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DeepSeek vs Skim

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

Verdict

DeepSeek is listed under AI Assistants and Skim under Productivity. DeepSeek scores higher in FinderAtlas's editorial review (8.8 vs 7.6 out of 10). Only DeepSeek has a free plan or trial. Only DeepSeek is available on Windows, macOS and iOS and offers an API.

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 Skim if

  • You want a tool built for quick pre-signature review of leases, contractor quotes and terms of service, drafting a reply to push back on a clause.
  • Simple one-off $9 price covering up to 3 documents, with no subscription.
  • No account or prompt writing required.
Best value
DeepSeek
Best for beginners
Skim
Best for business
Skim

Features

16 features compared.

  • V4 model family
    DeepSeek
    Available
    Skim
    Not available
  • Thinking mode
    DeepSeek
    Available
    Skim
    Not available
  • Open weights
    DeepSeek
    Available
    Skim
    Not available
  • OpenAI and Anthropic compatible API
    DeepSeek
    Available
    Skim
    Not available
  • Tool calls and JSON output
    DeepSeek
    Available
    Skim
    Not available
  • Search and Fetch APIs
    DeepSeek
    Available
    Skim
    Not available
  • Agent tool integrations
    DeepSeek
    Available
    Skim
    Not available
  • DeepSeek Harness
    DeepSeek
    Available
    Skim
    Not available
  • Vision on Flash
    DeepSeek
    Available
    Skim
    Not available
  • Five red flags
    DeepSeek
    Not available
    Skim
    Available
  • Plain-English rewrite
    DeepSeek
    Not available
    Skim
    Available
  • Paste-ready reply
    DeepSeek
    Not available
    Skim
    Available
  • PDF upload or pasted text
    DeepSeek
    Not available
    Skim
    Available
  • No account
    DeepSeek
    Not available
    Skim
    Available
  • Free sample
    DeepSeek
    Not available
    Skim
    Available
  • One-time pricing
    DeepSeek
    Not available
    Skim
    Available

Pricing

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

  • Pricing model
    DeepSeek
    Freemium
    Skim
    Paid
  • Free plan
    DeepSeek
    Yes
    Skim
    No
  • Starting price
    DeepSeek
    $0
    Skim
    $9
  • Plans
    DeepSeek
    3 plans
    Skim
    1 plan

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

Skim plans

  • Skim Check

    Most popular

    $9/one-time

    One payment covering up to 3 documents, no account needed.

    • Five red flags per document
    • Rewrite for each flag
    • Paste-ready reply
    • Up to 3 documents
    • Stripe Checkout

Our ratings

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

DeepSeek
8.8overall
Skim
7.6overall

DeepSeek leads in 0 categories and Skim in 1.

  • Reasoning & Logic

    DeepSeek
    8.8
    Skim
    Not rated

  • Coding & Syntax

    DeepSeek
    8.7
    Skim
    Not rated

  • Cost Efficiency

    DeepSeek
    9.6
    Skim
    Not rated

  • Long Context

    DeepSeek
    8.8
    Skim
    Not rated

  • Ease of Use

    Skim leads by 0.5
    DeepSeek
    8.0
    Skim
    8.5

  • Clause Detection

    DeepSeek
    Not rated
    Skim
    7.0

  • Output Usefulness

    DeepSeek
    Not rated
    Skim
    7.5

  • Pricing Clarity

    DeepSeek
    Not rated
    Skim
    9.0

  • Transparency

    DeepSeek
    Not rated
    Skim
    6.0

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

Skim

Pros

  • Simple one-off $9 price covering up to 3 documents, with no subscription
  • No account or prompt writing required
  • Output includes a rewrite and a ready-to-send reply, not just a list of risks
  • Free sample report to judge quality before paying
  • Privacy page clearly states what is and is not stored

Cons

  • Only the first 20,000 characters of a document are analyzed
  • Document text goes to xAI, whose retention Skim does not control
  • Fixed five-flag output with no follow-up chat
  • Operator, company and contact details are not disclosed on the site
  • Not legal advice, and no independent reviews found

Platforms

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

Integrations

DeepSeek

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

Skim

No integrations listed.

Company

  • Company
    DeepSeek
    DeepSeek
    Skim
    Not listed
  • Founded
    DeepSeek
    2023
    Skim
    Not listed
  • Headquarters
    DeepSeek
    Hangzhou, China
    Skim
    Not listed
  • Listing
    DeepSeek
    Claimed
    Skim
    Not claimed

Frequently asked questions

Is DeepSeek better than Skim?

It depends on your workflow. DeepSeek is built for Low-cost API integration. Skim is built for quick pre-signature review of leases, contractor quotes and terms of service, drafting a reply to push back on a clause.

What are the key feature differences between DeepSeek and Skim?

DeepSeek: Free AI chat app and low-cost API running DeepSeek's open-weights V4 models. Skim: Find the five contract clauses most likely to cost you money before you sign.

Does DeepSeek or Skim have a free plan?

DeepSeek has a free plan or trial; Skim is paid only.

Which is cheaper, DeepSeek or Skim?

DeepSeek starts at $0 and Skim starts at $9. See the pricing table above for what each tier includes.