For the high density of distributed heterogeneity nodes in wireless sensor networks (WSNs), the optimal sensor deployment is studied. A cost optimal heterogeneous sensor deployment scheme based on genetic algorithm is proposed. The cost of sensor node deployment is used as objective function for optimization computation subjected to network coverage and fault tolerance to obtain the suitable types and positions of the sensors. The algorithm can be used for boolean sensing model as well as probabilistic sensing model. The simulation results demonstrate that the proposed algorithm converges fast toward the optimal solutions and reduces the cost of sensor deployment, which is feasible for heterogenous nodes deployment in WSNs.