Ask a question, have a text proofread
You write, it answers. It explains a concept, rewords a paragraph, suggests an outline. Like the other assistants, but with no subscription.
AI tools · Assistants
DeepSeek pricing, use cases, and first steps
DeepSeek is an assistant built by a Chinese company. It answers your questions, proofreads a text, and understands an image, for free. But everything you write to it is stored in China and used to improve its AI. Nova advises against using it for your work documents.
DeepSeek has a free plan. Prices checked on October 3, 2026 on the vendor’s official page.
DeepSeekA free Chinese assistant, to keep away from your work files- Vendor
- Hangzhou DeepSeek Artificial Intelligence (China)
- Free plan
- Yes
- In the European Union
- Partly available
- Page checked on
- October 3, 2026
What DeepSeek does
Who it’s for: curious people who want to compare its answers with another assistant’s, on low-stakes topics.
The deep thinking mode
For a hard question, DeepSeek takes more time and reasons step by step before answering. The answer is more detailed.
Vision mode: understand an image
You send a photo or a screenshot and ask a question about it. It describes, reads the visible text, explains a diagram.
Also
- Attach a photo or a file
- Find an old conversation
- DeepSeek Harness: an agent on your computer
DeepSeek pricing
The link opens the pricing for developers: it is the only price list DeepSeek publishes.
What the free plan includes
The whole assistant is free, on the web and on mobile. The French App Store listing shows no in-app purchases.
Nova’s advice
Don’t pay for anything, and above all don’t give it anything confidential. There is no subscription for the general public. Only developers pay, by usage, to connect DeepSeek to their own software.
A first try, in 3 minutes
Your data. Your data is stored in China and used to train the AI. Nova advises against DeepSeek for any work document.
What it does less well
- Nothing you give it stays in Europe. No customer names, no internal figures, no contracts, no employee data.
- On topics that are politically sensitive in China, it dodges or refuses to answer. A January 2025 study, run on an earlier version, measured this on 85% of 1,360 questions of this kind.
Ask a general knowledge questionDeepSeek- Open chat.deepseek.com and log in.
- Copy the prompt below into the input box, then send it.
- Ask your usual assistant the same question and compare the two answers.
- Don’t go any further with a real work file: nothing confidential here.
The prompt to copy
Explain to me in ten lines the difference between revenue and margin, with a simple worked example.
Alternatives to DeepSeek
Mistral Vibe
A French assistant, with servers in Europe and a free plan.
Duck.ai
To ask a question anonymously, without an account.
Ollama
To run an AI model on your own computer, without sending anything outside.
ChatGPT
The most widely used assistant, with a free plan and privacy settings.
Frequently asked questions about DeepSeek
How much does DeepSeek cost?
The whole assistant is free, on the web and on mobile. The French App Store listing shows no in-app purchases. Prices checked on October 3, 2026 on the vendor’s official page.
Can you use DeepSeek for free?
Yes. The whole assistant is free, on the web and on mobile. The French App Store listing shows no in-app purchases.
What happens to my data with DeepSeek?
Your data is stored in China and used to train the AI. Nova advises against DeepSeek for any work document.
What are the alternatives to DeepSeek?
Mistral Vibe: A French assistant, with servers in Europe and a free plan. Duck.ai: To ask a question anonymously, without an account. Ollama: To run an AI model on your own computer, without sending anything outside. ChatGPT: The most widely used assistant, with a free plan and privacy settings.
Official pages consulted
Page checked on October 3, 2026. Brands are named to identify the tools. No affiliation.