Introduction: The AI Showdown Begins
The advancement of artificial intelligence is happening very quickly, modifying the competitions from the past. Two of the newest rivals being compared are DeepSeek R1 vs. Grok 3. The open-source AI DeepSeek R1 which comes from China has made noise when it decided to give its powerful AI capabilities for free. While on the other side, Grok 3 developed by Elon Musk’s xAI has its own claims to fame, calling itself “the smartest AI on Earth.” Besides that, it also features 10x more power and DeepSearch and Big Brain Mode. But which AI is better? Let’s go deeper and evaluate their pros and cons as well as real life performance.
What is Grok 3?
xAI’s latest invention is Grok 3. Elon Musk’s new venture Grok 3 comes from his AI research company. It features an ultra-smart, high-performance AI as a research model which utilizes advanced reasoning abilities with step-by-step computational power.
Key Features of Grok 3:
- Developed earlier models 10x AI computational power.
- New technology allows prototype to outperform in step by step reasoning.
- Big Brain Mode enabling functioning at multi-step complexness.
- Best competitors surpassed in benchmarks while still in beta.
Setting new industry standards is become a norm which xAI is not scared to do. Still, Grok 3 outperforms GPT-4 and Claude in various benchmarks, but the question that remains is if real tests back those claims up.
What is DeepSeek R1?
DeepSeek R1 is an open-source AI model that is meant to be just as good as the most advanced AI like GPT-4 or Claude. It release him was in order to provide a cheap solution while still maintaining great quality.
Key Features of DeepSeek R1:
- DeepSeek R1 is entirely free and open-sourced to everyone.
- It is skilled in reasoning, coding, and math.
- It can generate content like stories and poems.
- All thanks to the active developer community he keeps growing.
DeepSeek R1 AI models take monthly fees due to which they claim that they are better, and so the DeepSeek R1 is a strong player in the AI race.
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Testing Methodology: How I Compared These AI’s
To fairly compare DeepSeek R1 vs. Grok 3, I used the Chatbot Arena, a trusted platform that allows side-by-side AI testing.
Test Categories:
- Reasoning & Math: The performance of DeepSeek R1 and Grok 3 models appears quite similar on reasoning questions.
- Coding: It outperforms DeepSeek R1 considerably and the quality of its written code is superior by far.
- Creative Writing: Both models have disputes in the field of creative writing. Grok 3 is my preferred tool, although DeepSeek is known to be a great model.
Let us see the real-world performance of both AIs.
Reasoning Problems
Prompt: “Two mathematicians, S and P, are given two numbers, X and Y, such that both are greater than 1 and their sum is less than or equal to 100. S knows the sum S=X+Y, and P knows the product P=X×Y. The following conversation occurs:
S: “I don’t know the numbers X and Y.”
P: “I knew that you didn’t know. But now I know the numbers.”
S: “Now I know the numbers too.”
What are the numbers X and Y?”
DeepSeek Response:

Grok 3 Response:

Observation: When tested on above reasoning problem then we find that Grok 3 was able to answer the problem correctly whereas DeepSeek R1’s answer is incorrect. The correct answer to the problem should be X=4 and Y=13. So, DeepSeek wins when it comes to Reasoning Problems.
Final Verdict: Grok 3 wins over DeepSeek R1 in the field of Reasoning.
Animation using HTML and CSS
Prompt: “Create HTML + CSS code for a Blue Ball rotating Inside a Triangle continuously.”
DeepSeek Response:

Grok 3 Response:

DeepSeek Output:
Grok 3 Output:
Observation: We can clearly observe that the ball rotates almost entirely inside the triangle in Groks 3’s output. While in DeepSeek R1’s output, the ball moves outside the triangle and the triangle itself rotates which should have been static.
Final Verdict: Grok 3 wins over DeepSeek R1 in terms of Design and Animation.
Maths Problems
Prompt: “Calculate (y – 14)^10, where y is the number of vowels in the answer.”
DeepSeek Response:

Grok 3 Response:

Observation: Here, both the AI’s fail to answer the problem correctly. DeepSeek R1 fails to solve the problem entirely as it doesn’t arrive at any answer. Whereas Grok 3 does find a solution to the problem but it is incorrect. The correct answer to the above problem should be “sixty million four hundred sixty-six thousand one hundred seventy-six”.
Final Verdict: Both DeepSeek R1 and Grok 3 perform similarly in terms of Mathematics.
Whereas ChatGPT was able to solve the Question correctly –
Code Generation
Prompt: “Write a Python function to generate a random maze using DFS and visualize it using Matplotlib library.”
DeepSeek Response:

Grok 3 Response:

DeepSeek Output:

Grok Output:

Observation: In the output of DeepSeek R1 the maze is drawn correctly but there are less choices at each path in the maze making it easier to go from start to end. While in Grok 3’s output the maze is more tricky and has more choices available at each path and even has Openings for the Entry and Exit points which were missing in DeepSeek R1’s response.
Final Verdict: One area where Grok 3 clearly outperforms DeepSeek R1 is coding.
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Final Verdict: DeepSeek R1 vs. Grok 3, Which to Choose?
Both DeepSeek R1 and Grok 3 boast robust AI capabilities, but which one is the best choice?
When DeepSeek R1 is most appropriate:
- If you would like an AI that can reason, do math, and write well, and best of all, it’s free.
- If you want an open-source model that continues to improve with community input.
- If you want an AI that can accomplish all goals with no restrictions.
When selecting Grok 3 is the best option:
- You want the best AI for coding and debugging.
- You want polished creative writing from the AI.
- You are an X Premium+ subscriber who has access to Grok 3’s advanced tools.
Final Winner:
- Overall Best AI: Grok 3 (more powerful, better coding)
- Best Free AI: DeepSeek R1 (great performance, no cost)
At the end of the day, Grok 3 is the better choice if premium AI is what you’re after. If you’re looking for a free service that offers well-rounded capabilities, you can’t go wrong with DeepSeek R1.
What do you think, which AI do you prefer? Let me know down below!🚀
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