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Compare · Head-to-head

Pick two cards. See the diff.

Stat bars are editorial heuristics, methodology linked — not a fake benchmark leaderboard. Put two dossiers side by side and see where each one breaks.
CardsModels

Compare · Card A / Card B·Head-to-head

DeepSeekvsGemini

In the General AI assistant set, Gemini edges ahead overall (editorial fit 75 vs 50). Gemini wins on citation honesty, privacy controls, speed, and value for money; the rest is a wash. For the canonical workflow, pick Gemini. Use DeepSeek when its niche specifically wins above.

DeepSeek · avg
55
wins 2 of 16
Gemini · avg
68
wins 12 of 16
Fields differ
13
of 16 dossier rows
Receipts
23
sources + bench notes

Checked 2026-06-09 · DeepSeek·Checked 2026-06-07 · Gemini

Dossier fields

Sixteen fields, side by side.

No.FieldDeepSeekGemini
01Status · Editorial quality gateSolidFlagship
02Editorial fit · 0–100 score50 / 10075 / 100
03CategoryGeneral AI assistantGeneral AI assistant
04Primary surfaceConsumer appConsumer app
05Modalities
  • Text
  • Code
  • Text
  • Image
  • Code
  • Audio
  • Video
06Role in a stackLow-cost reasoning and coding assistant / API model optionGoogle ecosystem multimodal assistant
07Best for
  • Cost-sensitive API experiments where token price matters more than ecosystem polish
  • Coding and reasoning comparisons against ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Mistral, and OpenRouter routes
  • Developers who want OpenAI-/Anthropic-compatible endpoints for inexpensive model routing tests
  • Users who can keep sensitive or unpublished research out of consumer chat and standard API calls
  • Google-heavy users who want assistant, storage, Search, NotebookLM, and media-generation benefits in one subscription family
  • Drafting and rewriting with Google Search grounding in the same thread
  • Multimodal uploads: PDFs, slides, images, video, code, and audio/video-style workflows
  • Students on Google AI Pro who want Deep Research without buying a second search assistant
08Avoid if
  • Your institution bars sending research data to China-based AI services
  • You need clear enterprise data-residency, retention, or no-training guarantees for consumer chat
  • You want the most mature assistant ecosystem, integrations, admin controls, or procurement story
  • You cannot monitor model-name deprecations and API compatibility changes
  • You need numbered footnotes and domain audits like a cited search engine
  • Your institution forbids human review/model improvement and you cannot manage Gemini Apps Activity or Workspace/Vertex controls
  • You are building production RAG and assume the free AI Studio/API tier has the same data rules as paid Gemini API
  • You do not use Google Drive/Gmail/Photos/NotebookLM/Flow enough to value the bundle
09Capabilities tracked
  • OpenAI- and Anthropic-compatible API
  • base URLs for both formats
  • V4-Flash and V4-Pro
  • thinking/non-thinking modes
  • 1M context
  • 384K max output
  • JSON output
  • tool calls
  • chat prefix completion beta
  • FIM completion beta in non-thinking mode
  • supported by agent/coding tools like Claude Code, GitHub Copilot, and OpenCode as backend model
  • low token pricing
  • high concurrency limits
  • Multimodal Gemini chat
  • Search grounding
  • AI Mode / Deep Search
  • Deep Research
  • Gemini Live
  • Gems
  • image/music/video generation
  • NotebookLM expanded limits
  • Google Flow
  • Drive/Gmail/Photos storage bundle
  • Gemini API
  • Workspace/Vertex enterprise paths
10Failure modes · Documented, not buried
  • Privacy/residency may be unacceptable institutionally
  • Consumer and API terms differ
  • Geopolitical/export-control context can affect access
  • Very high max output can cause runaway generation if max_tokens is not set
  • Legacy model names deprecate 2026-07-24
  • DeepSeek reserves right to adjust prices; docs need monitoring
  • Search grounding can cite SEO/support/forum/stale pages
  • Deep Research can miss academic databases
  • Consumer activity and free API data use must be managed
  • Storage/media perks can obscure assistant value
  • Regional availability varies
  • Free API and paid API have different privacy boundaries
11Evidence levelEditorial · hands-onEditorial · hands-on
12Sources verified · Receipts on the dossier
13Benchmark entries
  • Run 20 reasoning/coding tasks on V4-Flash, V4-Pro, ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, and OpenRouter routes.
    Pending.
  • Test a controlled 200K / 500K / 1M-token retrieval and summarization workload.
    Pending.
  • Swap OpenAI and Anthropic SDK configurations to DeepSeek base URLs.
    Pending.
  • Compare privacy, terms, residency, and policy constraints against ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, and Mistral.
    Pending.
  • Run 25 grounded Search/Deep Research prompts and classify sources.
    Pending.
  • Test PDF, slide, image, video, and code inputs against ChatGPT and Claude.
    Pending.
  • Compare Google AI Pro against ChatGPT Plus + NotebookLM free + Drive storage alternatives.
    Pending.
  • Run same workload on Gemini API free and paid tiers.
    Pending.
14Alternatives tracked
  • ChatGPT
  • Claude
  • Gemini
  • OpenRouter
  • Qwen
  • ChatGPT
  • Claude
  • Perplexity
  • Microsoft Copilot
  • DeepSeek
15Pricing checked2026-06-092026-06-07
16Last verified2026-06-092026-06-07
16 metrics

