May 2026 Update: Qwen 3.7 and DeepSeek V4 are now available. See Qwen 3.7 vs DeepSeek V4 Pro for the latest.

Three Chinese AI labs dominate the open-source model space: 01.AI (Yi), Alibaba (Qwen), and DeepSeek. All offer models under permissive licenses that compete with Western frontier models. Here’s how they compare.

Update (April 24, 2026): DeepSeek V4 is now available (80.6% SWE-bench, 1M context). See V4 Pro guide.

Head-to-head

	Yi (01.AI)	Qwen (Alibaba)	DeepSeek
Flagship	Yi-Lightning	Qwen 3.6 Plus	DeepSeek V3
Best coding model	Yi-Coder 9B	Qwen3-Coder 32B	DeepSeek V3
Best small model	Yi-6B	Qwen3 4B-8B	DeepSeek R1 14B
License	Apache 2.0	Apache 2.0	MIT
Context window	200K (Yi-34B)	1M (Qwen 3.6)	128K
SWE-bench	~65%	78.8% (3.6 Plus)	~73% (V3)
Chatbot Arena rank	6th	Top 10	Top 5
Run locally	✅ Ollama	✅ Ollama	✅ Ollama
Free API	❌	✅ (OpenRouter)	✅ (limited)
Unique strength	Bilingual, dense arch	Largest context, MoE	Best reasoning (R1)

For coding

Task	Best pick	Why
General coding	Qwen 3.6 Plus	78.8% SWE-bench, free on OpenRouter
Deep debugging	DeepSeek R1	Chain-of-thought reasoning catches subtle bugs
Small model coding	Yi-Coder 9B or Qwen3 8B	Both run on 8GB RAM
Agentic coding	Qwen 3.6 Plus	Best tool calling + 1M context
Budget local	DeepSeek R1 14B	Best reasoning at 14B

For running locally

Hardware	Yi	Qwen	DeepSeek
8GB RAM	Yi-Coder 9B ✅	Qwen3 8B ✅	❌ (14B too big)
16GB RAM	Yi-34B (tight)	Qwen 3.5 27B ✅	DeepSeek R1 14B ✅
24GB+ RAM	Yi-34B ✅	Qwen3-Coder 32B ✅	DeepSeek V3 (needs 48GB+)

See our VRAM guide and best Ollama models for detailed hardware recommendations.

For API usage

	Yi	Qwen	DeepSeek
Free tier	❌	✅ Qwen 3.6 on OpenRouter	Limited free
Cheapest paid	Yi platform	Aliyun BaiLian	$0.27/$1.10 per M tokens
Best value	—	Qwen 3.6 (free)	DeepSeek V3 (cheapest paid)

Qwen wins on API access because Qwen 3.6 Plus is free on OpenRouter. DeepSeek is the cheapest paid option. Yi’s API is less accessible outside China.

The ecosystem

	Yi	Qwen	DeepSeek
Ollama support	✅	✅	✅
HuggingFace models	20+	60+	30+
Community size	Medium	Largest	Large
Documentation	Good	Best	Good
Coding tool support	Basic	Best (Aider, Continue)	Good (Aider)

Qwen has the largest ecosystem. DeepSeek has the most passionate community. Yi is the smallest but most straightforward (dense architecture, no MoE complexity).

Which to pick

Situation	Pick
Free API for coding	Qwen 3.6 Plus
Best reasoning/debugging	DeepSeek R1
Smallest useful model (8GB)	Yi-Coder 9B or Qwen3 8B
Best overall local model	Qwen 3.5 27B
Simplest architecture	Yi-34B (dense, no MoE)
Chinese + English bilingual	Yi-34B or Qwen

Also consider

Beyond these three, other Chinese models worth knowing:

• GLM-5.1 (Zhipu AI) — #1 on SWE-Bench Pro, runs through Claude Code
• MiMo V2 (Xiaomi) — strong coding model, competitive benchmarks
• MiniMax M2.7 — optimized for agentic workflows
• Kimi K2.6 (Moonshot) — best agentic planning, 300 sub-agent swarm

See all of them compete in our AI Startup Race.

FAQ

Which Chinese AI model is best?

Qwen is the best all-rounder — Qwen 3.6 Plus scores 78.8% on SWE-bench, has a free API on OpenRouter, and the largest ecosystem. DeepSeek R1 is best for deep reasoning and debugging. Yi is the simplest (dense architecture, no MoE complexity) and best for bilingual Chinese-English use.

Are all three free?

All three offer free local use via Ollama with open-weight models. For API access, Qwen 3.6 Plus is free on OpenRouter, DeepSeek offers limited free access, and Yi’s API is less accessible outside China. For self-hosting, all three have Apache 2.0 or MIT licensed models.

Which is best for coding?

Qwen 3.6 Plus leads with 78.8% on SWE-bench and the best tool calling for agentic coding. DeepSeek R1 is best for debugging thanks to chain-of-thought reasoning that catches subtle bugs. Yi-Coder 9B is the best small coding model that runs on 8GB RAM. For most developers, Qwen is the default choice.

Related: What is Yi? · How to Run Yi Locally · Qwen 3.6 Complete Guide · How to Run DeepSeek Locally · Best Open Source Coding Models · GLM-5.1 Complete Guide