AI Vendor Intelligence · 2026

OpenAI vs DeepSeek Pricing (2026)

Compare pricing, plans, credits, enterprise features and value for money. Updated automatically from the AIFinOps Vendor Database.

8 min readLast updated Oct 3, 2026
OA
OpenAI
Enterprise
LLM · ChatGPT

Frontier general-purpose LLM platform powering ChatGPT, GPT-5 and the OpenAI API used across enterprises for assistants, copilots and automation.

Free
Yes
From
$20/mo
API
Yes
DS
DeepSeek
LLM · DeepSeek

AI research company offering high-efficiency reasoning, coding and multimodal models through its web product and usage-based API.

Free
Yes
From
—
API
Yes

Quick winner

Summary badges based on structured data only — no invented claims.

Best free plan
Tie

Both vendors offer a free plan

Best for enterprise
OpenAI

OpenAI publishes an enterprise tier

Best for developers
Tie

Both vendors expose a public API

Best overall value
OpenAI

Wider plan coverage across free, team and enterprise tiers

Pricing comparison

How OpenAI and DeepSeek price their plans side by side.

FeatureOpenAIDeepSeek
Free plan Yes Yes
Entry monthly price$20/mo—
Entry annual price$240/yr—
Team / Business plan$30/mo—
Enterprise planCustom—
Credits (entry paid tier)Higher rate limits—
Public API Yes Yes
SSO / SAML Yes No
Admin Console Yes No
Priority / dedicated support Yes No
Billing modelFlat / month, Per seat / month, CustomUsage-based
Annual billing discount——
Last pricing update2026-06-202026-10-03

Pricing history

Monthly price of the entry paid tier over time.

Feature comparison

Capability strengths derived from vendor category and published features.

General AI
OpenAI
DeepSeek
Coding
OpenAI
DeepSeek
Reasoning
OpenAI
DeepSeek
Writing
OpenAI
DeepSeek
Enterprise
OpenAI
DeepSeek
API
OpenAI
DeepSeek
Integrations
OpenAI
DeepSeek
Administration
OpenAI
DeepSeek

Pros & cons

Derived from published plan structure and billing model.

OA
OpenAI
Pros
  • Free plan available — limited gpt-4o-mini
  • Public API for developers and automation
  • Enterprise tier with gpt-5 priority, sso / saml
  • Category strengths: general ai, writing, reasoning
Cons
  • Enterprise pricing requires a sales conversation
DS
DeepSeek
Pros
  • Free plan available — pay per 1m tokens
  • Public API for developers and automation
  • Category strengths: general ai, writing, reasoning
Cons
  • No published enterprise tier

Best for

Recommendations based on structured capabilities.

Best for startups
OpenAI

Free tier plus low-cost entry paid plan

Best for developers
Either vendor works

Public API and coding-oriented capabilities

Best for enterprise
OpenAI

Published enterprise plan with SSO and admin controls

Best for marketing
Either vendor works

Strong writing, image or productivity features

Best for finance teams
Either vendor works

Annual billing plus predictable per-seat model

Pricing calculator

Estimate monthly and annual cost for your team.

Company cost comparison

What would these tools cost your company?

OA
ChatGPT
€2,778
per month
€33,333 per year
Annual billing saves €5,556
DS
DeepSeek
€0
per month
€0 per year
Difference / month
€2,778
Difference / year
€33,333
Lower-cost option
DeepSeek

Financial comparison only, based on the plans selected and current verified list pricing. Last verified: 2026-06-20 · 2026-10-03. Pricing may have changed.

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Frequently asked

Answers drawn from the AIFinOps Vendor Database.

Which is cheaper, OpenAI or DeepSeek?

OpenAI and DeepSeek start at the same entry price of $20/seat/mo.

Which has a better free plan?

Both OpenAI and DeepSeek offer a free plan. OpenAI free: Limited GPT-4o-mini. DeepSeek free: Pay per 1M tokens.

Which is better for teams?

OpenAI team option: Team at $30/seat/mo. DeepSeek team option: not published at custom pricing.

Which has enterprise pricing?

OpenAI publishes an enterprise tier. DeepSeek does not currently list one.

Can I switch from OpenAI to DeepSeek later?

Yes. Both vendors offer month-to-month billing on their entry paid plans, so you can migrate without long-term lock-in. Import your team's spend into AIFinOps to model the switch before committing.

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