Sixteen numbers, one shared midline.

DeepSeekvsGemini

In the General AI assistant set, Gemini edges ahead overall (editorial fit 75 vs 50). Gemini wins on citation honesty, privacy controls, speed, and value for money; the rest is a wash. For the canonical workflow, pick Gemini. Use DeepSeek when its niche specifically wins above.

  1. Editorial fit
    DeepSeek50Gemini75
  2. Source quality
    DeepSeek58Gemini60
  3. Citation honesty
    DeepSeek54Gemini62
  4. Privacy controls
    DeepSeek22Gemini36
  5. Value for money
    DeepSeek45Gemini74
  6. Speed
    DeepSeek68Gemini80
  7. Integration
    DeepSeek55Gemini81
  8. Onboarding
    DeepSeek68Gemini80
  9. Reliability
    DeepSeek48Gemini76
  10. Feature depth
    DeepSeek62Gemini99
  11. Data portability
    DeepSeek65Gemini55
  12. Transparency
    DeepSeek98Gemini61
  13. Ecosystem reach
    DeepSeek55Gemini81
  14. Documentation
    DeepSeek58Gemini60
  15. Independence
    DeepSeek22Gemini36
  16. Affordability
    DeepSeek55Gemini68
DeepSeek · avg 55 · wins 2 of 160avg 68 · wins 12 of 16 · Gemini
EvidenceDeepSeek 0 · Gemini 3
  1. 01Editorial fit
    50
    75
  2. 02Source quality
    58
    60
  3. 03Citation honesty
    54
    62
  4. 04Privacy controls
    22
    36
PrivacyDeepSeek 0 · Gemini 4
  1. 05Value for money
    45
    74
  2. 06Speed
    68
    80
  3. 07Integration
    55
    81
  4. 08Onboarding
    68
    80
CapabilityDeepSeek 2 · Gemini 2
  1. 09Reliability
    48
    76
  2. 10Feature depth
    62
    99
  3. 11Data portability
    65
    55
  4. 12Transparency
    98
    61
Cost & fitDeepSeek 0 · Gemini 3
  1. 13Ecosystem reach
    55
    81
  2. 14Documentation
    58
    60
  3. 15Independence
    22
    36
  4. 16Affordability
    55
    68
CARD A · DeepSeek
General AI assistant
DeepSeek
50/100
ROLELow-cost reasoning and coding assistant / API model option
Editorial fit
50
Source quality
58
Citation honesty
54
Privacy controls
22
Value for money
45
Speed
68
FREEVerified 2026-06-07
FREEFree
CUSTOMPro
SolidVerified 2026-06-09VP·METHOD

Low-cost reasoning and coding assistant / API model option — Low-cost consumer chat and API model provider for reasoning, coding, and OpenAI-/Anthropic-compatible model routing, with unusually low token prices and important privacy, residency, and institutional-risk caveats.

