Side-by-side comparison · AI Assistants & LLMs
Claude vs Poe vs Qwen Chat
Everything that matters when choosing between them, in one place: our rating, what each can do, what they cost, and the trade-offs.
Comparing 3 tools, the maximum.
At a glance
Pick it if: Anyone who writes, researches or makes decisions for a living, plus anyone curious about Claude Code.
Pick it if: People who want to try lots of models without paying for several subscriptions.
Pick it if: Anyone after a capable free assistant with image, video, slides and website tools, and developers who want open models.
Overview
| Attribute | Claude | Poe | Qwen Chat |
|---|---|---|---|
| In one line | Anthropic's chat assistant, at its best on careful writing and long documents. | Quora's app for using hundreds of AI models and bots under one subscription. | Alibaba's generous free assistant for research, slides, websites, images and video. |
| Pricing model | Freemium | Freemium | Freemium |
| Starting price | $20/mo | $4.99/mo | $4/mo |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Works with Claude Code | Yes | Yes | No |
Rating breakdown
Our scores out of 5. The higher bar in each row is highlighted.
| Attribute | Claude | Poe | Qwen Chat |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall rating | 4.6Winner | 3.6 | 4.0 |
| Ease of useHow quickly someone non-technical gets value from it. | 4.5 | 4.0 | 4.0 |
| FeaturesHow completely it covers its own job, and how well the pieces fit together. | 4.5 | 4.0 | 4.0 |
| Output qualityHow good the results are before you fix them. | 5.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 |
| Value for moneyWhat you get for the price, including the free plan. | 4.5 | 2.5 | 4.5 |
| Speed & reliabilityHow fast it is and how often it falls over. | 4.5 | 3.5 | 3.5 |
Feature comparison
A tick means it does this today. A dash means we haven't checked.
| Attribute | Claude | Poe | Qwen Chat |
|---|---|---|---|
| Access & platform | |||
| Free plan | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Mobile app | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Desktop app | Yes | Yes | No |
| Browser extension | Yes | No | No |
| API access | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Teams & business | |||
| Team workspace | Yes | Yes | No |
| Enterprise plan or SSO | Yes | No | No |
| Connects to other apps | Yes | No | No |
| Open source or self-hosted | No | No | Yes |
| AI abilities | |||
| Works with your files | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Understands images | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Makes images | No | Yes | Yes |
| Makes video | No | Yes | Yes |
| Writes code | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Runs agents or automations | Yes | No | Yes |
| Learns your brand or style | Yes | Yes | No |
| Works in many languages | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Capabilities score | 14/ 17 | 12/ 17 | 11/ 17 |
Pricing
Plans as listed on each vendor's site when we last checked. Confirm before you buy.
| Attribute | Claude | Poe | Qwen Chat |
|---|---|---|---|
| Plans | Free Free Trying it out and light daily use. | Free Free A quick look at the app. | FreeOur pick Free Most people. The free limits are generous for chat and research. |
ProOur pick $20/mo, or $17/mo billed yearly Anyone who uses it most days. | Starter $4.99/mo Light daily use of cheaper models. | Go $4/mo Regular users who want higher chat limits. | |
Max From $100/mo Heavy users and people living in Claude Code. | PremiumOur pick $19.99/mo, or $199.99/yr Regular users switching between top models. | Plus $19/mo Creators making images and video most days. | |
Team From $20/seat/mo billed yearly Businesses with 2 to 150 people. | Higher tiers $49.99 to $249.99/mo Heavy users of expensive models and video. | Pro $99/mo Heavy video and image users who need priority. | |
| Which plan to pick | Start on Free to see if the writing suits you. Most people who stick with it move to Pro within a month; only go to Max if you hit the Pro limits every day or you're running Claude Code for hours at a time. | Premium at $19.99 is the plan to start on. Watch your points use for a fortnight; if you spend most of them on one model, switch to that company's own subscription instead. | Start free; most people never need to pay. Go at $4 is cheap if you hit the chat limits. Prices are App Store prices, so check the in-app screen before you subscribe. |
Key features
Pros and cons
| Attribute | Claude | Poe | Qwen Chat |
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Who each one is for
| Attribute | Claude | Poe | Qwen Chat |
|---|---|---|---|
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Questions people ask
Which is better, Claude, Poe or Qwen Chat?
Claude scores highest overall in our ratings (Claude 4.6/5, Poe 3.6/5 and Qwen Chat 4.0/5). Claude is best for long-form writing and editing and reading and summarising long documents. Poe is best for trying many models in one place and comparing answers from different models. Qwen Chat is best for A free assistant that does a bit of everything and quick webpages and slide decks from a prompt.
Which is cheaper, Claude, Poe or Qwen Chat?
Claude: There's a free plan, and paid plans start at $20/mo. Poe: There's a free plan, and paid plans start at $4.99/mo. Qwen Chat: There's a free plan, and paid plans start at $4/mo.
Which is easier to use, Claude, Poe or Qwen Chat?
Claude rates highest for ease of use in our scores. Anyone who writes, researches or makes decisions for a living, plus anyone curious about Claude Code.
How we compare
Ratings are our own, from using each tool, across ease of use, features, output quality, value for money, speed & reliability.
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