Get productive with DeepSeek, the low-cost, open-weight AI from China. Learn what DeepSeek is, how to use the free chat app, DeepThink reasoning and web search, strong prompting, coding help, the API, running models locally, and the privacy trade-offs you should understand.
DeepSeek is the low-cost, open-weight AI from China that rattled the industry by matching far more expensive models at a fraction of the price. This free course helps you get real work done with it, whether you want a capable free chat assistant, a cheap developer API, or a model you can run privately on your own machine. No prior AI experience is needed, and there is nothing to install to follow along.
Across nine practical lessons you will learn what DeepSeek is and who builds it, how to set up the free web and mobile app, and how to use its two defining controls: DeepThink for step-by-step reasoning and Search for fresh facts. You will pick up a simple RTCF prompt structure with copy-and-paste examples for writing, studying, and planning, then apply DeepThink to hard math, logic, and decision problems and use DeepSeek to write, explain, and debug code. Later lessons demystify the token-based API and its cost advantage, show how open weights let you run DeepSeek locally with tools like Ollama, and give you an honest look at the privacy trade-offs of a Chinese-hosted service so you know exactly when DeepSeek fits and when to reach for another tool.
The course is completely free. After you finish the lessons and pass the final exam, you earn a free certificate of completion you can add to your LinkedIn profile or resume.
4 modules • 9 lessons
Finish every lesson and pass the final exam to earn this free, shareable certificate.
Certificate of Completion
has successfully completed
12 lessons · Final exam passed
Michail Ouroumis
Founder, FreeAcademy.ai
Sample preview. Your name appears on the certificate when you complete the course. Learn more
DeepSeek is a family of AI models and a free chat assistant built by a Chinese company based in Hangzhou, founded in 2023 by Liang Wenfeng and backed by the High-Flyer hedge fund. It is known for low cost, open-weight model releases, and strong step-by-step reasoning.
The course is completely free and awards a certificate of completion. DeepSeek's chat app is free to start, and its developer API is billed per token at very low rates. Prices and limits change, so confirm current details on DeepSeek's official site before you rely on them.
No. This is a beginner course that starts from what DeepSeek is and how to use the chat app. The coding and API lessons are written so a non-programmer can follow them, and nothing needs to be installed to complete the course.
Treat the DeepSeek cloud app like a public space. Because it is a Chinese service that stores data on servers in China, you should never paste passwords, financial, medical, or confidential work data. The course shows you how to run an open-weight model locally when privacy matters.
Yes. Completing all lessons and passing the final exam earns a free certificate of completion you can add to your LinkedIn profile or resume.
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