DeepSeek R1 is the open-weights reasoning model from DeepSeek AI that matches or exceeds OpenAI's o1 on math, science, and coding benchmarks at a fraction of the API cost. Released early 2026, it's become the default choice for cost-sensitive teams running inference at scale. Available via DeepSeek Chat, the API, and as fully open MIT-licensed weights.
Chain-of-thought reasoning — shows step-by-step working before the answer.
Open weights — freely downloadable for self-hosting and fine-tuning.
Strong math and code performance — competitive on reasoning benchmarks.
Low-cost API — accessible through DeepSeek's API and chat.
Solving multi-step math and logic problems with visible reasoning.
Powering coding assistants and agents at low cost.
Fine-tuning or distilling a reasoning model for a custom domain.
Developers who need a strong reasoning model they can self-host or call cheaply via API.
Researchers who want open weights for fine-tuning and experimentation.
Teams building math, coding, or logic-heavy applications on a budget.
Free to use via DeepSeek's chat.
Open weights — free to download and self-host.
Low-cost API billed per token.
