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Most buyers should pick DeepSeek.
Choose DeepSeek for its free chatbot, open-weight models and metered API, which has no monthly subscription. Choose Z.ai if you want access to GLM models, free API models or a coding plan with set quotas. Z.ai’s Lite plan starts at $12.60 per seat monthly with annual billing; its Team plan price is not published. DeepSeek’s API rates vary by model and time, so compare the rate card with your expected usage.
01Side by side
| DeepSeek | Z.ai | |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | Free chat; API from $0.15/M input off-peak | Free tier; Lite $12.60/seat monthly, annual billing |
| Free plan | Free web and mobile chatbot | Free web chat and three free API models |
| Best for | Open-weight models, self-hosting and metered API use | GLM access, agent features and coding plans |
| Core strength | Reasoning models, function calling and JSON mode | GLM models, multimodal analysis and agent execution |
| Learning curve | Review ease score: 6.5/10 | Review ease score: 5/10 |
| Integrations/data | Function calling, JSON mode and context caching | Cloud APIs; MCP integrations on coding plans |
| Team/seat costs | API has no subscription; seat limits not listed | Coding plans are per seat; Team price unpublished |
| Support | Review support score: 5/10 | Review support score: 3/10 |
DeepSeek Choose DeepSeek if
- Choose DeepSeek if you want a free chatbot and metered API.
- Choose DeepSeek if open-weight models and self-hosting matter.
- Choose DeepSeek if function calling and JSON mode fit your build.
Z.ai Choose Z.ai if
- Choose Z.ai if you want GLM models and agent execution.
- Choose Z.ai if you need free API model endpoints.
- Choose Z.ai if coding quotas suit your workload and budget.
02Pricing compared
Both have free entry points, but they charge differently. DeepSeek Chat is free, with no usage caps or seat limits listed. Its API has no monthly subscription: it bills per token. The listed DeepSeek-V4-Pro rates are $0.66–$1.32 per million input tokens and $1.98–$3.96 per million output tokens, depending on time; DeepSeek-Flash rates are lower. Peak-hour rates are double off-peak rates.
Z.ai offers free web chat and free API models. Its paid API is also usage-based: GLM-5.3 is listed at $1.40 per million input tokens and $4.40 per million output tokens. Coding plans start at $18 per seat monthly, or $12.60 with annual billing, for Lite. Pro costs $80 monthly or $56 annually; Max costs $168 or $117.60. Team pricing is not published. Compare likely token use and coding-plan quotas before switching.
03Features and depth
DeepSeek combines a chatbot and developer API with open-weight models, including DeepSeek-V3 and reasoning-focused DeepSeek-R1. The published product details describe a 671B-parameter Mixture-of-Experts model with 37B parameters activated per token, plus Multi-Head Latent Attention to reduce key-value cache overhead. Its API supports function calling, JSON output and context caching. Smaller Qwen- and Llama-based distilled models, listed from 1.5B to 70B parameters, can be self-hosted.
Z.ai centers on its GLM model family, with access through chat, cloud APIs and agent execution. Its described uses include software engineering, multimodal analysis, web search, document creation and multi-step reasoning. The platform also lists free API models and paid coding plans with MCP integrations. The published details do not say that Z.ai’s models are self-hostable. DeepSeek is the clearer fit if open-weight models and self-hosting matter; Z.ai’s stated edge is a packaged route to GLM models, agents and coding-plan quotas.
04Ease of use and learning curve
For casual use, DeepSeek Chat is the straightforward starting point: web and mobile access are free, and no usage caps are listed. Building with its API means tracking metered token costs, model-specific rates and peak-hour pricing. The API also lists a 1,000,000-token context window, so developers should check whether that capacity suits their use case.
Z.ai provides web chat and free API models, but its paid coding plans add quota rules to understand: credits reset on rolling five-hour windows and weekly limits, with off-peak requests using 50% of quota. Platform rate limits for the free tier are not published. We’d compare those limits with expected usage before paying; Team pricing is also not published.
Questions people ask
Which is cheaper, DeepSeek or Z.ai?
There is no single winner without an expected usage level. DeepSeek API rates vary by model and time, while Z.ai lists separate rates for each model. Z.ai’s Lite coding plan costs $18 per seat monthly or $12.60 with annual billing. Team pricing is not published.
Can I self-host DeepSeek or Z.ai models?
The published DeepSeek details say its distilled Qwen- and Llama-based models, from 1.5B to 70B parameters, are self-hostable. Z.ai’s published product information describes cloud APIs and GLM access but does not say its models are self-hostable.
Does Z.ai have a free plan?
Yes. Z.ai lists free web chat and three free API models: GLM-4.7-Flash, GLM-4.5-Flash and GLM-4.6V-Flash. Its platform rate limits are not published. DeepSeek also lists free web and mobile chat, with no usage caps listed.
Which is better for coding?
Both offer coding-related options, but the fit depends on how you work. DeepSeek provides API access, function calling, JSON output and self-hostable distilled models. Z.ai offers coding plans with MCP integrations and stated credit quotas; its Lite plan starts at $12.60 per seat monthly with annual billing.