Using an open model feels surprisingly good | Hacker News

Hacker News commenters said smaller open models like GLM, DeepSeek, and Qwen can be very effective for coding when used as iterative assistants.

They argued these models work better for practical software development than for one-shot app generation, especially alongside tools like OpenRouter and Matrix.

Some users described building low-cost personal agents and home automation setups with open models, including Home Assistant and Frigate integrations.

The thread suggested open models are steadily commoditizing AI infrastructure and narrowing the gap with premium closed systems like Claude or Opus.