Last verified 2026-03-12 (left) · 2025-09-22 (right)

DeepSeek Chat vs GPT-4o — Pricing & Capability Comparison

DeepSeek Chat charges $0.27 per million input tokens and $1.10 per million output tokens. GPT-4o comes in at $2.50 / $10.00. Context windows span 64K vs 128K tokens respectively.

TL;DR — Quick Comparison

✓DeepSeek Chat is cheaper overall: $1.37 per 1M tokens (in+out) vs $12.50 for GPT-4o — saves $11.13 per 1M tokens
✓Input pricing: DeepSeek Chat $0.27/1M vs GPT-4o $2.50/1M
✓Output pricing: DeepSeek Chat $1.10/1M vs GPT-4o $10.00/1M
✓Context window: GPT-4o offers more (128K vs 64K)
✓Use our calculator below to estimate costs for your specific usage pattern

Input price (per 1M)

DeepSeek Chat

$0.27

GPT-4o

$2.50

DeepSeek Chat leads here

Output price (per 1M)

DeepSeek Chat

$1.10

GPT-4o

$10.00

DeepSeek Chat leads here

Context window

DeepSeek Chat

64,000 tokens

GPT-4o

128,000 tokens

GPT-4o leads here

Cached input

DeepSeek Chat

$0.070

GPT-4o

$1.250

DeepSeek Chat leads here

Which one should you choose?

Skip the spreadsheet if you just need the practical takeaway. Use these rules when deciding between DeepSeek Chat and GPT-4o.

Choose DeepSeek Chat if input tokens dominate your bill

DeepSeek Chat has the lower input rate, which usually matters most for chat, RAG, classification, and long-prompt workflows where prompt volume stays much larger than generated output.

Choose DeepSeek Chat if you generate long answers

DeepSeek Chat is cheaper on output tokens, so it tends to win for report generation, coding assistance, reasoning traces, and any workflow where completions are long.

Choose GPT-4o if context size is the blocker

GPT-4o offers the larger published context window, which is more important than small pricing differences when you need to fit large files, long chats, or multi-document prompts into one request.

Cost comparison for 10K-token workloads

Side-by-side pricing for identical workloads (10,000 total tokens per request) across different distributions.

Scenario	DeepSeek Chat	GPT-4o	DeepSeek Chat cached	GPT-4o cached
Balanced conversation 50% input · 50% output	$0.0069	$0.0625	$0.0059	$0.0563
Input-heavy workflow 80% input · 20% output	$0.0044	$0.0400	$0.0028	$0.0300
Generation heavy 30% input · 70% output	$0.0085	$0.0775	$0.0079	$0.0738
Cached system prompt 90% cached input · 10% fresh output	$0.0035	$0.0325	$0.0017	$0.0212

Frequently asked questions

Which is cheaper: DeepSeek Chat or GPT-4o?

DeepSeek Chat is cheaper for input tokens at $0.27 per 1M tokens compared to $2.50. For output, DeepSeek Chat costs $1.10 per 1M tokens versus $10.00 for GPT-4o.

What is the cost per 1M tokens for DeepSeek Chat?

DeepSeek Chat pricing: $0.27 per 1M input tokens and $1.10 per 1M output tokens. Context window: 64,000 tokens.

What is the cost per 1M tokens for GPT-4o?

GPT-4o pricing: $2.50 per 1M input tokens and $10.00 per 1M output tokens. Context window: 128,000 tokens.

How much does it cost per 1K tokens?

Per 1K tokens: DeepSeek Chat costs $0.0003 input / $0.0011 output. GPT-4o costs $0.0025 input / $0.0100 output. This is useful for calculating small-scale usage costs.

Which model supports a larger context window?

GPT-4o offers 128,000 tokens (128K) versus 64K for DeepSeek Chat.

What is the estimated monthly cost for typical usage?

For a typical workload of 10M input + 2M output tokens per month: DeepSeek Chat would cost approximately $4.90, while GPT-4o would cost $45.00. DeepSeek Chat is more economical for this usage pattern.

Do these models support prompt caching?

DeepSeek Chat supports prompt caching at $0.070 per 1M cached tokens, reducing costs for repeated context by up to 74%. GPT-4o supports caching at $1.250 per 1M tokens, saving up to 50%.

Which model is best for my use case?

Choose DeepSeek Chat for cost-sensitive applications with high input volume. Choose GPT-4o if you need 128K context for long documents or conversations. Consider prompt caching if you have repeated context. Use our token calculator to model your specific usage pattern.