I've been using DeepSeek and honestly, it's way better than other free AI models I've tried. However, it often gives me a 'server busy' message, which is really frustrating. I'm looking for suggestions on AI models that could match or exceed DeepSeek's performance, even if they require a subscription. Any recommendations?
3 Answers
You might want to check out Openrouter. They also offer a free version of DeepSeek, but keep in mind they have daily rate limits just like other free solutions. If you're looking for alternatives, using chutes.ai API directly through a chatbox or similar tools might be the way to go. There are several variants of DeepSeek and Qwen3 available for free, and some of them perform better than the original DeepSeek R1.
If you decide to stick with DeepSeek, it’s actually not too expensive if you use it via API, especially during specific times. Also, there’s a Chrome extension called Deepseek Server Busy that retries your requests automatically if you hit errors, which might help with that 'server busy' issue you mentioned.
Honestly, I wouldn't bother paying for any AI models right now. Gemini 2.5 Pro is free on aistudio, and it’s pretty good. There's no real need to pay when you have solid options at no cost.
Thanks for the tip! I'll definitely give Gemini a try and see if it works for my needs.