Comparisons › DeepSeek vs ChatGPT: how much cheaper is DeepSeek really?

DeepSeek vs ChatGPT: how much cheaper is DeepSeek really?

DeepSeek's entire pitch is price. The numbers are dramatic — but are you comparing like for like?

Value verdict: on intelligence per $1, DeepSeek currently comes out ahead — 218,182 vs 13,250. Prices move often, so recheck the calculator regularly.

At a glance

Model compared

DeepSeek	ChatGPT	ChatGPT
Flagship model	DeepSeek V4 Pro	GPT-6 Astra
Input / 1M	$0.66	$10
Output / 1M	$1.98	$50
Intelligence index	36	53
Tokens / $1	606.1k	25.0k
Intelligence / $1	218,182	13,250
Cheapest plan	—	ChatGPT Plus ($20/mo)

The price gap

DeepSeek V4 Pro costs $0.66 input / $1.98 output per 1M tokens at off-peak hours (peak is 2x). GPT-6 Astra costs $10 / $50. On output tokens alone DeepSeek is roughly 25x cheaper off-peak — about 12x at peak. Even against OpenAI's cheaper GPT-5.6 Sol ($4 / $20) it is 10x cheaper on output, and DeepSeek V4.1 Flash drops to $0.15 / $0.60.

Intelligence per dollar

Because the price is so low, DeepSeek's intelligence-per-dollar score dominates the calculator. That is a real advantage for high-volume workloads where raw throughput matters more than the last few percentage points of quality.

When to pick which

DeepSeek wins on cost per token by a landslide. OpenAI wins on ecosystem maturity and, for many teams, on output quality and tooling. If your workload is bulk and cost-sensitive, DeepSeek is hard to beat.

Bottom line: DeepSeek is the rational choice for high-volume, cost-sensitive workloads; ChatGPT justifies its price with ecosystem maturity and, for many teams, output quality. For pure tokens per dollar, DeepSeek wins.