I Spent Two Weeks Testing Chinese AI Models and Got Surprised

Short summary

Bootcamp grad tested Chinese AI models and found DeepSeek, Qwen, and Kimi 50–99% cheaper than GPT-4o with comparable performance. DeepSeek V4 Flash ($0.25/M) excels at coding; Qwen ($0.01–$3.20/M) offers diverse models. Includes Python code examples, benchmarks, and trade-offs versus English-focused Western models.

• •DeepSeek V4 Flash costs $0.25/M with top-tier code generation; Qwen ranges $0.01–$3.20/M with models for vision and audio
• •Author tested via Global API wrapper; provides working Python examples and token-speed benchmarks (60 tokens/sec)
• •Trade-offs: stronger Chinese language support, less English depth, limited vision versus OpenAI/Anthropic

Generated with AI, which can make mistakes.