How to Use DeepSeek Coder for Coding on Your Local PC Without Paying.

Discover how to harness the power of AI coding assistance completely free and offline on your personal computer. This guide shows you how to set up DeepSeek Coder—the open-source AI coding assistant—without spending a single dollar, keeping your code private and secure on your own machine.

No subscriptions • No cloud fees • No data collection • Complete privacy

Why Choose DeepSeek Coder Over Paid Alternatives?

While tools like GitHub Copilot ($10/month) and Amazon CodeWhisperer (free tier with limitations) require subscriptions or send your code to the cloud, DeepSeek Coder offers:

✅ Completely Free

No subscription fees, no hidden costs—just download and use

🔒 100% Private

Your code never leaves your computer—critical for proprietary or sensitive projects

⚡️ Offline Capability

Work without internet connection—perfect for travel or secure environments

📦 Multiple Model Sizes

Choose based on your hardware: 1.3B (low-end), 6.7B (mid-range), or 33B (high-end) parameters

Real-world comparison: DeepSeek Coder-33B outperforms CodeLlama-34B on HumanEval (69.1% vs 67.7%) and matches GitHub Copilot’s capabilities—without sending your code to the cloud.

Hardware Requirements: What You Need to Run DeepSeek Coder

Choose the model that fits your hardware. All options are completely free:

Pro Tip: You can run the 6.7B model on a MacBook M1/M2/M3 with 16GB RAM using CPU-only processing—no dedicated GPU needed!

Step-by-Step Installation Guide (Windows, Mac, Linux)

Method 1: Using LM Studio (Easiest for Beginners)

1. Download LM Studio (free): https://lmstudio.ai/
2. Open LM Studio and go to “Search Models” in the left sidebar
3. Search for “deepseek” and select “deepseek-ai/deepseek-coder-6.7b-instruct”
4. Click “Download” (no account needed)
5. Once downloaded, go to “Local Server” tab and click “Start Server”
6. Configure your IDE to connect to http://localhost:1234/v1

Method 2: Using Ollama (Advanced Users)

For more control and customization:

# Install Ollama (https://ollama.com/)
curl -fsSL https://ollama.com/install.sh | sh

# Pull DeepSeek Coder model
ollama pull deepseek-coder:6.7b

# Run the model
ollama run deepseek-coder:6.7b

# To use with IDEs, start the API server
ollama serve

Method 3: Direct Integration with VS Code (Most Practical)

1. Install the “Continue” extension in VS Code (free)
2. Create a continue/config.json file with: { "models": [ { "title": "DeepSeek Coder", "model": "deepseek-coder:6.7b", "apiBase": "http://localhost:11434" } ] }
3. Start Ollama (if using Method 2) or LM Studio server
4. Use Continue’s command palette (Ctrl+Shift+P → “Continue”) to generate code

IDE Integration Guide

Make DeepSeek Coder work seamlessly with your favorite development environment:

📌 VS Code (Recommended)

Best extension: Continue (free, open-source)

• Auto-completes as you type
• Context-aware suggestions based on open files
• Chat interface for complex coding tasks

Setup: Install “Continue” extension → Configure to point to your local server

📌 JetBrains (IntelliJ, PyCharm, etc.)

Best plugin: Aicode (free community version)

• Install via Preferences → Plugins → Marketplace (search “Aicode”)
• Configure API endpoint to http://localhost:11434 or http://localhost:1234/v1
• Use Ctrl+Alt+M for code completion

📌 Vim/Neovim

Use the copilot.vim plugin with custom API endpoint:

" Add to your .vimrc or init.vim
let g:copilot_proxy = "http://localhost:11434"
let g:copilot_url = "http://localhost:11434/completion"

Performance Optimization Tips

Get the most from your hardware with these expert recommendations:

• Quantize your model: Use 4-bit quantization to reduce memory usage by 75% with minimal quality loss. In LM Studio, select “Q4_K_M” when downloading.
• Adjust context length: For most coding tasks, 4096 tokens is sufficient. Higher values slow down response time unnecessarily.
• Use GPU acceleration: If you have an NVIDIA GPU, install CUDA and cuDNN for 3-5x speed improvement.
• Warm up the model: Run a test completion before starting serious work to avoid initial lag.
• For Mac users: On Apple Silicon, add Metal support by setting LLAMA_METAL=1 in your environment variables.

Example: Running quantized model with Ollama

# Pull quantized version (smaller, faster)
ollama pull deepseek-coder:6.7b-q4_K_M

# Run with optimized parameters
ollama run deepseek-coder:6.7b-q4_K_M --num_ctx 4096 --num_threads 8

Troubleshooting Common Issues

❌ “Model not found” error

Solution: Verify the exact model name. For Ollama, use deepseek-coder:6.7b not deepseek-coder-6.7b. Check available models at Ollama Library.

❌ Slow response times

Solution:

• Switch to a quantized model (Q4_K_M)
• Reduce context length to 2048-4096
• Close other memory-intensive applications
• Ensure you’re using GPU acceleration if available

❌ Connection errors with IDE

Solution:

• Verify local server is running (LM Studio > Local Server tab)
• Check API endpoint in IDE settings matches server address
• Try restarting both the server and IDE

DeepSeek Coder vs. Other Free Coding Assistants

Verdict: DeepSeek Coder offers the best combination of performance, license flexibility, and local deployment ease among free coding models.

Conclusion: Your Private AI Coding Assistant Awaits

You don’t need to pay for coding assistance or risk sending your proprietary code to the cloud. By setting up DeepSeek Coder on your local machine, you gain:

• A powerful coding assistant that understands your entire codebase
• Complete privacy and security for sensitive projects
• Zero ongoing costs after initial setup
• Customization options to match your coding style

“After switching to DeepSeek Coder locally, I’ve cut my debugging time in half while keeping client code completely private. The initial setup took 20 minutes, and now it’s indispensable.” — Senior Developer at Financial Tech Company

Ready to try it? Start with the 6.7B model—it runs well on most modern machines and provides excellent coding assistance. The entire setup process takes less than 15 minutes, and you’ll never pay a subscription fee again.

Have questions or success stories with DeepSeek Coder? Share your experience in the comments below—let’s build a community around free, private AI coding tools! 💻🔒