DeepSeek on Mac

The best way to use
DeepSeek on your Mac

Fello AI is a native Mac app giving you DeepSeek V4.1 through secure US-based infrastructure, plus every other frontier model in one place. No browser tabs, no data concerns.

Download on the Mac App Store
Thinking
Take more time to reason through complex, multi-step problems.
Featured
GPT-6
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Grok 4.7
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GLM 5.3
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Mistral
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GPT Image 2.5
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Power Speed | Meta
What is DeepSeek

What DeepSeek actually is

DeepSeek is an AI lab from China that shocked the AI world in early 2025 by releasing a model that matched the performance of the best American AI systems at a fraction of the cost to build. Most AI labs spend hundreds of millions of dollars training frontier models. DeepSeek achieved comparable results using dramatically less compute. The release sent shockwaves through Silicon Valley and triggered a selloff in AI chip stocks.

What makes DeepSeek remarkable is that it is fully open source. Anyone can download the model weights, inspect how it works, modify it, and run it on their own hardware. OpenAI and Anthropic keep their models locked away. DeepSeek put everything on the internet for free. This transparency has made it enormously popular with researchers, developers, and organizations that want full control over their AI.

For everyday tasks, DeepSeek V4.1 is one of the strongest models available for math, logical reasoning, and coding. DeepSeek's specialist math models scored at gold-medal level on the 2025 International Mathematical Olympiad problems. If you need an AI for problem-solving, technical questions, or complex analysis, DeepSeek is a genuine rival to GPT-6 and Claude, and it is free to try.

DeepSeek vs DeepSeek V4.1: DeepSeek is the company name. V4.1 is the current flagship model. They also release specialized reasoning models (DeepSeek-R series) for step-by-step problem solving. In Fello AI, DeepSeek queries are routed through secure US-based servers, not through DeepSeek's own infrastructure.

Gold
Medal-level score on IMO 2025 problems
Open source
Free for anyone to use
1M
Token context window
2023
Founded and already rivalling US labs
Getting started

3 ways to use DeepSeek on Mac

01
Fello AI Recommended

A native Mac app (30-50MB, Apple silicon) that gives you DeepSeek V4.1 alongside Claude 5.5, GPT-6, Gemini 4 Argon, Kimi K3.1 Pro, Perplexity, and more. One subscription at $9.99/month. Works on Mac, iPhone, and iPad. Free tier available. Your queries are routed through a secure US-based pipeline, not DeepSeek's own servers.

Download Fello AI
02
Browser at deepseek.com

Visit chat.deepseek.com in any browser. Free with daily usage limits. The easiest way to try DeepSeek with no setup at all. Important caveat: your conversations are sent to and stored on DeepSeek's servers in China. For personal and general queries this is fine, but it is something to consider if you work with sensitive or confidential information.

03
API and developer access

DeepSeek does not have an official Mac app. Developers can access DeepSeek V4.1 directly via the DeepSeek API at low cost ($0.15/$0.60 per million tokens input/output for V4.1-Flash off-peak, or $0.66/$1.98 for V4-Pro, both doubling during peak hours; DeepSeek cut the Flash rate on 10 September 2026). The API is OpenAI-compatible, so it drops into any existing setup. Open-source model weights are also available on Hugging Face for local self-hosting, though running the full model requires significant hardware.

Why Fello AI

DeepSeek, done right

DeepSeek is a powerful model, but the official app is hosted in China and censored. Fello AI runs DeepSeek privately on US servers with no censorship. Beyond DeepSeek, you also get AI image generation, access to Claude, ChatGPT, and Gemini, and the ability to turn any answer into a real PowerPoint, Excel, or Word file.

Your data stays out of China
Fello AI routes DeepSeek queries through a secure US-based pipeline. Your conversations are not sent to or stored on DeepSeek's own servers, making it the privacy-conscious way to access the model's capabilities.
Native Mac app, not a browser tab
There is no official DeepSeek Mac app. Fello AI fills that gap with a real native app weighing 30-50MB that launches instantly, uses negligible RAM, and works on any Mac running macOS 12 or later, Intel or Apple silicon.
DeepSeek plus the frontier stack
DeepSeek V4.1 is exceptional for math, coding, and cost-efficient reasoning. For creative writing, web search, or image generation, Claude 5.5 and GPT-6 are stronger. Fello AI gives you all of them in one app with instant switching.
Side by side

