OpenAI vs DeepSeek
A comparison of OpenAI and DeepSeek built from values read directly from each provider's own documentation, with the source recorded against every figure.
The short answer
- Pick OpenAI if
- Work that fits inside the short-context rate, where the cheapest tier is $0.20 per million input tokens and the batch tier halves everything above it.
- Pick DeepSeek if
- Batch-shaped work that can run outside weekday mornings UTC, where off-peak halves an already low rate and a cache hit costs about 3% of a cache miss.
6 sourced criteria separate them:
- Pricing model
- OpenAI: Per million tokens, with a second rate above the short-context threshold — long-context input and output cost roughly double. Batch, Flex, Fast and standard tiers are priced separately, and regional processing adds a 10% uplift on models released from March 2026.
- DeepSeek: Per million tokens, with every rate doubling at peak: off-peak is half price, and peak is 01:00–04:00 and 06:00–10:00 UTC on weekdays. Cache hits are priced roughly 30x below cache misses.
- Input price, top model
- OpenAI: $10 per million input tokens for gpt-6-astra at short context, rising to $20 above the short-context threshold. gpt-5.6-sol is $4 and gpt-5.6-terra $2.
- DeepSeek: $1.32 per million input tokens for deepseek-v4-pro at peak on a cache miss, halving to $0.66 off-peak. A cache hit is $0.044 peak.
- Output price, top model
- OpenAI: $50 per million output tokens for gpt-6-astra at short context, $75 at long context.
- DeepSeek: $3.96 per million output tokens for deepseek-v4-pro at peak, $1.98 off-peak.
- Input price, cheapest model
- OpenAI: $0.20 per million input tokens for gpt-5.6-luna at short context, with output at $1.20.
- DeepSeek: $0.44 per million input tokens for deepseek-v4-flash at peak on a cache miss, $0.22 off-peak, with output at $1.32 peak.
- Context window
- OpenAI: 1,050,000 tokens on gpt-6-astra, of which at most 922,000 may be input.
- DeepSeek: 1M tokens on every model in the current line.
- Max output tokens
- OpenAI: 128,000 tokens on gpt-6-astra.
- DeepSeek: 384K tokens maximum.
Pick the criteria you care about. The chart counts how many of them lean toward each provider — the same read as scanning the bars below, just totalled for the ones you chose.
OpenAI 0
DeepSeek 0
At a glance.
| Criterion | OpenAI | DeepSeek |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | ||
| Pricing model | Per million tokens, with a second rate above the short-context threshold — long-context input and output cost roughly double. Batch, Flex, Fast and standard tiers are priced separately, and regional processing adds a 10% uplift on models released from March 2026. | Per million tokens, with every rate doubling at peak: off-peak is half price, and peak is 01:00–04:00 and 06:00–10:00 UTC on weekdays. Cache hits are priced roughly 30x below cache misses. |
| Inference | ||
| Input price, top model | $10 per million input tokens for gpt-6-astra at short context, rising to $20 above the short-context threshold. gpt-5.6-sol is $4 and gpt-5.6-terra $2. | $1.32 per million input tokens for deepseek-v4-pro at peak on a cache miss, halving to $0.66 off-peak. A cache hit is $0.044 peak. |
| Output price, top model | $50 per million output tokens for gpt-6-astra at short context, $75 at long context. | $3.96 per million output tokens for deepseek-v4-pro at peak, $1.98 off-peak. |
| Input price, cheapest model | $0.20 per million input tokens for gpt-5.6-luna at short context, with output at $1.20. | $0.44 per million input tokens for deepseek-v4-flash at peak on a cache miss, $0.22 off-peak, with output at $1.32 peak. |
| Context window | 1,050,000 tokens on gpt-6-astra, of which at most 922,000 may be input. | 1M tokens on every model in the current line. |
| Max output tokens | 128,000 tokens on gpt-6-astra. | 384K tokens maximum. |
| Prompt caching | Supported | Supported |
Where they differ.
Pricing model
- OpenAI
- Per million tokens, with a second rate above the short-context threshold — long-context input and output cost roughly double. Batch, Flex, Fast and standard tiers are priced separately, and regional processing adds a 10% uplift on models released from March 2026.
- DeepSeek
- Per million tokens, with every rate doubling at peak: off-peak is half price, and peak is 01:00–04:00 and 06:00–10:00 UTC on weekdays. Cache hits are priced roughly 30x below cache misses.
Sources (2) →Sources ↓
- Pricing — OpenAI API docs ↗
“Prices per 1M tokens. [...] Regional processing (data residency) endpoints are charged a 10% uplift for models released on or after March 5, 2026 [...] Priority processing was renamed Fast mode on July 30, 2026.”
Read 2026-09-06 · official pricing
- Models & Pricing — DeepSeek API Docs ↗
“The prices listed below are in units of per 1M tokens. [...] Off-peak rates are half of the peak rates. Peak hours are 01:00 - 04:00 and 06:00 - 10:00 UTC, Monday through Friday (all other hours are off-peak).”
