Head-to-head · facts checked 21 Sept 2026
DeepSeek vs Gemini
Gemini uniquely has 24 features · DeepSeek uniquely has 13 features.
From
$4.99/mo (Google AI Plus)
Free plan
Yes
The verdict
DeepSeek or Gemini?
Section 01
Pricing, plan by plan
Every plan each vendor publishes, monthly and yearly where both are offered.
DeepSeek
Free
Free
Free chat app on web, iOS and Android, no paid plan
deepseek-v4-flash (Off-Peak, Cache Hit)
$0.007 / 1M input tokens
Cache hit, off-peak pricing; 2500 concurrency limit
deepseek-v4-flash (Peak, Cache Hit)
$0.014 / 1M input tokens
Cache hit, peak pricing; 2500 concurrency limit
deepseek-v4-flash (Off-Peak, Cache Miss)
$0.22 / 1M input tokens
Cache miss, off-peak pricing; 2500 concurrency limit
deepseek-v4-flash (Peak, Cache Miss)
$0.44 / 1M input tokens
Cache miss, peak pricing; 2500 concurrency limit
deepseek-v4-flash (Off-Peak, Output)
$0.66 / 1M output tokens
Output tokens, off-peak pricing; 2500 concurrency limit
deepseek-v4-flash (Peak, Output)
$1.32 / 1M output tokens
Output tokens, peak pricing; 2500 concurrency limit
deepseek-v4-pro (Off-Peak, Cache Hit)
$0.022 / 1M input tokens
Cache hit, off-peak pricing; 500 concurrency limit
deepseek-v4-pro (Peak, Cache Hit)
$0.044 / 1M input tokens
Cache hit, peak pricing; 500 concurrency limit
deepseek-v4-pro (Off-Peak, Cache Miss)
$0.66 / 1M input tokens
Cache miss, off-peak pricing; 500 concurrency limit
deepseek-v4-pro (Peak, Cache Miss)
$1.32 / 1M input tokens
Cache miss, peak pricing; 500 concurrency limit
deepseek-v4-pro (Off-Peak, Output)
$1.98 / 1M output tokens
Output tokens, off-peak pricing; 500 concurrency limit
deepseek-v4-pro (Peak, Output)
$3.96 / 1M output tokens
Output tokens, peak pricing; 500 concurrency limit
deepseek-v4-flash-vision-exp (Off-Peak, Cache Hit)
$0.007 / 1M input tokens
Cache hit, off-peak pricing; 2500 concurrency limit; FIM not supported
deepseek-v4-flash-vision-exp (Peak, Cache Hit)
$0.014 / 1M input tokens
Cache hit, peak pricing; 2500 concurrency limit; FIM not supported
deepseek-v4-flash-vision-exp (Off-Peak, Cache Miss)
$0.22 / 1M input tokens
Cache miss, off-peak pricing; 2500 concurrency limit; FIM not supported
deepseek-v4-flash-vision-exp (Peak, Cache Miss)
$0.44 / 1M input tokens
Cache miss, peak pricing; 2500 concurrency limit; FIM not supported
deepseek-v4-flash-vision-exp (Off-Peak, Output)
$0.66 / 1M output tokens
Output tokens, off-peak pricing; 2500 concurrency limit; FIM not supported
deepseek-v4-flash-vision-exp (Peak, Output)
$1.32 / 1M output tokens
Output tokens, peak pricing; 2500 concurrency limit; FIM not supported
Gemini
Free
Free
Image generation with Nano Banana 2
Google AI Plus
$4.99/mo
Get 2x higher usage limits
Google AI Pro
$19.99/mo
Get 4x higher usage limits
Google AI Ultra
$99.99/mo
Get up to 20x higher usage limits
Section 02
Pros and cons
From each tool's full review, written from the same checked facts.
DeepSeek
Pros
- The chat app is free, with no paid consumer plan.
- The weights of DeepSeek V4, V3 and R1 are published on Hugging Face.
- It runs on the web and as iOS and Android apps.
- A developer API for DeepSeek's models is sold separately, priced per token.
Cons
- DeepSeek trains on your inputs and outputs unless you opt out.
- DeepSeek makes no GDPR commitment in its privacy policy or terms.
- It does not generate images.
Gemini
Pros
- Gemini is free to use with any personal Google account, with all three models available even without a paid plan.
- Gemini reads directly from Gmail, Google Calendar, Google Drive, Maps and other Google apps through Connected Apps.
- Google AI Pro and Ultra subscribers get a 1 million token context window.
- Gemini generates images with Nano Banana 2 on every plan, including free.
Cons
- The free plan's context window is capped at 32,000 tokens, far below the 1 million tokens on Pro and Ultra.
- Gemini Live voice conversations run in the mobile app, not in the web app.
- Google uses your chats to improve its AI models unless you turn off Keep Activity, which also switches off memory.
