Free AI chat app backed by open-weight models
DeepSeek is the chat assistant from the Chinese AI lab of the same name, running on its own models. The web and mobile apps are free and offer web search, file reading and a DeepThink reasoning mode. The model weights are published under the MIT license and can run on your own hardware. A pay-as-you-go API is offered to developers, and data from the hosted service is processed in China.
- features
- 3
- alternatives
- 9
- platforms
- 4
- Updated
- Oct 12, 2026
Features
Our take
Pros
- Free web and mobile apps with a reasoning mode
- Open-weight models under the MIT license can run locally
- Low-cost pay-as-you-go API for developers
Cons
- The hosted service processes data in China, a privacy concern
- Answers on politically sensitive topics are censored
- No image generation in the chat app
Editorial assessment by the Alternatives.tools team, based on what the product is known for. Not a user review.
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PerplexityFreemiumAI answer engine that cites the web sources behind each answer
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GrokFreemiumxAI's chatbot with real-time access to posts on X
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