Mistral Vibe Freemium
Mistral's Vibe, which Mistral's help center says replaces the Le Chat name, is an AI assistant for research, coding and everyday tasks. A Free plan has limited messages; Pro costs $14.99 a month.
D
AI Tool Profile
DeepSeek
DeepSeek is an AI chat assistant from a Chinese research company, offered as a mobile app, web chat and desktop client. The official site calls the app free to use; the API is billed per token.
Description of DeepSeek
DeepSeek is the product of Hangzhou DeepSeek Artificial Intelligence Basic Technology Research Co., Ltd., a research company that publishes its own language models. Its website describes the company as focused on foundation models and says it open-sources models such as DeepSeek-V4 and DeepSeek-R1.
For everyday users there are several ways in. The DeepSeek app is available on iOS and Android, a web chat is linked from the main site, and a desktop client called DeepSeek Harness runs on macOS (Apple silicon, macOS 13 or later) and Windows (x64). The company's developer platform also exposes the models through an API.
On cost, the official app announcement states that the app is free to use, with no ads and no in-app purchases, and the download page says you can chat with its models for free. The pages we read do not say whether the web chat or the desktop client are free, so check the sign-up screen. The API is separate and billed by tokens: at the time of reading, two models were listed, with input from $0.15 per million tokens on the cheaper one when cache misses occur, and lower rates off-peak.
A buyer should also consider where data is handled. The company is based in China and the terms and privacy policy govern how chats are stored; read them before entering confidential material. If privacy is a concern, the published open weights let technical users run models on their own hardware instead of using the hosted app, though that takes far more setup than installing the app.
Features of DeepSeek
- Chat app for iOS and Android, a web chat, and a desktop client called DeepSeek Harness for macOS and Windows.
- Developer API with token-based pricing, a 1M-token context window and up to 384K output tokens on the listed models.
- Model weights for releases such as DeepSeek-V4 and DeepSeek-R1 are published openly, so they can be run on your own hardware.
Frequently asked questions
Is DeepSeek free?
The official app page says the app is free to use, with no ads or in-app purchases. It does not say the same for the web chat or desktop client. The API is billed per token.
Which devices can run DeepSeek?
The app runs on iOS and Android. The DeepSeek Harness desktop client supports macOS 13 or later on Apple silicon and Windows x64. A web chat version is also linked from the main site.
Can I run DeepSeek models offline?
The company says it open-sources models such as DeepSeek-V4 and DeepSeek-R1, so technical users can run them on their own hardware. The hosted app itself needs an internet connection.
Website: https://chat.deepseek.com/
Company: Hangzhou DeepSeek Artificial Intelligence Basic Technology Research Co., Ltd.
Key facts
Chat app and web assistant from a Chinese research lab; the vendor says the app is free. API is pay-per-token, and open weights exist. Review the privacy terms before sharing sensitive data.
| Pricing model | Free |
|---|---|
| Free tier | Yes · App stated as free, no ads or in-app purchases; web and desktop not stated |
| Starting price | Not verified |
| Data residency | Not verified |
| Compliance (as stated by vendor) | Not verified |
| Integrations | Not verified |
| Public API | Yes |
| Self-hostable | Yes |
| Official site | Not verified |
| Can a general AI assistant replace it? | DeepSeek is itself a general LLM. Choose it for a free app or cheap API; if data location matters, a vendor with stated regions may fit better. |
| Last verified | 2026-10-10 by editor |
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Update history
- 2026-10-10 · ai alternative note updated (editor)
- 2026-10-10 · editor verdict updated (editor)
- 2026-10-10 · self hostable updated (editor)
- 2026-10-10 · api available updated (editor)
- 2026-10-10 · pricing page url updated (editor)
- 2026-10-10 · free tier updated (editor)
- 2026-10-10 · pricing model updated (editor)
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