The short answer
Claude, from Anthropic, is the better choice for work: it wins writing, coding, research, files and privacy, runs Claude Opus 5.5 on paid plans, and Team and Enterprise content is not used for training by default. DeepSeek, from Hangzhou DeepSeek Artificial Intelligence Co., Ltd., wins on price and open weights, with DeepSeek-V4-Pro free in Expert Mode and downloadable under the MIT licence. Its app stores data in China, so keep it to public material.
| Claude | DeepSeek | |
|---|---|---|
| Made by | Anthropic, United States | Hangzhou DeepSeek Artificial Intelligence Co., Ltd., China |
| Free plan models | Claude Sonnet 5.5 and Claude Haiku 5.5, with limits every 5 hours and every week | DeepSeek-V4.1-Flash-1017, plus DeepSeek-V4-Pro in Expert Mode |
| Top models | Claude Opus 5.5 and Claude Fable 5.1 (paid plans) | DeepSeek-V4-Pro |
| Paid plans | Pro, Max, Ultra, Team, Enterprise | None for the chat; pay-as-you-go API |
| Documents and decks | Claude Docs, Slides and Design on every plan | Not offered in the chat |
| Coding | Claude Code from Pro upwards | Free chat help; API works with Claude Code and Codex |
| Research | Web search on all plans; Research from Pro | Web search with its own search engine |
| Where data is stored | Anthropic, a US company; it says commercial data is stored in the US | People's Republic of China, under PRC law |
| Training on your chats | Used unless you opt out on Free to Ultra; off by default on Team and Enterprise | May be used after de-identification unless you switch it off |
| Open weights | None published | DeepSeek-V4-Pro under the MIT licence |
Claude vs DeepSeek: the verdict
Pick Claude for work. Anthropic's assistant wins writing, coding, research, files and privacy, because it is built to finish whole tasks and hand back real documents, and its Team and Enterprise plans keep your content out of training by default. Pick DeepSeek when price is the only thing that matters and the material is public, or when your company wants open weights to run on its own servers. DeepSeek's app stores what you type in China, which rules it out for most client and company work.
Here is where each one stands in November 2026. Claude runs on Anthropic's 5.5 models: Claude Opus 5.5 (released 22 September 2026) on Pro and above, and Claude Sonnet 5.5 (28 September) and Claude Haiku 5.5 (7 October) on every plan including Free. Claude Fable 5.1, released on 1 September, is available on paid plans within set limits. Since September, chat and Claude Cowork are one experience, so any conversation can take on a task and return editable files. DeepSeek, made by Hangzhou DeepSeek Artificial Intelligence Co., Ltd., is free on the web and in its apps, uses DeepSeek-V4.1-Flash-1017 by default since 17 October 2026, and switches to DeepSeek-V4-Pro in Expert Mode.
Writing: Claude wins
Careful writing and editing is what Claude is best known for, and the product now goes past the draft. Claude Docs, Slides and Design are on every plan, including Free, so a draft can become a document you export to Word, PDF, Markdown or Google Docs, or a deck you export to PowerPoint, PDF or Google Slides. Memory works across chat and Cowork, and you can edit what it remembers in Settings > Memory, which keeps your tone and context consistent.
DeepSeek writes clean, short answers; DeepSeek says its October Flash update gives shorter outputs. It has no equivalent of Claude's document and deck tools in the chat. And most work writing contains names and details you should not send to servers in China.
Coding: Claude wins, DeepSeek is the cheap engine
Claude wins for anyone who writes code for a living. Claude Code comes with Pro and every plan above it, and Anthropic launched Claude Fable 5.1 as one of its most advanced models for coding and knowledge work. Claude can also run code in the chat on the Free plan.
DeepSeek has an interesting role here. Its API accepts the Anthropic API format, and DeepSeek documents use with Claude Code and Codex. That means a developer can point familiar tools at DeepSeek's models and pay DeepSeek's per-token rates, which are half price off-peak since 16 August 2026. That is a cost decision for developers with code they are allowed to send to a Chinese provider, not a reason for an office worker to switch. For free help with a formula or an error message, DeepSeek with Expert Mode on is perfectly good.
Research: Claude wins
Claude has web search on every plan, and Research, its multi-step report mode, on Pro and above. Connectors, on every plan, let it pull in the apps you connect. DeepSeek has web search powered by its own search engine since October 2026, but it does not document how the chat shows sources, which makes checking harder. For research where every claim needs a citation, also look at Perplexity and the best AI for research.
Files and data: Claude wins
On Claude's Free plan you get file creation, code execution, Artifacts and up to five Projects. Paid plans add Claude Dashboards (beta), which build charts from data platforms or connected apps such as Salesforce and show the query behind each chart, plus Microsoft 365. Because Cowork runs in every conversation, you can ask for an analysis and get back a spreadsheet or a deck, not just a paragraph.
