OpenAI vs DeepSeek: models, pricing & how they compare

A side-by-side read on OpenAI and DeepSeek, anchored on each lab's flagship model, with API pricing, context windows, and their current Vikshy Score. For the full line-ups, see OpenAI models and DeepSeek models.

OpenAI

85.3Frontier leader

Vikshy Score →

GPT-5.6 Sol Frontier

Context: 1M
Input /M: $5.00
Output /M: $30.00
Modality: Multimodal
Access: API + ChatGPT

Teams tackling the hardest agentic and coding work.

DeepSeek

70.9Strong contender

Vikshy Score →

DeepSeek-V4-Pro Flagship

Context: 1M
Input /M: $1.74
Output /M: $3.48
Modality: Text
Access: API + open weights

Hard reasoning, long documents and agentic tasks.

How they compare

On flagship API input price, DeepSeek is cheaper ($1.74 vs $5.00 per million tokens).
On the Vikshy Score, OpenAI ranks higher today (85.3 vs 70.9).

Flagship = each lab's highest-tier current model. Pricing and specs are the labs' listed figures; the Vikshy Score is a daily competitive reading, what is this?

OpenAI vs DeepSeek, common questions

Is OpenAI or DeepSeek cheaper?

By flagship API input price, DeepSeek is cheaper: $5.00 (OpenAI) vs $1.74 (DeepSeek) per million input tokens.

Which has a larger context window, OpenAI or DeepSeek?

Both flagship models list a 1M context window.

Which ranks higher on the Vikshy Score, OpenAI or DeepSeek?

OpenAI, at 85.3 versus 70.9, as of 2026-07-24. The Score moves daily.