Head-to-head · verified September 25, 2026
Claude vs DeepSeek: price comparison
DeepSeek has no paid consumer plan; Claude starts at $20/mo (Claude Pro).
Plans tier by tier
| Claude | DeepSeek | |
|---|---|---|
| Free | Claude Free Free | DeepSeek (free app) Free |
| Entry (under $15) | — | — |
| Standard (~$20) | Claude Pro $20/mo | — |
| Premium ($90+) | Claude Max 5× $100/mo Claude Max 20× $200/mo | — |
Key numbers
| Claude | DeepSeek | |
|---|---|---|
| Cheapest paid plan | Claude Pro $20/mo | None |
| Most expensive plan | Claude Max 20× $200/mo | — |
| Plans on sale | 4 | 1 |
| Annual discount | Yes | Not listed |
| Cheapest API model | Claude Haiku 4.5 $1 / $5 | DeepSeek V4.1-Flash $0.15 / $0.60 |
| Priciest API model | Claude Fable 5.1 $10 / $50 | DeepSeek V4-Pro $0.66 / $1.98 |
Pick Claude if…
Anyone who writes for a living, works with long PDFs and reports, or ships code.
- Opus 5.5 included from the $20 Pro tier
- Handles very long documents and codebases (1M-token models)
- Pro is $17/month on annual billing
Best-in-class for writing and coding. Pro is the sweet spot; Max is for people who hit Pro limits daily.
Claude plans in detail →Pick DeepSeek if…
Budget-first users, students, and developers who want cheap reasoning via API.
- Consumer app is free
- API among the cheapest capable options
- V4.1-Flash replaced V4-Flash on Sept 10, 2026
The best price in AI is still $0. Know the data-policy trade-offs first.
DeepSeek plans in detail →Recent changes
- Claude Claude Opus 5.5 launched
API at $4 / $20. Included in Pro and Max (not Free). Paid 5-hour limits raised, plus a one-time reset usable until Oct 22.
- DeepSeek V4.1-Flash replaces V4-Flash; peak pricing
V4.1-Flash $0.15 / $0.60 off-peak. API prices double during weekday peak windows (01–04 and 06–10 UTC). V4-Pro now $0.66 / $1.98 off-peak.
- Claude Claude Fable 5.1 launched
API at $10 / $50. Not included in Pro; usable on Max for up to 50% of the weekly allowance. Sonnet 5's planned price rise to $3 / $15 was cancelled.
Claude vs DeepSeek: questions
Do Claude and DeepSeek both have a free plan?
Yes. Claude Free: daily usage limit, projects and chat history. DeepSeek (free app): no paid tier, reasoning mode.
Should I choose Claude or DeepSeek?
Choose Claude if you are: anyone who writes for a living, works with long PDFs and reports, or ships code. Choose DeepSeek if you are: budget-first users, students, and developers who want cheap reasoning via API.
Sources
Checked against the official pages below on September 25, 2026. Prices are USD before local tax. See how we verify prices and the change log.