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DeepSeek vs Elicit

Features, pricing, ratings, and pros and cons, side by side.

Verdict

DeepSeek is listed under AI Assistants and Elicit under Education & Research. DeepSeek scores higher in FinderAtlas's editorial review (8.8 vs 8.3 out of 10). Both have a free plan or trial. Only DeepSeek is available on Windows, macOS and iOS.

Best overall

DeepSeek

  • Software developers
  • Researchers and analysts
  • Students
  • AI engineers

Choose DeepSeek if

  • You want a tool built for Low-cost API integration.
  • Web chat and mobile apps are free.
  • API output costs from $0.60 per 1M tokens (Flash, off-peak), well below most frontier providers.

Choose Elicit if

  • You want a tool built for literature reviews.
  • Free plan with unlimited search across 138M+ papers.
  • Sentence-level citations for AI-generated claims.
Best for beginners
DeepSeek
Best for business
Elicit

Features

18 features compared.

  • V4 model family
    DeepSeek
    Available
    Elicit
    Not available
  • Thinking mode
    DeepSeek
    Available
    Elicit
    Not available
  • Open weights
    DeepSeek
    Available
    Elicit
    Not available
  • OpenAI and Anthropic compatible API
    DeepSeek
    Available
    Elicit
    Not available
  • Tool calls and JSON output
    DeepSeek
    Available
    Elicit
    Not available
  • Search and Fetch APIs
    DeepSeek
    Available
    Elicit
    Not available
  • Agent tool integrations
    DeepSeek
    Available
    Elicit
    Not available
  • DeepSeek Harness
    DeepSeek
    Available
    Elicit
    Not available
  • Vision on Flash
    DeepSeek
    Available
    Elicit
    Not available
  • Research Agent
    DeepSeek
    Not available
    Elicit
    Available
  • Research Reports
    DeepSeek
    Not available
    Elicit
    Available
  • Systematic Literature Review
    DeepSeek
    Not available
    Elicit
    Available
  • Data extraction tables
    DeepSeek
    Not available
    Elicit
    Available
  • Library
    DeepSeek
    Not available
    Elicit
    Available
  • Routines
    DeepSeek
    Not available
    Elicit
    Available
  • Chat with papers
    DeepSeek
    Not available
    Elicit
    Available
  • Zotero import
    DeepSeek
    Not available
    Elicit
    Available
  • API and MCP server
    DeepSeek
    Not available
    Elicit
    Available

Pricing

Plans as listed by each vendor. Check their sites for current prices.

  • Pricing model
    DeepSeek
    Freemium
    Elicit
    Freemium
  • Free plan
    DeepSeek
    Yes
    Elicit
    Yes
  • Starting price
    DeepSeek
    $0
    Elicit
    $0
  • Plans
    DeepSeek
    3 plans
    Elicit
    4 plans

DeepSeek plans

  • Chat and App

    Most popular

    $0

    Free access to DeepSeek models on web, iOS and Android

    • Web chat
    • iOS and Android apps
    • Thinking mode
    • Web search
    • File upload

  • API: deepseek-flash

    $0.15/1M input tokens

    Pay as you go; $0.15 cache-miss input and $0.60 output per 1M tokens off-peak, double at peak

    • 1M context
    • 384K max output
    • Vision
    • Tool calls
    • JSON output

  • API: deepseek-v4-pro

    $0.66/1M input tokens

    Pay as you go; $0.66 cache-miss input and $1.98 output per 1M tokens off-peak, double at peak

    • 1M context
    • 384K max output
    • Tool calls
    • JSON output

Elicit plans

  • Basic

    $0

    Free plan with limited Research Agent and Reports usage

    • Unlimited search across 138M+ papers
    • Unlimited summaries
    • Unlimited chat with papers
    • View sources for answers
    • Zotero import

  • Pro

    Most popular

    $75/user/mo

    Billed monthly ($49 per user per month billed annually); standard usage for systematic reviews

    • Systematic review workflow screening up to 5,000 papers
    • 20 table columns
    • Reports from up to 135 data sources
    • Routines
    • Custom extractions from uploaded papers
    • API access

  • Scale

    $279/user/mo

    Billed monthly ($169 per user per month billed annually); 5x usage with collaboration

    • 5x Pro usage
    • Figure extraction
    • Live collaboration
    • Reports from up to 200 data sources
    • 30 table columns
    • Admin panel with usage tracking

  • Enterprise

    Custom/custom

    For companies and schools

    • Custom usage
    • Screen 40,000 papers with 40 columns
    • SSO and SAML
    • No training on your data by default
    • Custom data sources and templates
    • Unlimited API access

Our ratings

Scored out of 10 by the Finder Atlas editorial team. Last reviewed October 2026.

