The best Chinese AI app for most people is DeepSeek: free, excellent in English, open weight, and now with a free desktop agent harness. But China’s AI scene is much bigger than one app — Chinese AI apps reached 499 million monthly users by May 2026. Here’s my top 10, what each is best for, and what to think about before you use them. My latest DeepSeek video is below.
Key takeaways
- DeepSeek is my pick for most people outside China.
- Doubao (ByteDance) is the most-used AI app inside China.
- Qwen leads for open-weight models; Kling for AI video.
- Keep sensitive data out of any AI app whose data policies you haven’t read.
Best Chinese AI app: my top 10
| # | App | Made by | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | DeepSeek | DeepSeek | Free, strong all-round AI in English, plus the free DeepSeek Harness agent |
| 2 | Qwen | Alibaba | Open-weight models in every size, and a huge app user base |
| 3 | Doubao | ByteDance | The most-used AI app in China |
| 4 | Kimi | Moonshot AI | Long documents and coding |
| 5 | MiniMax | MiniMax | Models plus voice, image and video generation |
| 6 | Yuanbao | Tencent | AI inside the WeChat ecosystem |
| 7 | Kling | Kuaishou | AI video generation |
| 8 | Quark | Alibaba | AI-powered search and browsing |
| 9 | GLM / Z.ai | Zhipu AI | Open-weight models for coding and agents |
| 10 | ERNIE | Baidu | Baidu’s assistant and search ecosystem |
The most popular Chinese AI apps by users
Popularity and quality aren’t the same thing, but the numbers show where the momentum is. According to QuestMobile’s June 2026 data:
| App | Monthly active users (QuestMobile, June 2026) |
|---|---|
| Doubao | 382 million |
| Qwen | 167 million |
| DeepSeek | 130 million |
| Yuanbao | About 50 million as a standalone app (much more usage inside WeChat) |
Other trackers report different figures, so treat these as approximate. Every source agrees Doubao is number one inside China.
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Best Chinese AI app reviews
1. DeepSeek — the best Chinese AI app for most people
DeepSeek is the one I use most. The chat app is free on the web, iOS and Android, it’s excellent in English, and its models are open weight, so developers can run them too. What makes it stand out right now is DeepSeek Harness — a free, open-source agent harness that now has a desktop app for Mac and Windows, with plugins, scheduled automation and agent teams. I covered it in my DeepSeek Harness desktop guide.
2. Qwen — best for open-weight models
Alibaba’s Qwen app is the second-biggest AI app in China, and the Qwen models are some of the most popular open-weight models in the world, available in sizes from tiny to huge. If you run local AI, you’ve almost certainly used a Qwen model.
3. Doubao — the most-used AI app in China
ByteDance’s Doubao is the clear leader by users inside China, with roughly 2.3 times the monthly users of its nearest rival. It’s built mainly for the Chinese market, so for English speakers DeepSeek or Qwen are usually the better pick.
4. Kimi — best for long documents and coding
Moonshot AI’s Kimi is known for long-context work and strong coding models, and it ranks highly on public model leaderboards. Its newest models are also available through OpenRouter, so you can plug them into agents like Hermes.
5. MiniMax — best for models plus media
MiniMax builds language models alongside voice, image and video generation. I’ve used MiniMax M3 inside Hermes through Ollama for real generation tasks, and its speech models for voice agents.
6. Yuanbao — best inside WeChat
Tencent’s Yuanbao brings AI into the WeChat world. It uses DeepSeek alongside Tencent’s own models, and much of its usage happens inside WeChat rather than the standalone app.
7. Kling — best for AI video
Kuaishou’s Kling is one of the best-known AI video generators. If you make content, it’s the Chinese AI app worth testing for text-to-video and image-to-video.
8. Quark — best for AI search
Alibaba’s Quark combines search, browsing and AI answers, and it’s one of the most-used AI products in China by some rankings.
9. GLM / Z.ai — best for coding agents
Zhipu AI’s GLM models are popular open-weight options for coding and agent work, and they’re widely available through providers that plug into agent harnesses.
10. ERNIE — Baidu’s assistant
Baidu’s ERNIE models power its assistant and search features. It’s most useful if you work in the Chinese market and the Baidu ecosystem.
Best Chinese AI app for each job
| Job | Best pick |
|---|---|
| Everyday chat in English | DeepSeek |
| Free AI agent on your computer | DeepSeek Harness |
| Running models locally | Qwen |
| Long documents | Kimi |
| Coding agents | Kimi or GLM |
| AI video | Kling |
| Voice and speech | MiniMax |
| AI search in Chinese | Quark |
Are Chinese AI apps safe to use?
They’re widely used and genuinely good, but be sensible. Chinese AI companies operate under Chinese law, so I don’t put private client data or anything sensitive into their hosted apps. Read each app’s privacy policy, avoid sharing personal or confidential information, and use them for research, drafting and testing.
The open-weight models are the big exception: if you run DeepSeek, Qwen or GLM models on your own hardware, your data never leaves your machine.
How I use Chinese AI apps
I mostly use them inside AI agents rather than in their own apps. DeepSeek Harness runs as a free agent on my Mac; Kimi, MiniMax and GLM models plug into Hermes Agent through providers like OpenRouter and Ollama; and free models from Chinese labs regularly appear in Nous Portal’s free list. That lets me test the best Chinese models without depending on any one app.
If you want to set this up yourself, my best Hermes setup guide covers model switching.
How I picked the best Chinese AI app
- Quality in English — most of my audience works in English.
- Free access — can you use it without paying?
- Open weights — can you run it yourself?
- Agent support — does it plug into tools like Hermes and DeepSeek Harness?
- Popularity and momentum — user numbers and release pace.
DeepSeek wins on the combination. Doubao wins on popularity alone, but most of that is inside China.
My verdict on the best Chinese AI app
For most people outside China, the best Chinese AI app is DeepSeek. Add Qwen if you run local models, Kling if you make video, and Kimi if you code — and keep sensitive data out of hosted apps.
FAQ: best chinese ai app
What is the best Chinese AI app?
For most people outside China, DeepSeek — free, strong in English and open weight. Inside China, Doubao is the most popular.
What is the most popular AI app in China?
Doubao from ByteDance, with around 382 million monthly users in June 2026 according to QuestMobile.
Are Chinese AI apps free?
Most have free versions, including DeepSeek, Qwen, Doubao and Kimi.
Are Chinese AI apps safe?
Use them sensibly: avoid sharing sensitive data with hosted apps, or run open-weight models locally.
Which Chinese AI is best for coding?
Kimi and GLM models are strong choices, and DeepSeek Harness gives you a free coding agent.
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About Julian Goldie
I’m Julian Goldie — founder of Goldie Agency, best-selling author, and an AI educator with 428K+ YouTube subscribers. I’ve spent 10+ years in SEO and online business and I test every AI agent on my own work before I recommend it. Join the AI Profit Boardroom for the daily builds, or book a free strategy session to talk through yours.
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Last updated October 2026. This page is a living guide to best chinese ai app — the facts here move fast and it is updated as they do.