hosting Advantage
DeepSeek releases its models as open weights. You can run DeepSeek locally on your own hardware, fine-tune it for specific tasks, and keep all data private. This matters for:
Organizations with strict data policies
Developers building products on top of the model
Anyone who wants to avoid per-token costs entirely
ChatGPT is API-only for most models. You're always sending data to OpenAI's servers.
Using Both Through Zo
On Zo Computer, you can use both DeepSeek and ChatGPT models through a single interface. Switch between them based on the task:
Go to Settings > Your AI to choose your default model
Use DeepSeek for cost-sensitive agent workflows and coding tasks
Use ChatGPT/GPT models for multimodal work or when you need the integrated tooling
Zo also supports running local LLMs via Ollama if you want to self-host entirely. See How to Run a Local LLM on Your Server for setup instructions.
The Bottom Line
DeepSeek vs ChatGPT isn't about which is "better"—it's about matching the tool to the job.
If you're building AI applications, running automated agents, or doing heavy technical work, DeepSeek's cost efficiency and open-source availability make it the practical choice. If you need a polished all-in-one assistant with vision, voice, and seamless integrations, ChatGPT remains the product to beat.
For many users, the answer is both: use ChatGPT for interactive multimodal work, DeepSeek for cost-sensitive automation.