Hey there, fellow dev! 👋
If you've been keeping an eye on AI lately, you’ll know it’s getting wildly smart out here. So many AI models are popping up—Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini, DeepSeek, and more. But what's the difference? And why does everyone say they're the "best"?
Let’s break it down—no jargon, just real talk. Ready? Let’s roll! 🚀
1. ChatGPT by OpenAI 🧑💻
What is it?
Probably your first AI love 💕. ChatGPT is OpenAI's superstar chatbot, based on the GPT (Generative Pre-trained Transformer) family.Why is it special?
It’s fast, flexible, and great at holding conversations. GPT-4, released in 2023, powers the paid version (ChatGPT Plus), and it’s crazy good at reasoning, coding, and even creative writing.Release date:
GPT-3 launched June 2020
ChatGPT went public Nov 2022
GPT-4 dropped March 2023
Why it’s 🔥:
- Best at general conversation, coding, and reasoning.
- Supports plugins and custom GPTs.
- Integrated into Microsoft Copilot (Word, Excel, Edge).
- Super reliable + huge knowledge base (up to April 2023 data).
Release timeline:
- GPT-3: June 2020
- GPT-3.5: November 2022
- GPT-4: March 2023
- GPT-4 Turbo (cheaper & faster): November 2023
Top paper:
Language Models are Few-Shot Learners (GPT-3)
GPT-4? No public paper yet! 😮
GitHub stars ⭐:
- OpenAI’s official repos are stars magnets! E.g.,
openai-cookbook: 62K+ ⭐
2. Claude by Anthropic 🤖
- What is it? Claude is an AI assistant built by Anthropic, a safety-first AI research company. Think of Claude as the chill, thoughtful buddy of ChatGPT—super careful and helpful.
- Why is it special? Anthropic designed Claude with Constitutional AI, meaning they taught it rules and principles like fairness and safety, so it avoids going rogue. It’s known for giving friendly, safe, and aligned answers.
Why it’s 🔥:
- Handles huge context windows (up to 200K tokens!)
- Safer + less hallucination-y 🦄
- Friendly for enterprise users needing trust & privacy
- Claude 3 Opus scores higher than GPT-4 Turbo on most tasks! (March 2024 release)
Release timeline:
- Claude 1: March 2023
- Claude 2: July 2023
- Claude 3: March 2024
Top paper:
No official paper yet, but Anthropic blog has plenty of insights!
GitHub stars ⭐:
Anthropic isn’t super open-source, but Claude is popular via Poe and Slack integrations.
3. Gemini by Google DeepMind 🌐
What is it?
Gemini (formerly Bard) is Google’s flagship AI model, merging DeepMind's AlphaGo genius with LLM capabilities. It's the chess grandmaster who also writes poetry.Why is it special?
Gemini is multi-modal—meaning it works with text, images, audio, even video! Plus, it’s integrated directly into Google Search and Pixel phones. Crazy, right?Release date:
Gemini 1 launched Dec 2023
Gemini 1.5 launched Feb 2024
Why it’s 🔥:
- Tight integration with Google products (Android Gemini app!)
- Gemini 1.5 has 1 million token context window! (Feb 2024)
- Multimodal superpowers 💪
- Google’s cloud AI API and Vertex AI use it.
Release timeline:
- Bard (text model): March 2023
- Gemini 1: Dec 2023
- Gemini 1.5 Pro: Feb 2024
Top paper:
Gemini 1 (Dec 2023)
GitHub stars ⭐:
Not much open source. Google AI is mostly APIs.
4. DeepSeek by DeepSeek AI 🕵️♂️
What is it?
DeepSeek is a China-based open-source LLM that’s giving GPT models a run for their money.Why is it special?
It’s open-source! You can download, fine-tune, and tinker with it freely. DeepSeek focuses on math and code generation, which makes it a dev’s best friend. Think: math competitions + LeetCode.
Why it’s 🔥:
- Open-source large model (Coder!)
- Strong multilingual support (especially Chinese + English)
- Multimodal—can handle images + code like a pro
- Training based on MoE (Mixture of Experts) architecture = efficient & fast
Release timeline:
- DeepSeek-V2: Dec 2023
- DeepSeek-Coder: Jan 2024
Top paper:
GitHub stars ⭐:
-
deepseek-coder: 21K+ ⭐
5. Perplexity AI 📚
What is it?
Perplexity is a search engine AI assistant. Think Google Search + ChatGPT, but with cited sources. You ask, and it tells you where it got its info.Why is it special?
