AI Tool Review: DeepSeek R1 (technical AI model)
What is DeepSeek?
DeepSeek is an AI model created by a Chinese startup. The company released its R1 model in January 2025alumio.com. It was built on a lean budget (about $6 million, compared to hundreds of millions for OpenAI’s models) and is offered as open‑source softwarealumio.com. The tool aims to provide technical assistance (coding, mathematics, data analysis) at a low cost.
Strengths
Cost‑effective and open‑source – The service offers a free tier and low‑cost paid plans, making it attractive to startups and small businessesalumio.com. Its models are open source, so developers can host them locally and fine‑tune them for niche applications without paying licensing feesalumio.com.
Technical proficiency – DeepSeek R1 excels in technical tasks such as generating code in Python, Java or C++, solving complex equations and producing technical documentationalumio.com. On the MATH‑500 benchmark it scored 97.3 %, slightly higher than OpenAI’s o1 model (96.4 %)alumio.com.
Growing ecosystem – The model integrates with Azure AI Foundry, GitHub and JetBrains IDEs and has attracted thousands of developersalumio.com.
Conversational accuracy – It tends to produce precise outputs for technical questions, reducing the need for manual verificationalumio.com.
Limitations
No multimodal support – DeepSeek is text‑only; it cannot generate or analyze images or audioalumio.com.
Limited use outside technical domains – It excels at logic‑heavy tasks but is less useful for creative writing or customer‑service chatbotsalumio.com.
Language support – The model mainly supports English and Chinesealumio.com.
Slower responses – Chain‑of‑thought reasoning can delay replies, making it unsuitable for real‑time chat supportalumio.com.
Integration effort – Unlike Microsoft or Google products, it lacks native integration with popular software suites, so businesses may need custom developmentalumio.com.
Censorship and regional restrictions – It follows Chinese regulations and censors some political topics; availability is limited outside certain regionsalumio.com.
Comparison with similar AI tools
| Feature | DeepSeek R1 | OpenAI o1 via Microsoft Copilot | Google Gemini |
|---|---|---|---|
| Launch/Availability | R1 released Jan 2025alumio.com. | o1 launched Dec 2023; Copilot made it free to all users in early 2025tomsguide.comrobquickenden.blog. | Gemini launched in Dec 2023 and evolved to versions 1.5 and 2.5cloudzero.com. |
| Pricing | Free tier plus low‑cost paid plansalumio.com. | o1 previously cost $20 per month (limited) or $200 for unlimited accesstomsguide.com; Microsoft now offers it for free through Copilotrobquickenden.blog. | Gemini API pricing is usage‑based: for 2.5 Pro the input is $1.25 per million tokens and output $10 per millioncloudzero.com; a Google AI Pro subscription is about $19.99 per user per monthcloudzero.com. |
| Strengths | High accuracy on math and coding tasks; open source; customizablealumio.com. | Deep reasoning and improved memory via Think Deeper; handles complex tasks and maintains contexttechradar.com. | Multimodal (text, images, audio, video); integrates with Google Workspace; handles very long prompts (over a million tokens)alumio.com. |
| Limitations | No multimodal outputs; limited languages; slower for real‑time chatalumio.com; region‑limited due to censorshipalumio.com. | Think Deeper mode is slower (20–30 seconds per request)tomsguide.com; o1 cannot access the internet or process files or imagesrobquickenden.blog. | Pricing can be complex and usage‑based; performance in coding tasks may lag behind models tuned for developersalumio.com. |
| Integration | Requires custom integration; works via APIs and open-source hostingalumio.com. | Embedded in Microsoft Copilot; integrates with Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlookmicrosoft.com. | Embedded in Google Workspace (Docs, Sheets, Gmail, Calendar)alumio.com. |
Verdict
DeepSeek R1 is a strong choice for programmers, researchers and engineers who need accurate code generation and mathematical reasoning. Its open‑source nature and low pricing make it accessible to startups and allow local deployment without licensing feesalumio.com. However, its focus on technical tasks and limited integration means it is not ideal for general‑purpose or creative applications. If you need a free yet powerful reasoning model for everyday tasks and use Microsoft 365 apps, Copilot with the o1 model may be a better fit, although response times are slower and it cannot process media filestechradar.com. For teams requiring multimodal capabilities, long‑document analysis or deep Google Workspace integration, Google Gemini offers broad functionality and flexible pricing but may carry higher costs for heavy usage and can underperform in specialized coding tasksalumio.comcloudzero.com.
