Side-by-side comparison · AI Assistants & LLMs
ChatGPT vs DeepSeek vs Grok
Everything that matters when choosing between them, in one place: our rating, what each can do, what they cost, and the trade-offs.
Comparing 3 tools, the maximum.
At a glance
Pick it if: Anyone who wants one general-purpose assistant that handles most everyday jobs.
Pick it if: Anyone who wants a strong reasoning assistant for free, and developers watching their API costs.
Pick it if: People who follow news, trends or public sentiment closely and want an assistant hooked into X.
ChatGPT scores highest overall, but DeepSeek gives you more for your money. Which one is right comes down to what you value most.
Overview
| Attribute | ChatGPT | DeepSeek | Grok |
|---|---|---|---|
| In one line | OpenAI's all-rounder: chat, images, voice, web search and agents in one app. | A free Chinese assistant that's strong at maths, logic and code. | Elon Musk's AI assistant, plugged into what people are posting on X right now. |
| Pricing model | Freemium | Free | Freemium |
| Starting price | $8/mo | Pay per use | $8/mo |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Works with Claude Code | No | No | No |
Rating breakdown
Our scores out of 5. The higher bar in each row is highlighted.
| Attribute | ChatGPT | DeepSeek | Grok |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall rating | 4.3Winner | 3.8 | 3.7 |
| Ease of useHow quickly someone non-technical gets value from it. | 4.5 | 3.5 | 4.0 |
| FeaturesHow completely it covers the job it's built for, and how well the pieces fit together. | 5.0 | 3.0 | 4.0 |
| Output qualityHow good the results are before you fix them. | 4.0 | 4.0 | 3.5 |
| Value for moneyWhat you get for the price, including the free plan. | 4.0 | 5.0 | 3.0 |
| Speed & reliabilityHow fast it is and how often it falls over. | 4.0 | 3.5 | 4.0 |
Feature comparison
A tick means it does this today. A dash means we haven't checked.
| Attribute | ChatGPT | DeepSeek | Grok |
|---|---|---|---|
| Access & platform | |||
| Free plan | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Mobile app | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Desktop app | Yes | No | No |
| Browser extension | Yes | No | No |
| API access | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Teams & business | |||
| Team workspace | Yes | No | Yes |
| Enterprise plan or SSO | Yes | No | Yes |
| Connects to other apps | Yes | No | No |
| Open source or self-hosted | No | Yes | No |
| AI abilities | |||
| Works with your files | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Understands images | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Makes images | Yes | No | Yes |
| Makes video | Yes | No | Yes |
| Writes code | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Runs agents or automations | Yes | No | Yes |
| Learns your brand or style | Yes | No | No |
| Works in many languages | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Capabilities score | 16/ 17 | 8/ 17 | 12/ 17 |
Pricing
Plans as listed on each vendor's site when we last checked. Confirm before you buy.
| Attribute | ChatGPT | DeepSeek | Grok |
|---|---|---|---|
| Plans | Free Free Trying it out and everyday questions. | Chat appOur pick Free Anyone who wants a capable reasoning assistant at no cost. | Free Free Trying it and occasional questions. |
Go $8/mo Casual users who hit the free limits. | API (deepseek-flash) Pay per use, from $0.15 per million input tokens Developers building cheap features into their own apps. | Plus $8/mo X users who want a bit of Grok on the side. | |
PlusOur pick $20/mo Anyone using it most days for work. | API (deepseek-v4-pro) Pay per use, from $0.66 per million input tokens Developers who want the stronger model. | PremiumOur pick $30/mo Anyone who uses Grok most days. | |
Pro From $100/mo Heavy users and people living in Codex. | Super $100/mo Heavy users who want priority at busy times. | ||
Business See website Teams from 2 people up. | Ultra $200/mo Power users running agents all day. | ||
Teams From $30/user/mo Businesses that want pooled usage and admin controls. | |||
| Which plan to pick | The free plan is now good enough to use properly, so stay on it until the image, voice or research limits annoy you. Plus is the sensible upgrade. Only look at Pro if you run Codex or deep research all day, and read the current tier details first because they keep changing. | The app is free, so the only decision is whether the privacy trade-off is acceptable for what you're asking. If you need the model inside your own software, have a developer use the API or run the open model through a provider that keeps your data in Australia. | If you already pay for X Premium, you now get Grok in the same subscription, so start there. Premium at $30 is the real Grok plan. The $100 and $200 tiers are only worth it if you're generating video or running agents constantly. |
Key features
Pros and cons
| Attribute | ChatGPT | DeepSeek | Grok |
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Who each one is for
| Attribute | ChatGPT | DeepSeek | Grok |
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Questions people ask
Which is better, ChatGPT, DeepSeek or Grok?
ChatGPT scores highest overall in our ratings (ChatGPT 4.3/5, DeepSeek 3.8/5 and Grok 3.7/5). ChatGPT is best for everyday questions and brainstorming and making and editing images in the chat. DeepSeek is best for Maths, logic and step-by-step problems and coding help. Grok is best for tracking what's trending right now and gauging how people are reacting to news.
Which is cheaper, ChatGPT, DeepSeek or Grok?
ChatGPT: There's a free plan, and paid plans start at $8/mo. DeepSeek: There's a free plan, and paid plans start at Pay per use. Grok: There's a free plan, and paid plans start at $8/mo.
Which is easier to use, ChatGPT, DeepSeek or Grok?
ChatGPT rates highest for ease of use in our scores. Anyone who wants one general-purpose assistant that handles most everyday jobs.
How we compare
Ratings are our own, from using each tool, across ease of use, features, output quality, value for money, speed & reliability.
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