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Side-by-side comparison · AI Assistants & LLMs

Claude 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.

Best overall

Claude

4.6

From $20/mo

Qwen Chat

4.0

From $4/mo

Comparing 2 tools. Add one more if you like.

At a glance

Best overallEasiest to use

Pick it if: Anyone who writes, researches or makes decisions for a living, plus anyone curious about Claude Code.

Pick it if: Anyone after a capable free assistant with image, video, slides and website tools, and developers who want open models.

Overview

AttributeClaudeQwen Chat
In one lineAnthropic's chat assistant, at its best on careful writing and long documents.Alibaba's generous free assistant for research, slides, websites, images and video.
Pricing modelFreemiumFreemium
Starting price$20/mo$4/mo
Free plan Yes Yes
Works with Claude Code Yes No

Rating breakdown

Our scores out of 5. The higher bar in each row is highlighted.

AttributeClaudeQwen Chat
Overall rating4.6Winner4.0
Ease of useHow quickly someone non-technical gets value from it.
4.5
4.0
FeaturesHow completely it covers the job it's built for, and how well the pieces fit together.
4.5
4.0
Output qualityHow good the results are before you fix them.
5.0
4.0
Value for moneyWhat you get for the price, including the free plan.
4.5
4.5
Speed & reliabilityHow fast it is and how often it falls over.
4.5
3.5

Feature comparison

A tick means it does this today. A dash means we haven't checked.

AttributeClaudeQwen Chat
Access & platform
Free plan Yes Yes
Mobile app Yes Yes
Desktop app Yes No
Browser extension Yes No
API access Yes Yes
Teams & business
Team workspace Yes No
Enterprise plan or SSO Yes No
Connects to other apps Yes No
Open source or self-hosted No Yes
AI abilities
Works with your files Yes Yes
Understands images Yes Yes
Makes images No Yes
Makes video No Yes
Writes code Yes Yes
Runs agents or automations Yes Yes
Learns your brand or style Yes No
Works in many languages Yes Yes
Capabilities score14/ 1711/ 17

Pricing

Plans as listed on each vendor's site when we last checked. Confirm before you buy.

AttributeClaudeQwen Chat
Plans

Free

Free

Trying it out and light daily use.

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.

Go

$4/mo

Regular users who want higher chat limits.

Max

From $100/mo

Heavy users and people living in Claude Code.

Plus

$19/mo

Creators making images and video most days.

Team

From $20/seat/mo billed yearly

Businesses with 2 to 150 people.

Pro

$99/mo

Heavy video and image users who need priority.

Which plan to pickStart 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.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

AttributeClaudeQwen Chat
Standout features
  • Projects
  • Artifacts
  • Long documents
  • Web search and connectors
  • Tasks and Claude Code
  • Memory
  • Deep Research
  • Web Dev
  • Slides
  • Image and video
  • Thinking mode
  • Open models

Pros and cons

AttributeClaudeQwen Chat
Pros
  • Writing sounds like a person and needs the least editing of any assistant
  • Handles long documents and messy briefs without losing track
  • Projects and memory mean you stop repeating the same context
  • Artifacts turn answers into real documents, slides and small apps
  • One subscription covers Claude Code as well
  • The free plan now includes memory, connectors and Artifacts
  • One of the most generous free plans in the category
  • Broad toolkit: research, slides, websites, images and video in one place
  • Top Qwen models rank near the best US models
  • Open models you can run yourself
  • International service is run from Singapore
Cons
  • Free and Pro usage limits can bite on a busy day
  • No image or video generation, which ChatGPT and Gemini both have
  • The free plan doesn't include the top Opus models
  • Fewer third-party connectors and plugins than ChatGPT
  • Avoids or slants topics sensitive to the Chinese government
  • Thinking mode on the newest models can be very slow
  • Paid plans are new and the free limits aren't published, so it's unclear how long the free plan stays this generous
  • Chats can be used, de-identified, to improve the service; you have to email to opt out of training
  • No connections to business apps

Who each one is for

AttributeClaudeQwen Chat
Best for
  • Long-form writing and editing
  • Reading and summarising long documents
  • Thinking through a plan or decision
  • Pairing with Claude Code
  • A free assistant that does a bit of everything
  • Quick webpages and slide decks from a prompt
  • Free image and short video generation
  • Deep research reports
  • Developers who want open models
You'll find it used by
  • Writers and marketers
  • Founders
  • Consultants
  • Developers
  • Students
  • Developers
  • Budget-conscious founders
  • Content creators

Questions people ask

Which is better, Claude or Qwen Chat?

Claude scores highest overall in our ratings (Claude 4.6/5 and Qwen Chat 4.0/5). Claude is best for long-form writing and editing and reading and summarising long documents. 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 or Qwen Chat?

Claude: There's a free plan, and paid plans start at $20/mo. Qwen Chat: There's a free plan, and paid plans start at $4/mo.

Which is easier to use, Claude 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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