DeepSeek is honestly pretty great. Sure, it's not the smartest model out there, but everything about it is open, simple, and easy to understand. Even their API pricing is refreshingly straightforward. GigaChat, by comparison, is a nightmare to figure out.

With DeepSeek, one small page gives you the whole picture. Maybe it'll get worse over time, but right now DeepSeek isn't a market leader - it's more of a solid, dependable workhorse. Whenever I need an AI API for something, I just use a DeepSeek API key.