Summary
- DeepSeek is a ChatGPT and Gemini alternative that’s free and fast.
- All you need to start is to create an account or connect to an existing Apple or Google account.
- The AI chatbot works well, but is still prone to errors and has some potentially concerning privacy issues.
The AI landscape in the US and large parts of the rest of the world has been dominated by ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini. Not only do these AI assistants represent the cutting edge when it comes to large language models, they’re also the closest most companies have come to turning AI into an actual product. It’s only natural that they’re popular.
Until that hegemony was upset by DeepSeek. The free AI chatbot didn’t technically debut in 2025 — DeepSeek launched in 2023 and released its V3 model in December 2024 — but the introduction of a free mobile app alongside an impressive open source reasoning model called DeepThink R1 has suddenly made DeepSeek a direct competitor to OpenAI. Not only is DeepSeek’s AI open source, it appears to match OpenAI’s GPT-4o and o1 reasoning model in terms of speed and accuracy, and it reportedly costs a fraction of the cost to train and run. DeepSeek doesn’t have some of the flashier features of its competitors, but the fact it’s free to use greatly outweighs any of those missing pieces. Here’s how you can try DeepSeek for yourself, and what you should consider if you do.
DeepSeek
DeepSeek is a new AI chatbot that looks to rival’s ChatGPT abilities at a fraction of the cost. The app is available for free on the App Store and Play Store.
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How to use DeepSeek to replace ChatGPT or Gemini
The mobile app and website offer a similar suite of features
Currently, the DeepSeek app is free to download from both the Apple App Store and Google Play Store, and free to use on DeepSeek’s website. You technically have to create an account to use the service, and you might have to deal with an outage that prevents you from using DeepSeel because of the increased demand, but those are the only real obstacles.
DeepSeek lets you create an account from scratch or use an existing account from Apple and Google. Like any online account, you should consider what your information might be used for before you sign up:
- Download the DeepSeek app or go to chat.deepseek.com.
- Create an account by entering an email and password or selecting Sign in with Google or Sign in with Apple. The Apple account option is currently only available in the iOS app.
- Agree to DeepSeek’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy by clicking or tapping on “Agree.”
- If you decide to connect to an existing account, enter your log-in information.
Your account should then be set up, and you’ll be dropped into a new chat with DeepSeek. If you’ve used a generative AI app before, the interface should be familiar. It’s structured a bit like a chat app, with the main difference being you’re messaging with a large language model rather than a person. Here’s the interface highlights:Tapping or clicking on the chatbox labeled “Message DeepSeek” will pull up your keyboard and let you enter a question or a request.
- Tapping or clicking on the “+” icon below that bar on the right lets you add a photo, image, or document for DeepSeek to analyze.
- Tapping or clicking on DeepThink (R1) or Search buttons before you make a request will engage DeepSeek’s reasoning model (for complex multistep questions like math problems) or enable a web search.
- Tapping or clicking on the blue arrow icon sends your request to DeepSeek to be processed.
That’s the extent of what DeepSeek can do at this point. If you need to start a new chat, you can do so just by tapping or clicking on the chat bubble in the top right corner of your screen. To review old chats, you can head to the icon with two horizontal lines in the top left corner of the screen. The setup is similar on the web.
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DeepSeek holds its own with other Al assistants
Free and fast answers go a long way
If you’ve become accustomed to using ChatGPT or Gemini to answer questions or generate text, DeepSeek seems like a capable alternative. It’s relatively fast, seems just as accurate (or inaccurate, as it were), and can work with existing text, files, and documents, the main thing most people seem to turn to AI for. The major drawback of DeepSeek is that it seems to not provide citations for its answers unless they’re drawn from a web search, something ChatGPT and Gemini at least gesture at trying to do for all answers. That makes it even harder to verify that the responses you’re receiving are actually correct.
DeepSeek is otherwise a good AI app, and you don’t even have to head to a Meta social media app to use it, which might be a real plus depending on your preferences. It’s easy to give up things like image generation and other advanced features when you’re getting everything else for free.
FAQ
Q: Should I be worried about my privacy or security while using DeepSeek?
Yes, you should be cautious of what information you share with DeepSeek. The company’s privacy policy seems very permissive when it comes to the kinds of information it’s willing to share with governments and law enforcement — a problem with the majority of companies based in China. DeepSeek has also already accidently leaked sensitive data, according to Reuters, which doesn’t exactly inspire confidence in its ability to manage the information of the new users it received. The DeepSeek AI is also apparently highly easy to manipulate if bad actors want to generate dangerous material, according to Wired.
