DeepSeek
Built in China. Open source. Free chat. Surprisingly capable — especially at reasoning and long-form responses. But data privacy considerations are real and worth knowing before you use it.
What Is DeepSeek?
DeepSeek is an AI model built by a Chinese AI company of the same name. It's open source, meaning the model weights are publicly available for developers to run and modify. The chat interface is free to use. When it launched, its performance benchmarks competed with GPT-4 at a fraction of the training cost — which made waves in the AI industry.
Where It Lives
chat.deepseek.com on the web. Open source weights available for self-hosting. API for developers who want to build with it.
What Makes It Different
Open source. Free chat. Strong reasoning model (DeepSeek-R1). Competitive performance at low cost. Significant presence in the developer community.
Important Note
DeepSeek is a Chinese company subject to Chinese law. Data you enter may be stored on servers in China. This is a real consideration for sensitive or proprietary information.
What DeepSeek Is Best At
Reasoning Tasks
DeepSeek-R1 is a strong reasoning model that works through problems step by step. Useful for math, logic, and complex multi-step problems.
Long-Form Responses
Willing to write detailed, lengthy responses without truncating early. Good for comprehensive explanations and detailed analysis.
Developer Access
Open source weights mean developers can run DeepSeek locally or self-host it. No vendor lock-in. Full control over the model.
Low API Cost
DeepSeek's API is significantly cheaper than OpenAI or Anthropic. For developers building AI-powered apps on a budget, the cost difference is substantial.
What Does It Cost?
DeepSeek Chat
$0 / month
- Free web chat
- DeepSeek-V3 and R1 models
- No account required to try
The chat is free. Read the data privacy note before using it for anything sensitive.
DeepSeek API
Pay per token
- Much cheaper than GPT-4 API
- V3 and R1 models available
- Good for high-volume apps
Worth evaluating if you're building an app and OpenAI API costs are a concern.
Self-Hosted
Free (run it yourself)
- Download model weights
- Run locally via Ollama or LM Studio
- No data sent to any server
- Requires capable hardware
The privacy-safe option. Your data never leaves your machine.
Honest Limitations
Data Privacy — This Is Real
DeepSeek is a Chinese company. Data you enter into chat.deepseek.com may be stored on servers in China and subject to Chinese law, including government data access requests. This is not speculation — it's in their privacy policy.
Censored on Politically Sensitive Topics
DeepSeek refuses to discuss or acknowledges limited knowledge about topics sensitive to the Chinese government — Tiananmen Square, Taiwan independence, Xinjiang, etc.