DeepSeek vs Z.ai

Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.

DeepSeek

Free AI chat assistant built on DeepSeek's openly released models

Free

Z.ai

Chat assistant and agent built on Z.ai's GLM models

Free plan · from $12.60/mo

Where they differ

DeepSeek is free. Z.ai starts at $12.60 per month, billed yearly ($151.20), or $18 billed monthly.
Only DeepSeek lists iOS, Android, macOS and Windows apps.
DeepSeek is open source, according to its own site.
Z.ai also covers app builder and presentations.

In commonFree planWebPublic APIAI featuresChat assistantAI searchAI agents

	DeepSeek	Z.ai
Pricing	Free	Free plan
Starts at	Free	$12.60 per month, billed yearly ($151.20), or $18 billed monthly
Free plan	The web chat and the iOS and Android apps are free, and the US App Store listing shows no in-app purchases. API usage is billed separately per token.	Chat is free, and the terms say the site can be used without registering. Signing in unlocks advanced models; agent tasks run on a quota that refills after a wait, with limits that are not published.
Free trial	None listed	None listed
Web
macOS
Windows
iOS
Android
Made by	DeepSeek	Z.ai (Jingsheng Hengxing Technology Pte. Ltd.)
Price read from	apps.apple.com	z.ai
Checked	Oct 5, 2026	Oct 5, 2026

DeepSeek

Z.ai

DeepSeek

There is no paid consumer plan. API access is billed separately, from $0.15 per 1M input tokens off-peak for the deepseek-flash model.
The desktop download is DeepSeek Harness, a preview agent app for Apple-silicon Macs on macOS 13 or later and 64-bit Windows, not the chat app.
According to Wikipedia, DeepSeek's compliance with Chinese government censorship policies and its data collection have drawn regulatory scrutiny in several countries.

Z.ai

Paid tiers are the GLM Coding Plan, which the docs limit to supported coding and agent tools; what a tier adds in the chat app beyond higher agent limits is not documented.
Free usage limits are not published: the app only reports that the agent quota is exhausted and when to retry.
The chat assistant is a web app only: Z.ai's pages list no mobile app for it, and none appeared in US App Store or Google Play searches when checked.
Subscriptions renew automatically and are non-refundable once purchased, and team plans need at least 2 seats.

DeepSeek

DeepThink and Search modes: Two modes sit beside the chat box on DeepSeek's site: DeepThink, for reasoning through a question, and Search, for answers that draw on the web.
Visual understanding: DeepSeek-V4.1-Flash, released in September 2026, adds native visual understanding alongside text.
Free mobile apps: Official iOS and Android apps give free access to the assistant. The App Store listing covers iPhone and iPad.
DeepSeek Harness: A desktop agent app in public preview for organizing files, analyzing data, coding and research. It is MIT-licensed and extended through plugins such as scheduled tasks.
Openly released models: Wikipedia describes DeepSeek's models as open-weight and, since January 2025, released under free and open-source licenses. The web and mobile apps are proprietary.
API platform: The same models are available to developers through an API billed per token, with off-peak rates set at half the peak rates.

Z.ai

GLM models with Deep Think: Chat runs on Z.ai's own GLM models, with GLM-5.3 set as the default in the public configuration, and has a Deep Think option. The same models are sold per token through Z.ai's API platform.
Search and Deep Research: Search runs a single quick round and Advanced Search runs multi-round research, reporting the keywords searched and sources referenced. Deep Research is listed as a separate tool.
AI Slides: Generates slide decks from a prompt, lets you edit individual slides and their style, and exports the result as PPTX, PDF or images.
Full-Stack mode: Builds a web project in a cloud workspace with code view and live preview, then deploys it to a public URL. The app advertises full-stack generation as free.
Vision and file tools: Accepts PDF, DOCX and PPTX documents and JPG or PNG images up to 50 MB each and MP4 video up to 200 MB, with tools such as OCR Scan, Math Solve, Video Understanding and Data Insight.
AI Intern (beta): A cloud-hosted agent with synced context memory that runs scheduled and long-running tasks and can be connected to Feishu, Discord and WeChat.

DeepSeek

Free$0
The chat assistant on the web, iOS and Android, running DeepSeek's latest flagship model.

Z.ai

Free$0
Chat with GLM models at no charge. Signing in unlocks advanced models, and agent use is capped by a quota whose size is not published.
Lite$18
per month, or $151.20 billed yearly ($12.60 a month)
GLM Coding Plan entry tier: 2,000 credits per 5 hours and 10,000 a week for GLM-5.3 and GLM-5.3-Flash in supported coding tools.
Pro$80
per month, or $672 billed yearly ($56 a month)
GLM Coding Plan with 6x Lite usage (12,000 credits per 5 hours, 60,000 a week), priority access to new flagship models and faster generation.
Standard Seat (Team)$88
per seat / month, minimum 2 seats
GLM Coding Team Plan: 15,000 credits per 5 hours and 66,000 a week per seat, with seat management, usage insights and central billing.
Max$168
per month, or $1,411.20 billed yearly ($117.60 a month)
GLM Coding Plan with 14x Lite usage (28,000 credits per 5 hours, 140,000 a week), first access to new models and dedicated resources at peak times.
Premium Seat (Team)$188
per seat / month, minimum 2 seats
Team seat with 35,000 credits per 5 hours and 155,000 a week, plus early access to new flagship models and priority at peak hours.

DeepSeek

No public discounts listed.

Z.ai

Annual discount
30% off yearly billing, 20% off quarterly
Lite, Pro and Max cost 30% less on a continuous yearly subscription ($12.60, $56 and $117.60 a month) and 20% less on a quarterly one, compared with the monthly prices.