Fello AI vs DeepSeek website

Feature Fello AI DeepSeek (chat.deepseek.com)
Price Free tier + $9.99/mo or $79.99/yr Free chat + paid usage-based API
Access to DeepSeek V4.1 ✓ Yes ✓ Yes (limited free tier)
Native Mac app ✓ macOS 12+, Intel + Apple silicon ✗ Browser only, no Mac app
Data privacy ✓ US-based infrastructure ✗ Servers in China
Models available ✓ DeepSeek V4.1, Claude 5.5, GPT-6, Gemini 4 Argon, Grok 4.7, Kimi K3.1 Pro and more ✗ DeepSeek only
Image generation ✓ GPT Image 2.5, Nano Banana 2.1, Seedream 5, FLUX 3 ✗ No
PDF support ✓ Up to 16 PDFs at once Limited
iPhone and iPad ✓ Yes, same app Browser only
In depth

A closer look at DeepSeek V4.1

Gold-medal level on olympiad problems

In late 2025, two specialist DeepSeek models, DeepSeekMath-V2 and DeepSeek-V3.2-Speciale, scored at gold-medal level on the 2025 International Mathematical Olympiad problems, and Speciale did the same on the International Olympiad in Informatics. DeepSeek did not sit the contests against students. It ran the models on the official problems and published every submission so that anyone can check the grading.

Free and open to everyone

Unlike GPT-6 and Claude, which are locked behind company APIs, DeepSeek's full model weights are publicly available. Anyone can download, inspect, modify, and run the model. Researchers, developers, and entire countries have built on top of it.

Surprisingly good at everyday tasks

Beyond math and code, DeepSeek handles general conversation, writing, summarization, and Q&A very competently. It is not just a specialist tool, it is a capable all-rounder that happens to be exceptional at technical problems.

Your data stays private in Fello AI

Using DeepSeek through its own website sends your conversations to servers in China. In Fello AI, your DeepSeek queries go through US-based infrastructure instead, which means your data never touches DeepSeek's own servers.

Model comparison

How does DeepSeek compare to other AIs?

The AI landscape in 2026 is competitive at the frontier level. ChatGPT leads in computer-use automation, Claude 5 excels at writing and complex analysis, and Gemini holds the context-length record. Where does DeepSeek V4.1 actually stand?

DeepSeek V4.1 is one of the strongest open-weight models and one of the most cost-efficient frontier-level AIs, though no longer the top open model: Xiaomi's MiMo-V2.6-Pro, Z.ai's GLM-5.3 and Moonshot's Kimi K3 are among the open models that score higher on Artificial Analysis's Intelligence Index (v4.3.2, September 2026). For developers, researchers, and organizations with data-privacy or budget constraints, it is a genuinely compelling alternative to closed models.

DeepSeek VS ChatGPT

DeepSeek vs ChatGPT

ChatGPT is the established standard. DeepSeek is the open alternative.

ChatGPT powered by GPT-6 is the strongest model for computer-use tasks. It can operate software, navigate interfaces, and complete multi-step desktop workflows autonomously. It is also backed by OpenAI's fully managed infrastructure, extensive ecosystem integrations, and consistent production reliability.

DeepSeek V4.1 is more cost-efficient and fully open. Its reasoning and coding capabilities are competitive with GPT-6 at the task level, and for teams that want to inspect, audit, or self-host the model weights, DeepSeek is one of the few frontier-level options that allow it.

Use ChatGPT for computer-use tasks, ecosystem integrations, and production reliability. Use DeepSeek when cost, open-source access, or data-privacy requirements matter.

DeepSeek VS Claude

DeepSeek vs Claude

Claude is the quality benchmark. DeepSeek is the efficient one.

Claude 5 is the best model available for writing quality and following complex instructions. It produces the most natural, well-structured output of any major model, maintains consistency across very long documents, and is significantly more reliable at detailed multi-part tasks without drift.

DeepSeek V4.1 matches Claude on many reasoning and coding benchmarks and wins on cost. It is genuinely useful for technical work and DeepSeek's specialist math models scored at gold-medal level on the 2025 International Mathematical Olympiad problems. What it does not match is Claude's quality on nuanced writing and instruction-following tasks.

Use Claude 5 for writing quality, structured analysis, and complex instruction-following. Use DeepSeek for cost-sensitive technical tasks where open-weight models are preferred.

DeepSeek VS Gemini

DeepSeek vs Gemini

Gemini scales wider. DeepSeek runs leaner.

Gemini 3.8 Flash pairs a context window of about 1 million tokens with deep Google ecosystem integration. It processes enormous documents in a single session and pairs that with native Google Search grounding for real-time factual access. It also understands images, audio, and video natively.

DeepSeek V4.1 is not multimodal in the same way, but its 1-million-token context window matches Gemini's, and it is open-source, significantly cheaper, and competes well on pure reasoning and coding tasks. For organizations that cannot send data to Google's servers, it is a viable large-scale alternative.

