DeepSeek vs Qwen
Both are cheap, capable and open. DeepSeek leans reasoning; Qwen leans coding and multilingual work, and its smaller sizes run comfortably on modest hardware. For local experimentation Qwen is usually the easier starting point.
| DeepSeek | Qwen | |
|---|---|---|
| Provider | DeepSeek | Alibaba |
| Current release | V4 | Qwen3.8 |
| Tier | Reasoning | Open weights |
| Context | 1M | 256K |
| Cost | Low cost | Free tier |
| Modalities | text | text, vision |
| Open weights | Yes | Yes |
Cost is a tier, not a quote, providers change prices often. Check DeepSeek and Alibaba before you commit. Last updated 2026-09-04.
Which one to pick
DeepSeekDeepSeek · V4
Open reasoning at a fraction of the cost of closed reasoning models
Reach for it when- Math, logic and multi-step reasoning
- You want visible chain-of-thought
QwenAlibaba · Qwen3.8
A strong open model for local use, especially good at coding for its size
Reach for it when- Coding on consumer hardware
- Non-English work, especially Chinese