It’s like having Wikipedia and Stack Overflow rolled into one, but always up-to-date. Best for researchers, journalists, and curious devs.Release date:
Public beta Feb 2023
Why it’s 🔥:
- Real-time web knowledge (no cutoff!)
- Cited answers—always know where info comes from
- Web, PDF, and YouTube search helpers
- Free & Pro versions (Pro gets GPT-4, Claude, Mistral models)
Release timeline:
- Beta: Aug 2022
- Full launch: Jan 2023
Top paper:
No formal papers—focused on product over research.
GitHub stars ⭐:
No public repo, but tons of dev love in communities!
6. Qwen by Alibaba Cloud 🌥️
What is it?
Qwen is Alibaba’s open-source LLM, optimized for Chinese and English. It’s part of their Tongyi Qianwen AI family.Why is it special?
It’s super fast, low-cost, and multilingual. Alibaba made it open-source, so you can deploy your own Qwen-powered AI anywhere.
Why it’s 🔥:
- Open-source models (Qwen-7B, Qwen-VL, etc.)
- Multimodal input/output
- Focused on Chinese + multilingual tasks
- Gaining ground with Qwen2 (June 2024)
Release timeline:
- Qwen 1.0: April 2023
- Qwen2: June 2024
Top paper:
GitHub stars ⭐:
Qwen: 17K+ ⭐
7. Qodo AI 🧩
What is it?
Qodo AI is the new kid on the block, focusing on no-code and low-code AI development. It’s like building AI without needing a PhD (or even heavy coding).Why is it special?
It simplifies AI workflows—drag, drop, and go. Perfect for non-techies and product managers, but still useful for devs who want to prototype fast.
Why it’s 🔥:
- Open-source, privacy-friendly
- Lightweight for local deployments
- Great for developers and indie hackers
- Designed to be affordable & efficient, runs well on modest hardware
Release timeline:
- First release: Early 2024
- Updates rolling monthly (March 2024 latest patch)
Top paper:
No research paper (yet!)—community-driven docs.
GitHub stars ⭐:
Qodo: 6K+ ⭐
📊 AI Models at a Glance
| Model | Creator | Release Date | Best For | Multimodal | Context Length | Key Feature | Open-Source? | Top Paper / Link | GitHub Stars ⭐ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ChatGPT (GPT-4) | OpenAI | Mar 2023 | General chat, coding, reasoning | ✅ (GPT-4V) | 128K (Turbo) | Conversational genius | ❌ | GPT-3 Paper | ⭐62K+ (cookbook) |
| Claude 3 | Anthropic | Mar 2024 | Safe, ethical, long context | ✅ | 200K | Safe & ethical AI | ❌ | Constitutional AI | Private repos |
| Gemini 1.5 | Google DeepMind | Feb 2024 | Search, multimodal apps | ✅ | 1 Million | Multimodal (text + images) | ❌ | Gemini 1.5 Report | Not public |
| DeepSeek V2 | DeepSeek AI | Dec 2023 | Open-source, coding, vision | ✅ | 128K | Open-source, math/code | ✅ | DeepSeek on HF | ⭐25K+ |
| Perplexity AI | Perplexity AI | Jan 2023 | Search with citations | ✅ (Pro) | N/A (search!) | Search with sources | ❌ | No formal paper | Not public |
| Qwen 1.5 | Alibaba Cloud | Jan 2024 | Multilingual, open-source | ✅ | 128K | Chinese + English, vision | ✅ | Qwen on HF | ⭐10K+ |
| Qwen 2 | Alibaba Cloud | June 2024 | Chinese + English, vision | ✅ | 128K | Improved multilingual support | ✅ | Qwen 2 on HF | ⭐17K+ |
| Qodo AI | Qodo AI | Early/Late 2024 | Lightweight, privacy-first | ❌ (text) | 16K | No-code AI building | ❌ | No formal paper | ⭐6K+ |
🎉 Wrapping It Up
AI in 2025 is 🔥! Whether you’re building apps, writing code, or just nerding out on AI research, these models give you a ton of power at your fingertips.
- ChatGPT is your versatile coder 💻
- Claude is your safe buddy 🤝
- Gemini sees and hears everything 👀🎧
- DeepSeek makes math easy 📐
- Perplexity has receipts (sources) 🧾
- Qwen brings global power 🌏
- Qodo makes AI accessible to everyone 🎛️
📌 This summary is based on official data and reports from the respective creators.
💬 Share your experience in the comments! Which AI model works best for you, and why? If you feel something is missing or want to add anything here, let me know in the comments—I’ll add it!
👉 You can also drop some useful links or post articles in the comments—I'd love to check them out and share more resources with everyone!
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