ChatGPT vs DeepSeek vs Gemini

AI chatbots have come a long way, and for $20 a month, you now have serious choices. ChatGPT Plus? Gemini Advanced? And what about free alternatives like DeepSeek? After experimenting, I landed on Gemini—and here’s why.

Why Not DeepSeek?

When DeepSeek R1 launched, I decided to take the plunge and canceled my OpenAI subscription. I knew it wasn’t as polished as ChatGPT, but I figured it could handle my daily tasks. Plus, I had GitHub Copilot for coding, so my main use cases—proofreading and brainstorming—seemed manageable.

That didn’t last long. 😅

The biggest issue? Service reliability. If you've used DeepSeek R1 on their website, you’ve likely experienced slow responses or outright failures, especially during peak hours.

Then there’s the data privacy concern—everything flows through servers in China, and the model refuses to engage with politically sensitive topics. While this is more of a political issue than a technical one, it’s worth mentioning.

That said, I still think DeepSeek’s open-source nature is a huge win for AI. It allows developers to access, modify, and integrate the model into their projects. Perplexity capitalized on this, launching their own uncensored, US-hosted version—R1 1776. If you’re into open AI models, it’s worth checking out. But for my needs, DeepSeek wasn’t cutting it.

Why I Switched to Gemini Advanced

At that point, I knew I needed a premium AI subscription again. Instead of going straight back to OpenAI, I decided to experiment for another month. A few colleagues swore by Gemini, so I gave it a shot.

Pricing & Features: Google One AI vs. ChatGPT Plus

Gemini Advanced is bundled with Google One AI Premium—and in terms of pure value, it’s a no-brainer. Here’s what you get for $20:

• 2TB of cloud storage (sharable with family)
• AI assistant integrated into Gmail, Docs, and Drive
• Massive context window: 1M tokens vs. ChatGPT’s 128K
• Deep Research (Google’s answer to Perplexity’s AI search)
• NotebookLM Plus for document-based AI assistance

To get a comparable research experience with OpenAI, you’d need the $200 ChatGPT Team plan. So, I subscribed. But the switch wasn’t as smooth as I expected.

Update: Just one day after I published this article, ChatGPT added Deep Research to its Plus subscription. I will compare the two to decide which one is best very soon. 😊

Adjusting to Gemini

At first, Gemini’s responses felt… off. Different from ChatGPT in a way that made me question if it was worse. But I was locked in for a month, so I kept using it.

Turns out, it was just a matter of adaptation. It’s like switching from your favorite IDE to a new one—uncomfortable at first, but once you adjust, you might even prefer it. AI models have quirks, and the quality of their responses depends on the prompts you give them. Once I refined how I interacted with Gemini, it started to shine.

And then I found two killer features that sealed the deal for me.

The Features That Made Me Stay

1. Deep Research: No More AI Hallucinations

The biggest frustration with LLMs? Hallucinations. When diving deep into a topic, models tend to generate confident-sounding nonsense—what I call BS mode.

Deep Research fixes this. Instead of relying solely on its training data, Gemini searches the web, gathers real-time information, and compiles a report with linked sources. Perplexity has a similar feature, and once you get used to it, there’s no going back. The fact that OpenAI locks this behind a $200 paywall is just ridiculous. I expect they’ll have to include it in the Plus plan eventually (which they did after I wrote the article 😜).

2. NotebookLM: The Game-Changer

If Deep Research helps with external sources, NotebookLM is the ultimate tool for organizing and processing your own information. You can feed it documents, slides, articles, YouTube videos—anything relevant to your work. Then, you can:

• Summarize complex material
• Ask questions based on your sources
• Generate structured insights

This eliminates hallucinations because the AI is grounded in your provided data. It’s been a game-changer for me when digesting research papers or technical docs.

And then there’s the audio overview feature. NotebookLM can generate a podcast-style discussion about your sources, which you can listen to on the go. My wife—who’s not a developer—actually prefers this over my AI videos because it’s more engaging and easier to understand. And the best part? You can even join the conversation.

Final Verdict: ChatGPT, DeepSeek, or Gemini?

I’ve used ChatGPT for nearly two years, and it’s still the AI I’m most comfortable with. But if I had to pick a winner today, it’s Gemini Advanced (Google One AI).

Why? Because it’s not just a chatbot—it’s an entire ecosystem with:

• A massive context window for deep work
• Deep Research for reliable, sourced information
• NotebookLM for structured document analysis
• Google Drive & Gmail integration for seamless productivity

And for $20, it’s simply a better value.

If you haven’t tried NotebookLM, do it now. Google’s free tier is generous, and many of you won’t even need to upgrade.

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