Side by side
| Company | ||
| Founded | 2023 | 2023 |
| HQ | Hangzhou, China | Mountain View, USA |
| AI model | DeepSeek-V4-Pro-0813 (flagship), DeepSeek-V4-Flash-0731, DeepSeek-V4-Flash-Vision-Exp (experimental multimodal) | Gemini 3.6 Flash, Gemini 3.1 Pro |
| User base | 100M+ (reported across web and app) | 100M+ |
| Platforms | Web, iOS, Android | Web, Windows, Mac, iOS, Android |
| Languages | Multiple (interface available in Chinese and English at minimum) | 40+ |
| Pricing | ||
| Pricing model | Free | Freemium |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | No — free tier is permanent | No |
| Starting price | Free | $4.99/mo (Google AI Plus) |
| Enterprise | — | Custom — Google Workspace add-on pricing |
| Refund policy | — | Pro-rated refund via Google Play / Google account billing policies |
| All plans | Free — Free deepseek-v4-flash (Off-Peak, Cache Hit) — $0.007 / 1M input tokens deepseek-v4-flash (Peak, Cache Hit) — $0.014 / 1M input tokens deepseek-v4-flash (Off-Peak, Cache Miss) — $0.22 / 1M input tokens deepseek-v4-flash (Peak, Cache Miss) — $0.44 / 1M input tokens deepseek-v4-flash (Off-Peak, Output) — $0.66 / 1M output tokens deepseek-v4-flash (Peak, Output) — $1.32 / 1M output tokens deepseek-v4-pro (Off-Peak, Cache Hit) — $0.022 / 1M input tokens deepseek-v4-pro (Peak, Cache Hit) — $0.044 / 1M input tokens deepseek-v4-pro (Off-Peak, Cache Miss) — $0.66 / 1M input tokens deepseek-v4-pro (Peak, Cache Miss) — $1.32 / 1M input tokens deepseek-v4-pro (Off-Peak, Output) — $1.98 / 1M output tokens deepseek-v4-pro (Peak, Output) — $3.96 / 1M output tokens deepseek-v4-flash-vision-exp (Off-Peak, Cache Hit) — $0.007 / 1M input tokens deepseek-v4-flash-vision-exp (Peak, Cache Hit) — $0.014 / 1M input tokens deepseek-v4-flash-vision-exp (Off-Peak, Cache Miss) — $0.22 / 1M input tokens deepseek-v4-flash-vision-exp (Peak, Cache Miss) — $0.44 / 1M input tokens deepseek-v4-flash-vision-exp (Off-Peak, Output) — $0.66 / 1M output tokens deepseek-v4-flash-vision-exp (Peak, Output) — $1.32 / 1M output tokens | Free — Free Google AI Plus — $4.99/mo Google AI Pro — $19.99/mo Google AI Ultra — $99.99/mo |
| Positioning | ||
| Best for | People who want a free AI chat app with no paid plan, and developers who want open model weights | Google users who want an assistant that reads their Gmail, Calendar and Drive, with images and voice on the phone |
| Differentiator | 1M context window, supports both thinking and non-thinking modes, Anthropic-compatible API format, multimodal experimental model | Tiered access with up to 20x higher usage limits, Google Flow creative studio credits, and first access to advanced features like Deep Think and Gemini Spark |
| Competitors | ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Grok, Llama | ChatGPT, Claude, Microsoft Copilot |
| Features | ||
| Anthropic API | ✓ | — |
| Canvas | — | ✓ |
| Chat Prefix Completion (Beta) | ✓ | — |
| Deep Research | — | ✓ |
| Fim Completion (Beta) | ✓ | — |
| Gemini Live | — | ✓ |
| Google Flow Credits | — | ✓ |
| Image Generation | — | ✓ |
| Json Output | ✓ | — |
| Responses API | ✓ | — |
| Tool Calls | ✓ | — |
| Video Generation | — | ✓ |
| AI Assistant | — | ✓ |
| AI Summarization | ✓ | — |
| API Access | ✓ | — |
| Browser Extension | ✕ | ✓ |
| Calendar Integration | — | ✓ |
| Data Privacy | ✓ | — |
| Document Creation | — | ✓ |
| Document Upload | ✓ | — |
| Email Management | — | ✓ |
| Follow Up Questions | ✓ | — |
| Meeting Summary | — | ✓ |
| Mobile App | ✓ | ✓ |
| Multi Source Synthesis | ✓ | — |
| Note Taking | — | ✓ |
| Offline Mode | — | ✕ |
| Presentation Builder | — | ✓ |
| Project Management | — | ✓ |
| Research Assistant | — | ✓ |
| Spreadsheet AI | — | ✓ |
| Task Automation | — | ✓ |
| Team Collaboration | — | ✓ |
| Web Search | ✓ | — |
| Integrations | ||
| API Access | ✓ | ✓ |
| Browser Extension | ✕ | ✓ |
| Google Calendar | — | ✓ |
| Google Docs Export | ✕ | — |
| Google Drive | — | ✓ |
| Key Integrations | Responses API, Codex integration, DeepSeek Harness, REST API | Gmail, Google Docs, Google Sheets, Google Slides, Google Drive, Google Meet, Google Calendar, YouTube, Google Search, Zapier, Google AI Studio API |
| Microsoft 365 | — | ✕ |
| Notion Integration | ✕ | — |
| Slack Integration | — | ✓ |
| Zapier | — | ✓ |
| Zotero Integration | ✕ | — |
Section 03
DeepSeek vs Gemini: common questions
Is DeepSeek or Gemini cheaper?
DeepSeek's cheapest paid plan is Free and Gemini's is $4.99/mo (Google AI Plus). Compare what each plan includes below before going on price alone.
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