# Qwen

> Alibaba's free AI assistant and open-weight model family, on web, mobile and API

- Category: [AI Assistants](https://finderatlas.com/categories/ai-assistants)
- Pricing: Freemium
- Website: https://chat.qwen.ai
- Platforms: Web, Android, API
- API: available
- Mobile app: available
- Made by: Alibaba Cloud, founded 2009, Hangzhou, China
- Last updated: 2026-10-20
- FinderAtlas page: https://finderatlas.com/tools/qwen

## Overview

Qwen is the AI model family developed by the Qwen team at Alibaba Cloud, and the name of the free assistant that Alibaba runs on top of it. The assistant at chat.qwen.ai gives access to Qwen's open-source and proprietary models for chat, image and video understanding, image generation and editing, document processing, web search, tool use, voice and video chat, and artifacts. An Android app is listed on Google Play under the name Qwen Studio, published by Alibaba Cloud.

## Key features

- Document processing
- Web search and tool use
- Voice and video chat
- Artifacts
- Multi-model chat
- Image and video understanding
- Image generation and editing
- Open-weight models
- Model Studio API

## Pricing

- **Qwen Chat (web and app)** ($0): Free access to the Qwen assistant on the web and Android
- **Open weights** ($0): Downloadable models from Hugging Face and GitHub; license varies by model

## Best for

- Free general-purpose chat
- Self-hosted open-weight models
- Coding assistance
- Multilingual tasks

## Who uses it

- Developers
- AI researchers
- Multilingual users
- Teams that self-host models
- General consumers

## Strengths

- Free web assistant with image, video and document features
- Open-weight models in many sizes on Hugging Face and GitHub
- Hosted API with Max, Flash and Omni model options
- Strong multilingual coverage, including Chinese
- Many models can be self-hosted, which keeps data on your own hardware

## Limitations

- No published paid consumer tier or stated usage limits for the free assistant
- Open-weight licenses vary by model, so not every model is Apache 2.0
- Hosted chat and API are run by a China-based company, which may not suit sensitive data
- App and model names change often, which can make official apps hard to identify

## Not recommended for

- Users with strict data-residency needs who cannot self-host
- Users who need a published paid consumer tier with guaranteed limits

## Integrations

- Hugging Face
- GitHub
- Ollama
- LM Studio
- Alibaba Cloud Model Studio

## FinderAtlas editorial scores (out of 10)

- Open-Weight Availability: 9.3/10
- Multilingual Accuracy: 8.8/10
- Coding & Syntax: 8.5/10
- Ease of Use: 7.8/10
- Value for Money: 9/10

## Alternatives

- [Claude](https://finderatlas.com/tools/claude): Anthropic's AI assistant for writing, analysis, coding and working with files ([compare](https://finderatlas.com/compare/claude-vs-qwen))
- [Perplexity](https://finderatlas.com/tools/perplexity): AI answer engine that searches the live web and cites its sources ([compare](https://finderatlas.com/compare/perplexity-vs-qwen))
- [Msty](https://finderatlas.com/tools/msty): Private AI workspace for chatting with local and online models, with your data under your control ([compare](https://finderatlas.com/compare/msty-vs-qwen))
- [ChatGPT](https://finderatlas.com/tools/chatgpt): OpenAI's AI assistant for writing, research, coding, image generation and voice chat ([compare](https://finderatlas.com/compare/chatgpt-vs-qwen))
- [Z.ai Chat](https://finderatlas.com/tools/z-ai): Free GLM-powered AI chatbot and agent from Zhipu AI for writing, coding and research ([compare](https://finderatlas.com/compare/qwen-vs-z-ai))
- [Kimi](https://finderatlas.com/tools/kimi): Chat, research and agent assistant from Moonshot AI, built on its Kimi K3 model ([compare](https://finderatlas.com/compare/kimi-vs-qwen))
- [Poe](https://finderatlas.com/tools/poe): Chat with many AI models, image tools and custom bots through one account ([compare](https://finderatlas.com/compare/poe-vs-qwen))
- [Grok](https://finderatlas.com/tools/grok): xAI's AI assistant with live X and web search, image and voice tools ([compare](https://finderatlas.com/compare/grok-vs-qwen))

## Recent updates

- 2026-08-08 (Qwen 2.5): Qwen 2.5 Release

## FAQ

**Is Qwen free to use?**

Yes. The chat assistant at chat.qwen.ai is free, and no paid consumer plan was found. The API on Alibaba Cloud Model Studio is billed per token, and the open-weight models can be downloaded at no cost.

**Can I run Qwen locally?**

Yes. Many Qwen models are published as open weights on Hugging Face and GitHub, and can be run with tools such as Ollama or LM Studio. Hardware needs depend on the model size, and the license differs by model, so check each model card.

**Who makes Qwen?**

Qwen is developed by the Qwen team at Alibaba Cloud, part of Alibaba Group.

**Does Qwen have a mobile app?**

Yes. A Qwen Studio app published by Alibaba Cloud is listed on Google Play. The old name was Qwen Chat, and third-party sources also mention an iOS app, which was not confirmed here.

**Does Qwen have an API?**

Yes. Alibaba Cloud Model Studio offers hosted Qwen models through an API, billed pay-as-you-go per million input and output tokens. New users in the Singapore region get a free quota for 90 days.

**What can the Qwen assistant do besides chat?**

According to its site, it also handles image and video understanding, image generation and editing, document processing, web search, tool use, voice and video chat, and artifacts.