Microsoft Copilot vs DeepSeek

A side-by-side look at Microsoft Copilot and DeepSeek — pricing, features and where each one wins. Both are reviewed independently on Curata AI.

Microsoft CopilotDeepSeek
SummaryMicrosoft's general-purpose AI chat companion with chat, image generation and task/project features — distinct from GitHub Copilot.Open-weight reasoning models with a very low API cost.
PricingFreemiumFreemium
CategoryChatChat
PlatformsWeb, iOS, AndroidWeb, API, Self-hosted
Key features
  • General Chat
  • Discover Feed
  • Imagine (Image Generation)
  • Experiments/Tasks/Projects
  • Open Weights
  • Reasoning Model
  • Cheap API
  • Web Chat
Pros
  • Usable as a guest without an account for basic chat
  • Backed by Microsoft's infrastructure and OpenAI model access
  • Bundles chat, image generation and task/project features in one product
  • Extremely cheap API
  • Open weights
  • Strong on math and code
  • Free web chat
Cons
  • Paid 'Copilot Pro' tier pricing could not be independently confirmed in this review — the official pricing page returned an error on the attempt made
  • Easy to confuse with GitHub Copilot (a separate, developer-focused product) due to the shared 'Copilot' branding
  • No public affiliate program found
  • Basic web UI
  • Data policy concerns for enterprise
  • Less multimodal than closed models

Which one should you choose?

Microsoft Copilot

Best for: Anyone in the Microsoft ecosystem wanting a free, general-purpose AI assistant, usable even as a guest.

DeepSeek

Best for: Developers building AI features on a budget.

Read the full Microsoft Copilot review

Microsoft Copilot (copilot.microsoft.com) is Microsoft's consumer-facing general-purpose AI assistant, offering conversational chat, a 'Discover' feed, 'Imagine' image generation, and Experiments/Tasks/Projects features. It's a separate product from GitHub Copilot (Microsoft's developer-focused coding assistant), aimed at general everyday use rather than software development.

Read the full DeepSeek review

DeepSeek made headlines by releasing open-weight reasoning models that rival closed frontier labs at a fraction of the cost. For developers, DeepSeek's API is one of the cheapest ways to run advanced reasoning at scale. The chat app is functional but plain; the real value is in the models themselves, which can be self-hosted or accessed through many third-party providers. Excellent for math, code and structured reasoning where cost per token matters.