ChatGPT vs DeepSeek: which free plan is better?
Which one to pick
DeepSeek is free with no paid plan and no published limits, but it needs an account and stores data in China. ChatGPT opens without an account and does more (images, voice), with its own limits.
| Free plan | ChatGPT | DeepSeek |
|---|---|---|
| What's free | Everyday text chats with no fixed message cap (with abuse protection). File uploads, image creation, voice and deep research are limited, with no numbers published. | Free to use with no published limits. Two modes, Expert and Instant. There is no paid plan. |
| Account | not needed | required |
| Minimum age | 13+ | 18+ |
| What it does | text, images, files, voice, code, web search | text, files, web search |
| Paid plan | Go / Plus: $8 / $20 | — |
| Checked on | October 16, 2026 | October 16, 2026 |
We compare what the official pages say about each free plan; we don't rate which AI is "smarter".
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