If you only read one line: pick by workload, not by benchmark charts.
For Budget-sensitive developers; Chinese writing and translation, DeepSeek is the more direct fit. For Research where sources must be checkable; Fact-checking a claim quickly, Perplexity gets there with less fighting.
Both have free tiers, so cost only separates them once you hit the limits. Context limits aren't published for both, so treat this as untested until you hit the ceiling yourself.
| Dimension | DeepSeek | Perplexity |
|---|---|---|
| Free tier | Yes | Yes |
| Pricing | Web and app free; API list price deepseek-flash CNY 1 / 2 per million input tokens (off-peak / peak) and CNY 4 / 8 output; deepseek-v4-pro CNY 4.5 / 9 input and CNY 13.5 / 27 output (checked 2026-10-29) | Free $0; Pro $20/mo ($200/yr); Max $200/mo ($2,000/yr); Education Pro $10/mo for verified students; Enterprise Pro $40/seat/mo; Enterprise Max $325/seat/mo (checked 2026-10-29) |
| Context window | 1M tokens of context; up to 384K tokens of output (checked 2026-10-29) | not published |
| Platforms | Web, iOS, Android, macOS, Windows | Web, iOS, Android, macOS, Windows |
| Best for | Budget-sensitive developers; Chinese writing and translation; Private or on-premise deployment | Research where sources must be checkable; Fact-checking a claim quickly; Students who need citations |
| Availability | Directly reachable inside mainland China with no proxy, and a China edition exists (checked 2026-10-29). | Unreachable from mainland China without a proxy, confirmed by a blocked connection from this host on 2026-10-29, and there is no China edition. |
Budget-sensitive developers; Chinese writing and translation; Private or on-premise deployment. Its strongest point: Publishes open weights you can download and self-host. Watch out for: Almost no multimodal support for images or audio.
Research where sources must be checkable; Fact-checking a claim quickly; Students who need citations. Its strongest point: Every answer carries clickable source links you can audit. Watch out for: Free tier caps you at 3 Pro Searches a day.
Most people I know keep both tabs open — one for finding things, one for producing the final draft — and stop paying for whichever they touch last.
DeepSeek if you want Budget-sensitive developers. Perplexity if Research where sources must be checkable. Neither has a learning curve worth worrying about past the first day.
Yes — both have free tiers, and the pair covers more ground than either alone.
Context limits aren't published for both, so treat this as untested until you hit the ceiling yourself.