CARD B · Gemini
General AI assistant
Gemini
75/100
ROLEGoogle ecosystem multimodal assistant
Editorial fit
75
Source quality
60
Citation honesty
62
Privacy controls
36
Value for money
74
Speed
80
FREEFree
$7.99/MOGoogle AI Plus
$19.99/MOGoogle AI Pro
FlagshipVerified 2026-06-07VP·METHOD

Google ecosystem multimodal assistant — Google’s multimodal assistant and AI plan ecosystem, with Search grounding, Deep Research, Deep Search in AI Mode, Gems, Live, image/music/video generation, NotebookLM benefits, Google storage bundles, and a separate Gemini API.

Privacy facets

Where each card is actually private.

DeepSeekGemini
Training on your dataUnknownUnknown: Not statedUnknownUnknown: Not stated
EU data residencyNoNo: Not documentedPartialPartial: Enterprise tier only
SOC 2 attestationNoNo: Not documentedNoNo: Not documented
Local-first by defaultPartialPartial: Local option availableNoNo: Cloud only
Capability split

What each card does uniquely.

Only DeepSeek13

  • OpenAI- and Anthropic-compatible API
  • base URLs for both formats
  • V4-Flash and V4-Pro
  • thinking/non-thinking modes
  • 1M context
  • 384K max output
  • JSON output
  • tool calls
  • chat prefix completion beta
  • FIM completion beta in non-thinking mode
  • supported by agent/coding tools like Claude Code, GitHub Copilot, and OpenCode as backend model
  • low token pricing
  • high concurrency limits

Shared0

No overlap detected.

Only Gemini12

  • Multimodal Gemini chat
  • Search grounding
  • AI Mode / Deep Search
  • Deep Research
  • Gemini Live
  • Gems
  • image/music/video generation
  • NotebookLM expanded limits
  • Google Flow
  • Drive/Gmail/Photos storage bundle
  • Gemini API
  • Workspace/Vertex enterprise paths
Failure modes

Where each card breaks.

DeepSeek

  • Privacy/residency may be unacceptable institutionally
  • Consumer and API terms differ
  • Geopolitical/export-control context can affect access
  • Very high max output can cause runaway generation if max_tokens is not set
  • Legacy model names deprecate 2026-07-24
  • DeepSeek reserves right to adjust prices; docs need monitoring

Gemini

  • Search grounding can cite SEO/support/forum/stale pages
  • Deep Research can miss academic databases
  • Consumer activity and free API data use must be managed
  • Storage/media perks can obscure assistant value
  • Regional availability varies
  • Free API and paid API have different privacy boundaries
Pricing

Pulled straight from each dossier.

DeepSeek

General AI assistant
  • FREEVerified 2026-06-07
  • FREEFree
  • CUSTOMPro

raw · Verified 2026-06-07 from official DeepSeek API docs: V4-Flash $0.0028/1M cache-hit input, $0.14/1M cache-miss input, $0.28/1M output; V4-Pro $0.003625/1M cache-hit input, $0.435/1M cache-miss input, $0.87/1M output. Both list 1M context, max 384K output, JSON output, tool calls, chat prefix beta, FIM beta in non-thinking mode, and OpenAI/Anthropic base URLs. Concurrency limits: 2500 Flash, 500 Pro. deepseek-chat and deepseek-reasoner deprecate 2026-07-24 15:59 UTC.

Gemini

General AI assistant
  • FREEFree
  • $7.99/MOGoogle AI Plus
  • $19.99/MOGoogle AI Pro

raw · Google AI Plus: 200 GB and 2x limits · Google AI Pro: 5 TB and 4x limits · Google AI Ultra: 20 TB+ and up to 20x Pro limits, with Deep Think / higher media / NotebookLM / Flow access depending on region · Gemini API usage-based and separate.

Verdict

Which card to actually pick.

In the General AI assistant set, Gemini edges ahead overall (editorial fit 75 vs 50). Gemini wins on citation honesty, privacy controls, speed, and value for money; the rest is a wash. For the canonical workflow, pick Gemini. Use DeepSeek when its niche specifically wins above.

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