Comprehensive side-by-side LLM comparison
DeepSeek R1 Zero leads with 29.7% higher average benchmark score. Overall, DeepSeek R1 Zero is the stronger choice for coding tasks.
DeepSeek
DeepSeek-R1-Distill-Qwen-1.5B was created through distillation into an ultra-compact Qwen architecture, designed to enable reasoning capabilities on resource-constrained devices. Built with just 1.5 billion parameters, it brings advanced analytical techniques to edge computing and mobile scenarios.
DeepSeek
DeepSeek-R1-Zero was introduced as an experimental variant trained with minimal human supervision, designed to develop reasoning patterns through self-guided reinforcement learning. Built to explore how models can discover analytical strategies independently, it represents research into autonomous reasoning capability development.
Launched on the same date

DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 1.5B
DeepSeek
2025-01-20

DeepSeek R1 Zero
DeepSeek
2025-01-20
Average performance across 4 common benchmarks

DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 1.5B

DeepSeek R1 Zero
Available providers and their performance metrics

DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 1.5B

DeepSeek R1 Zero

DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 1.5B

DeepSeek R1 Zero