DeepSeek
8.8overall
Elicit
8.3overall

  • Reasoning & Logic

    DeepSeek
    8.8
    Elicit
    Not rated

  • Coding & Syntax

    DeepSeek
    8.7
    Elicit
    Not rated

  • Cost Efficiency

    DeepSeek
    9.6
    Elicit
    Not rated

  • Long Context

    DeepSeek
    8.8
    Elicit
    Not rated

  • Ease of Use

    DeepSeek
    8.0
    Elicit
    Not rated

  • Academic Paper Search

    DeepSeek
    Not rated
    Elicit
    8.8

  • Structured Data Extraction

    DeepSeek
    Not rated
    Elicit
    8.7

  • Citation Transparency

    DeepSeek
    Not rated
    Elicit
    8.6

  • Systematic Review Support

    DeepSeek
    Not rated
    Elicit
    8.5

  • Pricing Clarity

    DeepSeek
    Not rated
    Elicit
    7.0

Scores weigh documented features, plan value, platform coverage, integrations and user feedback. A missing score means we have not rated that area yet.

Pros and cons

DeepSeek

Pros

  • Web chat and mobile apps are free
  • API output costs from $0.60 per 1M tokens (Flash, off-peak), well below most frontier providers
  • Open weights for V4 and earlier models on Hugging Face
  • 1M-token context and 384K max output on both API models
  • API works with both OpenAI and Anthropic SDKs and several coding agents

Cons

  • Peak-hour API rates are double the off-peak rates on weekday mornings UTC
  • deepseek-v4-pro does not support vision input
  • No image generation
  • Data is processed by a company based in China, which some organizations cannot accept

Elicit

Pros

  • Free plan with unlimited search across 138M+ papers
  • Sentence-level citations for AI-generated claims
  • Structured extraction of paper details into tables
  • Dedicated systematic review workflow and Routines for tracking new research
  • API and MCP server for use with other tools

Cons

  • Research Agent and Reports usage is limited on the free plan
  • Systematic reviews, Routines and API access need Pro at $75 per user per month ($49 billed annually)
  • Pricing page shows only annual-billing rates for Pro and Scale
  • Focused on research; not a general-purpose assistant
  • No mobile app

Platforms

  • Web
    DeepSeek
    Supported
    Elicit
    Supported
  • Windows
    DeepSeek
    Supported
    Elicit
    Not supported
  • macOS
    DeepSeek
    Supported
    Elicit
    Not supported
  • iOS
    DeepSeek
    Supported
    Elicit
    Not supported
  • Android
    DeepSeek
    Supported
    Elicit
    Not supported
  • API
    DeepSeek
    Supported
    Elicit
    Supported
  • Browser Extension
    DeepSeek
    Not supported
    Elicit
    Not supported

Integrations

DeepSeek

6 integrations
  • OpenAI SDK
  • Anthropic SDK
  • Claude Code
  • Codex
  • OpenCode
  • Hugging Face

Elicit

4 integrations
  • Zotero
  • PubMed
  • ClinicalTrials.gov
  • MCP

Company

  • Company
    DeepSeek
    DeepSeek
    Elicit
    Elicit
  • Founded
    DeepSeek
    2023
    Elicit
    Not listed
  • Headquarters
    DeepSeek
    Hangzhou, China
    Elicit
    Oakland, CA
  • Monthly users
    DeepSeek
    Not listed
    Elicit
    5M+ researchers
  • Listing
    DeepSeek
    Claimed
    Elicit
    Claimed

Frequently asked questions

Is DeepSeek better than Elicit?

It depends on your workflow. DeepSeek is built for Low-cost API integration. Elicit is built for literature reviews.

What are the key feature differences between DeepSeek and Elicit?

DeepSeek: Free AI chat app and low-cost API running DeepSeek's open-weights V4 models. Elicit: AI research assistant for literature search, systematic reviews and evidence reports.

Does DeepSeek or Elicit have a free plan?

Yes, both do. DeepSeek is freemium and Elicit is freemium, and each has a free plan or trial.

Which is cheaper, DeepSeek or Elicit?

Both can be used for free. Paid plans differ in limits and features, so compare the tiers in the pricing table above.