DeepSeek vs Grok
A feature-by-feature comparison of DeepSeek and Grok across 7 capability categories.
Modalities — DeepSeek Wins
| Feature | DeepSeek | Grok |
|---|---|---|
Text Input | Yes. Core feature | Yes. Core feature |
Image Upload / Vision | Yes | Yes |
Image Generation | No | Yes |
Voice Mode | No | No |
Video Understanding | No | No |
Video Generation | No. Not a video generation product. | No. Not a video generation product. |
File Upload (PDF, DOCX) | Yes | No |
Code Execution | Yes | No |
Audio Input | No | No |
Canvas / Artifact Editor | No | No |
Screen Sharing / Computer Use | No | No |
Memory & Context — DeepSeek Wins
| Feature | DeepSeek | Grok |
|---|---|---|
Persistent Memory | No | No |
Large Context Window | Yes. 64k tokens | Partial. Standard context |
Custom Instructions | No | No |
Conversation History | Yes | Yes |
Integrations — Grok Wins
| Feature | DeepSeek | Grok |
|---|---|---|
Web Search / Browsing | Yes | Yes. Real-time focus |
Plugins / Extensions | No | No |
API Access | Yes, requires pro plan | Yes, requires pro plan |
Zapier Integration | No | Yes. Zapier lists Grok by xAI as an official app. Zaps can Ask Grok, categorize text, extract fields from text or images, and generate images from a prompt. |
Custom GPTs / Bots | No | No |
Real-time Collaboration | No | No |
Live Social Data Integration | Yes. Real-time X data | |
Live Citation Mapping |
Developer — DeepSeek Wins
| Feature | DeepSeek | Grok |
|---|---|---|
Function Calling | Yes, requires pro plan | Yes. The xAI API supports function calling: you define custom tools and Grok returns tool-call requests for your app to execute, alongside built-in tools such as web search, X search, and code interpreter. |
Streaming Responses | Yes | Yes. The xAI API streams Grok text output over Server-Sent Events. Set stream: true on chat completions; all text-capable Grok models support it, including grok-4.6. |
Fine-Tuning | No | No |
Embeddings API | Yes, requires pro plan | No |
Structured Output (JSON) | Yes | No |
Reasoning / Thinking Mode | Yes. DeepSeek R1 reasoning model | Yes. Auto populated |
Local Execution | Yes. Open weights can be self-hosted; the largest variants need substantial GPU memory. | |
Open Weights | Yes. DeepSeek R1 | |
Multi-Agent Orchestration | Yes. Four-agent backend |
Platforms — Tie
| Feature | DeepSeek | Grok |
|---|---|---|
Web App | Yes | Yes |
iOS App | Yes | Yes. Via X app |
Android App | Yes | Yes. Via X app |
Desktop App | No | No |
Chrome Extension | No | No |
Privacy — Tie
| Feature | DeepSeek | Grok |
|---|---|---|
GDPR Compliant | No | Yes |
Opt Out of Data Training | Yes | No |
Enterprise Privacy Mode | No | No |
Workspaces — Tie
| Feature | DeepSeek | Grok |
|---|---|---|
Projects / Folders | No | No |