Use Gemini for massive documents, Google integrations, and multimodal inputs. Use DeepSeek for cost-efficient reasoning and coding tasks where open-weight access matters.

DeepSeek VS Grok

DeepSeek vs Grok

Grok is real-time. DeepSeek is rigorous.

Grok 4.7 is built around real-time information. It indexes X and the broader web live, making it the best model for breaking news, current sentiment, and anything time-sensitive. It is also more openly opinionated and willing to engage with edgy or controversial topics.

DeepSeek V4.1 is stronger on structured tasks and is fully open-source. For serious technical or analytical work without a real-time data requirement, DeepSeek is the more capable and cost-efficient choice.

Use Grok for real-time information, live X data, and brainstorming. Use DeepSeek for structured technical tasks where cost-efficiency or open-weight access matters.

DeepSeek VS Perplexity

DeepSeek vs Perplexity

Perplexity retrieves. DeepSeek builds.

Perplexity is a search-first tool. It retrieves and summarizes information from the web with citations, making it the best option when you want sourced answers quickly without doing manual research.

DeepSeek V4.1 is a general-purpose reasoning model. It does not have native web search built in as a core feature, but it is significantly better at writing, coding, complex reasoning, and turning information into something useful. These are complementary tools, not competing ones.

Use Perplexity to find and verify facts from the web. Use DeepSeek to reason, code, and build with that information.

DeepSeek VS Qwen GLM Kimi

DeepSeek vs other models

No single model wins every task.

Fello AI also gives you Qwen for math and coding, GLM as a strong open model, Kimi as a top open-weight model, and Muse Spark as Meta's cheap model for heavy coding. Each is a click away, right beside DeepSeek.

Use all of them in one app

No single model is best at everything. DeepSeek is cheap per token and ships open weights, but Claude writes better, ChatGPT handles computer use, and Grok has live data. The most capable AI setups use multiple models routed to the right task. And through Fello AI, your DeepSeek queries run through US-based infrastructure, so your data never touches DeepSeek's own servers. Fello AI puts DeepSeek, ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Grok, and Perplexity in one native app.

Metric DeepSeek V4.1 GPT-6 Claude 5 Gemini 3.8 Flash
Reasoning Excellent Excellent Excellent Very good
Coding Top tier Top tier Top tier Very good
Mathematics Best in class Very good Very good Good
Context window 1M tokens 1M tokens 1M tokens 1M tokens
API cost (input/output per 1M) $0.15 / $0.60 off-peak $2 / $10 (Sol) $2 / $10 (Sonnet 5.5) $0.75 / $3.75 in 2026
Open source weights ✓ Yes ✗ No ✗ No ✗ No
Best for Math, coding, cost-efficient reasoning All-round work, operators Long-form writing, docs Speed, large docs, research
What Fello AI offers

What you can actually do in Fello AI

Switching between AI models in Fello AI
Use the right model for the task

Different models are better at different kinds of work. In Fello AI, you switch between ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Grok, and more without leaving the app or rebuilding your workflow. Compare outputs, move faster, and use the model that fits instead of forcing everything through one tool.

Fello AI supports PDF, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, images, and many more file formats
Chat with PDFs, images, and Office files

Upload PDFs, images, Excel sheets, slide decks, and documents, then ask for summaries, explanations, rewrites, or extracted insights. This makes Fello AI much more useful for study, research, reporting, and day-to-day professional tasks than a plain text chatbot.

Fello AI generating a downloadable PDF report from a spreadsheet
Create real documents you can download

Generate PowerPoint presentations, Excel spreadsheets with formulas, Word documents, and PDFs, then download and use them immediately. That turns AI from a brainstorming tool into something much closer to a real productivity workspace.

Fello AI web search results with cited sources
Search the web and keep working in one place

When you need current information, Fello AI searches the web with cited sources instead of forcing you to leave the app and manually piece things together. Especially useful when researching a topic, checking facts, or turning fresh information into a finished document.

Fello AI on Mac, iPhone, and iPad
One workflow across Mac, iPhone, and iPad

Fello AI is native on all Apple devices, so you keep the same app, the same models, and the same workflow whether you're on your Mac at a desk or on your phone on the go. No separate setup, no switching tools, no restarting the context.

For professionals

Fello AI gives professionals a practical way to use ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Grok, and other top models across Mac, iPhone, and iPad as part of one consistent workflow. Analyze PDFs, Word files, Excel sheets, presentations, and images, then turn the result into real downloadable documents for client work, internal workflows, and day-to-day execution.

