DeepSeek is a Hangzhou lab with a free chat app and open weights. Separate the product from the files you can download.
- 1 What DeepSeek is (products plus open models) DeepSeek is a Hangzhou lab with a free chat app and open-weight files, and they are not the same install. This part maps chat.deepseek.com, the API, and Hugging Face checkpoints so you do not clone an 865 GB folder to rewrite a six-line FAQ. Scheduled · September 23, 2026
- 2 DeepSeek chat app and plans without hype Wes paid $19.00 to a browser-extension DeepSeek Plus because Instant Mode felt cheap for a 14-slide board deck. Official chat.deepseek.com is free as of writing: Instant maps to V4-Flash, Expert maps to V4-Pro, and there is no official Plus checkout. Scheduled · October 3, 2026
- 3 DeepSeek thinking mode without treating scratch as proof Mei pasted a 612-word DeepSeek thinking block into Slack as proof a 3.7 percent margin was right. After returns the same workbook said 2.1 percent, so treat reasoning_content as a scratch pad and check the number before you share. Scheduled · October 4, 2026
- 4 DeepSeek for coding: useful, still run the tests Nico pasted a Django list view into DeepSeek Expert Mode, the rewrite dropped tenant_id, and the preview added 4,812 extra rows from other tenants. Coding help is useful, and you still run the pytest that asserts the tenant filter before you ship. Scheduled · October 5, 2026
- 5 Hosted DeepSeek vs open weights Tara ran ollama pull on a DeepSeek tag, then pasted 3,104 employee badge IDs into a logged-in chat.deepseek.com tab because MIT weights felt local. Hosted chat, the API meter, Hugging Face files, and a cloud listing are four doors, and a pull is not Expert Mode. Scheduled · October 6, 2026
- 6 DeepSeek privacy, region, and work caution Leila pasted 28 member IDs from benefits_export_v3.csv into the official DeepSeek Android app at 6:55am to clean a roster. Official chat and the API send prompts to Hangzhou servers in the PRC, so treat member IDs as a no-paste, re-check Settings, and pick another door when the data is regulated. Scheduled · October 7, 2026
- 7 When DeepSeek is the wrong tool Gita's three-person nonprofit spent nine days in board Slack arguing China risk for a public FAQ already on their website, while 14 member intake fields were drafted in the same DeepSeek thread. Use DeepSeek for cheap public copy when policy allows, and stop for PHI, banned government devices, and a US vendor SLA. Scheduled · October 8, 2026