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DeepSeek-R1

A reasoning model that thinks step by step before answering. Strong at calculations, logic and code; compact distilled versions are available.

Developer
DeepSeek, China
First release
Jan 2025
Latest release
May 2025
Sizes
1,5B – 671B
License
Commercial use allowedMIT
Russian
Not stated
Ready-made builds
GGUF, AWQ, MLX (Apple)
Running
Available in OllamaAlso runs without a GPU
Industries
Finance, Legal, Software development, Science and research
Deploy on your server Hugging Face GitHub

What it does

  • Complex calculations and logic checks
  • Analysis of contracts and internal policies
  • Help for developers
  • Step-by-step review of disputed cases

Where it is used

Finance and analyticsLegal departmentsSoftware development

Hardware requirements

LaptopLaptop or regular PC, up to 8 GB of VRAM — smaller versions
fits
1 GPUOne GPU with 16–80 GB — mid-size versions
fits
ClusterServer with several GPUs — flagship versions
fits

Versions

  1. R1-0528
  2. R1-Distill
  3. DeepSeek-R1

How to run it

With Ollama — the fastest wayInstall Ollama on your computer or server and find the model in its library by name. Good enough to try the model on your own tasks in one evening.Find it in the Ollama library
On your own serverWeights are downloaded from Hugging Face and served with vLLM (load and API) or llama.cpp (modest hardware). The model then runs in a closed network with no per-request fees.Hugging Face
How much hardware you needCalculate the VRAM for the model size, context length and number of concurrent requests.Open the hardware calculator

I can set this up end to end: pick the model size, deploy it on your server and connect it to your systems. Quantization compresses a model so it takes less video memory and runs on more modest hardware. Answers change slightly, so quality is checked on your own examples.

Frequently asked questions

Can DeepSeek-R1 be used in a commercial project?

Yes. License: MIT. It allows commercial use, but it is still worth having a lawyer review the license before launch.

What hardware does DeepSeek-R1 need?

At minimum: Laptop or regular PC, up to 8 GB of VRAM — smaller versions. Some versions also run on an ordinary CPU, without a GPU. You can calculate the exact VRAM for your model size and context in the hardware calculator.

Does DeepSeek-R1 support Russian?

The model card does not list languages, so Russian support cannot be promised — it has to be tested on your own examples.

Where can I download DeepSeek-R1 and what does it cost?

The DeepSeek-R1 weights are open and free to download. You only pay for the hardware it runs on and for the setup. Source links are at the bottom of this page.

How I deploy it for clients

  1. SelectionI pick the model size for your task and hardware and test it on your examples.
  2. DeploymentI deploy it on your server or in a closed network and provide an API.
  3. Fine-tuningI fine-tune it on your data (LoRA) or connect a knowledge base — whichever is cheaper for the task.
  4. IntegrationI connect it to your CRM, ERP, bot, website or team chat and set up monitoring.

Comparisons

Similar models

TextQwenAlibaba · ChinaCommercial use with conditions

A family of language models with strong Russian language support, from small versions for a laptop to a flagship on par with commercial APIs.

DetailsTextgpt-ossOpenAI · USACommercial use allowed

OpenAI's first open models since GPT-2. Reasoning and tool calling; the smaller version fits on a single GPU.

Details

Source: huggingface.co/deepseek-ai. Data checked against the model card on 22 Sep 2026. Have a lawyer review the license before commercial launch.