DeepSeek vs StepFun
A side-by-side comparison of DeepSeek and StepFun, two Assistant tools, drawn from Ignaite's continuously-verified listings.
Compared from listings verified as of
At a glance
| Attribute | DeepSeek | StepFun |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Assistant | Assistant |
| Pricing | FREEMIUM | FREEMIUM |
| License | Proprietary | Proprietary |
| Deployment | Cloud | Cloud |
| Platforms (differs) | Web, iOS, Android | Web, API |
| Model support | Single model (proprietary) | Single model (proprietary) |
| Vendor (differs) | DeepSeek | StepFun |
The honest brief
DeepSeek
Open-weight R1 reset the price-for-reasoning curve, and the consumer app stays free with strong reasoning.
- Reasoning mode (R1)
- Self-hostable open weights
- Web search built in
- Mobile and web apps
- China-hosted data concerns
- Content restrictions on sensitive topics
- Smaller app polish than rivals
StepFun
Multimodal breadth is the differentiator — language, audio, image, and video models from one lab, pushed into cars and phones via device partnerships.
- Free multimodal chat
- Step-3.5-Flash is Apache 2.0
- Audio and image models on one API
- Tencent-backed, well-funded
- China-hosted data concerns
- English UX less polished than rivals
- Smaller ecosystem than peers