How does DeepSeek compare to other Famous AI Tools
Smash Code
Aug 04, 2025
DeepSeek is quickly becoming a preferred tool for those seeking powerful, affordable, and customizable AI—though it still faces competition from established giants and must address reliability and privacy concerns to maintain its momentum.
DeepSeek has become one of the most downloaded AI apps, leading in 156 countries worldwide: AI App Rankings: DeepSeek Tops Downloads Across 156 Countries
DeepSeek R1 surpasses GPT-4 in math and reasoning tasks, highlighting its technical prowess: DeepSeek R1: A Chinese AI Model That Outperforms GPT-4 in Math and Reasoning
DeepSeek achieved major efficiency by training on 14.8 trillion tokens for just $6 million and 2.788 million GPU hours: DeepSeek R1 Trained on 14.8T Tokens with $6M and 2.788M GPU Hours
As an open-source LLM, DeepSeek is rapidly disrupting the AI landscape with accessible and customizable technology: Meet DeepSeek: The Open-Source LLM Shaking Up the AI World
Well, this is what different sources reveal about the impact of DeepSeek in the AI world. However, let’s delve into the practical aspects of DeepSeek and AI in our daily lives.
Imagine a novelist on a cross-country train, laptop open, staring at a blinking cursor. Writer’s block looms—until she turns to her AI assistant. With a few prompts, the AI suggests plot twists, vivid descriptions, and even dialogue, helping her break through the creative wall.
This isn’t science fiction. From AI-written novels like "1 the Road"—where an AI generated a story in real time during a road trip—to AI-powered video games that adapt to your every move, artificial intelligence is no longer just a tool; it’s a creative partner.
But as AI becomes more embedded in our daily work—whether you’re a developer debugging code, a marketer crafting campaigns, or a designer seeking inspiration—the question arises: which AI tool should you trust with your next big idea?
Enter DeepSeek, a rising star in the AI universe, challenging established giants like OpenAI’s GPT-4, Anthropic’s Claude, and Google’s Gemini.
DeepSeek: The New Contender’s Origin Story
DeepSeek AI was founded in May 2023 by Liang Wenfeng, a figure with deep roots in both AI and quantitative finance. Operating as an independent research lab under the High-Flyer hedge fund, DeepSeek’s mission was clear: make powerful AI accessible, affordable, and open-source.
The company’s journey began with DeepSeek Coder, a model tailored for programming tasks, followed by the DeepSeek-LLM series. By December 2024, DeepSeek had released DeepSeek-V3, a model boasting 671 billion parameters. In January 2025, the world met DeepSeek-R1—a model that would soon disrupt the global AI landscape.
What sets DeepSeek apart is its relentless focus on efficiency. By leveraging a Mixture-of-Experts (MoE) architecture, DeepSeek activates only the most relevant neural sub-networks for each query, slashing computational costs while maintaining high performance. This approach allowed DeepSeek to train its R1 model on 14.8 trillion tokens using just 2.788 million GPU hours—at $6 million, compared to GPT-4’s estimated $100 million.
Technical Power, Simple Language: What Makes DeepSeek Tick?
For AI users, developers, and digital creatives, the technical details matter—but so does clarity. Here’s what you need to know about DeepSeek’s capabilities, in plain English:
- Mixture-of-Experts (MoE) Architecture: Instead of using all its “brainpower” for every task, DeepSeek selectively activates only the parts of its neural network that are most relevant. This means faster, cheaper, and more efficient AI responses.
- Advanced Reasoning: DeepSeek excels at complex problem-solving, especially in math and coding. Its R1 model achieved a 90.2% score on the MATH benchmark, outperforming even GPT-4.
- Multilingual and Multimodal: DeepSeek supports over 200 languages and can process both text and images, making it versatile for global users and cross-media projects.
- Open-Source and Customizable: Unlike many competitors, DeepSeek’s models are open-source, allowing developers and businesses to adapt the AI to their specific needs.
By the Numbers: DeepSeek’s Meteoric Rise
DeepSeek’s growth has been nothing short of explosive:
- User Base: As of April 2025, DeepSeek boasted 96.88 million monthly active users—a 25.81% jump from the previous month. Its app has been downloaded over 57.2 million times worldwide.