For students

Fello AI helps students handle everyday academic work more efficiently. Summarize readings, explain difficult topics, compare answers across models, and work with PDFs, slides, notes, and study materials in one place. Instead of relying on a single AI answer, use the model that fits the task and move from quick explanations to deeper research without jumping between apps.

Keep reading

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Common questions

Frequently asked questions

No. As of mid-2026, DeepSeek has not released a native Mac desktop app. You can use DeepSeek on Mac through the browser at chat.deepseek.com, through the DeepSeek API, or through third-party apps like Fello AI that wrap the API in a native Mac interface. Fello AI is the simplest option if you want DeepSeek running as a proper Mac app without any setup.
The DeepSeek model itself is safe and capable. The data concern relates to using the official website at deepseek.com: your conversations are sent to DeepSeek's servers in China and are subject to Chinese data laws, which require companies to cooperate with government data requests. For casual or non-sensitive queries this is unlikely to matter, but for confidential business, legal, or personal data it is worth considering. Fello AI routes DeepSeek queries through US-based infrastructure, which avoids this concern.
Yes. DeepSeek releases model weights openly on Hugging Face under permissive licenses. This means developers and organizations can download the weights and run DeepSeek entirely on their own hardware with no data leaving their systems. Self-hosting the full model requires substantial hardware (128GB+ RAM for the largest version), but smaller quantized versions run on high-spec Mac Studios. Open weights is one of DeepSeek's major differentiators from OpenAI and Anthropic, which keep their models closed.
Exceptional. DeepSeek V4.1 consistently ranks in the top tier on coding benchmarks, matching or beating GPT-6 on tasks like algorithm implementation, debugging, and competitive programming. DeepSeek's specialist V3.2-Speciale model scored at gold-medal level on the 2025 International Olympiad in Informatics problems. For developers it is particularly compelling because the API price is dramatically lower than alternatives, making it practical for high-volume use cases. In Fello AI you can use DeepSeek for heavy coding work and switch to Claude 5.5 or GPT-6 when you need a second opinion.
Cheaper than GPT-6 Sol, but not than GPT-6 Luna. DeepSeek V4.1-Flash via API costs $0.15 per million input tokens and $0.60 per million output tokens off-peak, doubling to $0.30 and $1.20 during peak hours (01:00 to 04:00 and 06:00 to 10:00 UTC, Monday to Friday). GPT-6 Sol costs $2 per million input tokens and $10 per million output tokens, so DeepSeek is 7 to 8 times cheaper at peak and 13 to 17 times cheaper off-peak. OpenAI's smallest model, GPT-6 Luna, costs $0.10 and $0.50, which undercuts DeepSeek even off-peak, and the flagship GPT-6 Astra costs $10 and $50. For developers running AI at scale, the choice of model tier now matters more than the choice of vendor. Through Fello AI's subscription at $9.99/month, you get access to both without managing API billing directly.
Yes, in some areas. DeepSeek declines to discuss topics that are politically sensitive in China, including events like Tiananmen Square, Taiwan independence, and similar subjects. For technical, scientific, coding, and most general-purpose tasks this is not a factor. For journalism, political research, or work involving Chinese geopolitics, it is a real limitation. The open-source weights can be fine-tuned to remove these restrictions, and third-party providers (including Fello AI's routing) may handle some of these cases differently.
Technically yes. Because DeepSeek's weights are open, it can be self-hosted, but running it well needs serious server-grade hardware and is not something most people need. For everyday use it is far simpler to run DeepSeek in the cloud through the DeepSeek website or inside Fello AI.
DeepSeek's strongest areas are formal reasoning, competitive mathematics, and code generation at low cost. It matches GPT-6 and Claude 5 on many benchmarks while costing a fraction of the price. Where it falls behind: long-form creative writing, nuanced tone control, and tasks that benefit from Claude's Constitutional AI approach. Claude Sonnet 5.5 is the better choice for polished prose, document analysis, and nuanced judgment calls. GPT-6 leads on tool integrations and ecosystem breadth. Using all three together, as Fello AI allows, covers all the bases.
Yes. Fello AI works on any Mac running macOS 12 Monterey or later, including Intel-based Macs. Because Fello AI uses cloud-based AI (API calls to DeepSeek, Anthropic, OpenAI, etc.), your local hardware performance does not affect the quality or speed of the AI responses. This is different from running DeepSeek locally, which requires Apple Silicon.
Fello AI provides access to DeepSeek V4.1, the latest and most capable version of the model as of mid-2026. Fello AI keeps model access updated as new versions are released, so you are not locked into an older version. The app also gives you access to DeepSeek's reasoning-focused variants alongside the base chat model.

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