Read 2026-09-06 · official pricing
Input price, top model
- OpenAI
- $10 per million input tokens for gpt-6-astra at short context, rising to $20 above the short-context threshold. gpt-5.6-sol is $4 and gpt-5.6-terra $2.
- DeepSeek
- $1.32 per million input tokens for deepseek-v4-pro at peak on a cache miss, halving to $0.66 off-peak. A cache hit is $0.044 peak.
Sources (2) →Sources ↓
- Pricing — OpenAI API docs ↗
“| gpt-6-astra | $10.00 | $1.00 | $12.50 | $50.00 | $20.00 | $2.00 | $25.00 | $75.00 | [...] | gpt-5.6-sol | $4.00 [...] | gpt-5.6-terra | $2.00”
Read 2026-09-06 · official pricing
- Models & Pricing — DeepSeek API Docs ↗
“1M INPUT TOKENS (CACHE MISS) OFF-PEAK $0.22 $0.66 $0.22 PEAK $0.44 $1.32 $0.44 [...] 1M INPUT TOKENS (CACHE HIT) OFF-PEAK $0.007 $0.022 $0.007 PEAK $0.014 $0.044 $0.014”
Read 2026-09-06 · official pricing
Output price, top model
- OpenAI
- $50 per million output tokens for gpt-6-astra at short context, $75 at long context.
- DeepSeek
- $3.96 per million output tokens for deepseek-v4-pro at peak, $1.98 off-peak.
Sources (2) →Sources ↓
- Pricing — OpenAI API docs ↗
“| gpt-6-astra | $10.00 | $1.00 | $12.50 | $50.00 | $20.00 | $2.00 | $25.00 | $75.00 |”
Read 2026-09-06 · official pricing
- Models & Pricing — DeepSeek API Docs ↗
“1M OUTPUT TOKENS OFF-PEAK $0.66 $1.98 $0.66 PEAK $1.32 $3.96 $1.32”
Read 2026-09-06 · official pricing
Input price, cheapest model
- OpenAI
- $0.20 per million input tokens for gpt-5.6-luna at short context, with output at $1.20.
- DeepSeek
- $0.44 per million input tokens for deepseek-v4-flash at peak on a cache miss, $0.22 off-peak, with output at $1.32 peak.
Sources (2) →Sources ↓
- Pricing — OpenAI API docs ↗
“| gpt-5.6-luna | $0.20 | $0.02 | $0.25 | $1.20 | $0.40 | $0.04 | $0.50 | $1.80 |”
Read 2026-09-06 · official pricing
- Models & Pricing — DeepSeek API Docs ↗
“MODEL deepseek-v4-flash [...] 1M INPUT TOKENS (CACHE MISS) OFF-PEAK $0.22 [...] PEAK $0.44 [...] 1M OUTPUT TOKENS [...] PEAK $1.32”
Read 2026-09-06 · official pricing
Context window
1,050,000 tokens on gpt-6-astra, of which at most 922,000 may be input.
1M tokens on every model in the current line.
Sources (2) →Sources ↓
- gpt-6-astra — OpenAI API docs ↗
“- 1,050,000 context window - Maximum input tokens: 922,000”
Read 2026-09-06 · official docs
- Models & Pricing — DeepSeek API Docs ↗
“CONTEXT LENGTH 1M”
Read 2026-09-06 · official pricing
Max output tokens
128,000 tokens on gpt-6-astra.
384K tokens maximum.
Sources (2) →Sources ↓
- gpt-6-astra — OpenAI API docs ↗
“- 128,000 max output tokens”
Read 2026-09-06 · official docs
- Models & Pricing — DeepSeek API Docs ↗
“MAX OUTPUT MAXIMUM: 384K”
Read 2026-09-06 · official pricing
Which should you choose?
Choose OpenAI if…
Work that fits inside the short-context rate, where the cheapest tier is $0.20 per million input tokens and the batch tier halves everything above it.
Editorial · Palash Bagchi · approved
Choose DeepSeek if…
Batch-shaped work that can run outside weekday mornings UTC, where off-peak halves an already low rate and a cache hit costs about 3% of a cache miss.
Editorial · Palash Bagchi · approved
Consider something else if…
- OpenAI: Long prompts cross into the long-context rate and roughly double the bill, which is a cliff the flat-rate vendors do not have.
- DeepSeek: Capacity is expressed as concurrent requests rather than tokens per minute, which is a different thing to plan against, and the peak window lands on European working hours.
Documented by only one.
These criteria are published by one provider and not the other. An absence here means we have not found a source, not that the feature is missing.
Questions this comparison answers.
Should I choose OpenAI or DeepSeek?
Pick OpenAI if Work that fits inside the short-context rate, where the cheapest tier is $0.20 per million input tokens and the batch tier halves everything above it.
Pick DeepSeek if Batch-shaped work that can run outside weekday mornings UTC, where off-peak halves an already low rate and a cache hit costs about 3% of a cache miss.