- Market Reach: DeepSeek is the #1 most downloaded app in the App Store across 156 countries, with China, India, and Indonesia accounting for over half its users.
- Demographics: The largest user group is aged 18-24, and the user base skews male.
- Cost Efficiency: DeepSeek is 20 to 50 times cheaper to operate than OpenAI’s GPT-4, depending on the task.
DeepSeek vs. The Giants: How Does It Compare?
Let’s break down how DeepSeek stacks up against the industry’s heavyweights:
1. OpenAI’s GPT-4
- Strengths: GPT-4 is renowned for its versatility, speed (117 tokens/second), and integration with Microsoft’s ecosystem. It’s a go-to for text generation, summarisation, and document analysis.
- DeepSeek’s Edge: While GPT-4 is faster, DeepSeek matches or exceeds it in complex reasoning and math, and does so at a fraction of the cost. For developers and businesses watching their budgets, this is a game-changer.
2. Anthropic’s Claude
- Strengths: Claude is designed with a focus on safety, neutrality, and reliability. It’s fast (84 tokens/second) and excels in deep research and agent orchestration.
- DeepSeek’s Edge: DeepSeek outperforms Claude in several benchmarks, especially in logic and coding tasks. However, Claude is often more reliable and less prone to server errors.
3. Google’s Gemini
- Strengths: Gemini is tightly integrated with Google’s suite, offers unlimited free queries, and handles multimodal inputs (text, images, charts).
- DeepSeek’s Edge: DeepSeek’s open-source nature and cost efficiency make it attractive for custom solutions, while its performance in data analysis and reasoning is on par or better in some areas.
Real-Life Impact: DeepSeek in Action
DeepSeek isn’t just a lab experiment—it’s making waves in the real world:
- Smart Cities: In Tokyo, DeepSeek-powered traffic systems reduced congestion by 40% and cut CO₂ emissions by 25%.
- Finance: A global hedge fund used DeepSeek for stock market predictions, boosting decision accuracy by 85% and enabling real-time fraud detection.
- Healthcare: In German hospitals, DeepSeek predicted sepsis risk in ICU patients with 96% accuracy, reducing ICU admissions by 32%.
- E-Commerce: An online retailer saw a 30% increase in conversions after DeepSeek generated instant, personalised offers for hesitant shoppers.
- Cybersecurity: DeepSeek detected and prevented a $12 million fraud attempt in just 0.02 seconds for a fintech company.
What Users and Experts Are Saying
- Developers and Researchers: DeepSeek’s open-source flexibility and affordability are major draws. It’s especially popular among those who want to customise AI for unique applications.
- Content Creators and Marketers: While DeepSeek is powerful, some users note that it lacks features like image generation and voice chat, which are available in tools like ChatGPT and Gemini.
- Reliability: DeepSeek’s rapid growth has led to occasional server errors and slower response times compared to GPT-4 and Claude.
- Privacy Concerns: Some experts caution about DeepSeek’s data collection practices and potential censorship, given its Chinese origins.
Why Are Users Choosing DeepSeek?
Current trends show that users—especially businesses—prioritise AI tools that are:
- Cost-effective and scalable
- Easy to integrate into existing workflows
- Customizable and open-source
- Strong in automation, reasoning, and data analysis
- Able to enhance customer engagement and productivity.
DeepSeek’s architecture and pricing hit these marks, making it a compelling choice for developers, digital marketers, content writers, and anyone seeking to do more with less.
Conclusion: The Future of AI—Open, Affordable, and Powerful?
DeepSeek’s rapid ascent is shaking up the AI world, offering a blend of technical excellence, cost efficiency, and open-source freedom. While it’s not without its limitations—such as occasional reliability issues and fewer creative features compared to some rivals—its strengths in reasoning, coding, and affordability are hard to ignore. As AI becomes an ever more integral part of our creative and professional lives, the real question is: will you stick with the familiar giants, or are you ready to explore what DeepSeek can do for you?