DeepSeek's file story is long context: both of its models accept up to 1 million tokens, so you can paste a long public document whole, and the default Flash model reads images. DeepSeek does not document a tool that runs calculations on a spreadsheet, so treat its numbers with care.
Privacy and data location: Claude wins
- DeepSeek. The privacy policy (updated 10 February 2026) says DeepSeek collects, processes and stores personal data in the People's Republic of China, and the Terms of Use (updated 27 March 2026) are governed by mainland Chinese law. Inputs and outputs may be used, after de-identification, to improve the service unless you switch off Improve the model for everyone in the app's settings (DeepSeek does not give the exact path) or email privacy@deepseek.com. Opting out of training does not change where the policy says your data is stored. There is no business plan. On 19 October 2026 the US Department of Homeland Security made public an order requiring federal civilian agencies to remove DeepSeek technology; it does not cover private companies.
- Claude. Anthropic is a US company. On Free, Pro, Max and Ultra your content can be used for training unless you opt out in Settings > Privacy with the Help improve our AI models toggle (the same setting is under your name menu on mobile). Turning it off covers future chats, not training already done. Team and Enterprise are not used for training by default, and Enterprise adds audit logs, SCIM and custom data retention.
Claude wins because it has work plans with training off by default and DeepSeek has none. The exception is self-hosting: DeepSeek's open weights, run on your own infrastructure, send nothing to DeepSeek at all.
Price and value: DeepSeek wins
DeepSeek costs nothing and gives free users its biggest model through Expert Mode. Claude's Free plan is useful (Claude Sonnet 5.5 and Claude Haiku 5.5, web search, files and Projects), but usage is limited every five hours and every week, and Claude Opus 5.5, Claude Code and Research need a paid plan. Claude's catch on every plan is usage limits: heavier models and long tasks use your allowance faster. Check current prices on Claude's pricing page. On pure value for a zero budget, DeepSeek wins.
Open weights and self-hosting: DeepSeek wins
This is not close. DeepSeek publishes DeepSeek-V4-Pro (1.6 trillion parameters, 49 billion active per token) on Hugging Face under the MIT licence, so any company can run it on servers it controls. Anthropic publishes no model weights at all: its Hugging Face page lists datasets but no public models. You use Claude through Anthropic's own apps and API, so your prompts always reach a provider.
Same task, both tools
These comparisons describe each tool's documented features, not our own test runs.
Turn meeting notes into a client proposal
Claude: paste the notes and ask for a proposal; Cowork can return it as a document you export to Word or Google Docs, and on Team or Enterprise the content is not used for training by default. DeepSeek: it can draft the text, but you would need to strip every client detail first, and you would still format the document yourself. Edge: Claude.
Ask questions across a very long public document
DeepSeek: paste the whole thing; both models take up to 1 million tokens. Claude: upload it into a Project so you can come back to it, and use Opus 5.5 on a paid plan for judgement across a lot of material. Edge: DeepSeek for a free one-off, Claude if the work continues.
Fix a bug in a work repository
Claude: Claude Code on Pro or above works in the repository and can run the code. DeepSeek: fine for explaining an error you paste, with names and keys removed, but sending company code to DeepSeek is a decision for your security team. Edge: Claude.
Who should pick Claude, and who should pick DeepSeek
Pick Claude if you write a lot, handle long and messy material, want finished documents and decks rather than chat answers, or code professionally. Teams that need admin controls and training off by default should start on Team. Our guide to using Claude explains the plans.
Pick DeepSeek if you want a strong reasoning and coding model for free on public material, or you are a developer who wants a low-cost API that works with Claude Code, or open weights to self-host. Read our DeepSeek guide first.
Not sure? Use Claude for anything with your company's name on it and DeepSeek for learning and public research. For other options see ChatGPT vs DeepSeek, the best Claude alternatives and our comparison tool, or practise with the free lessons at /learn?tool=claude.
Prompts to copy
Turn notes into a finished document
Here are my notes from a meeting with [client type, no names]: [paste]. Turn them into a two-page proposal with an overview, the problem, our approach, timeline and next steps. Keep it plain and specific, flag anything in my notes that is unclear, and give it to me as a document I can export to Word.
You get: An editable proposal and a list of gaps to fill (in Claude; in DeepSeek you get text only)
Stress-test a decision
Here is my argument for [decision]: [paste]. Find the weakest assumption, give the strongest counter-argument, and name one piece of evidence that would change my mind. Then rate my confidence on a scale of 1 to 5 and explain the rating in two sentences.
You get: An honest critique that works well in either tool
Explain an error safely
I got this error in [language or tool]: [paste error with names, paths and keys removed]. Explain what it means in plain English, list the three most likely causes, and show how to fix each one with a short code example.
You get: A plain-English diagnosis you can act on without sharing company code