Qwen Chat

Qwen Chat is the assistant from Alibaba, the Chinese e-commerce and cloud giant. It chats, searches the web, writes and fixes code, runs deep research reports, builds a working webpage from a description, makes slide decks, and generates and edits images and short videos. It runs on Alibaba's own Qwen models, which in 2026 sit near the top of the independent rankings.

The reason to try it is how much you get for free. Users regularly describe sending hundreds of messages a day before hitting a limit, and features that other assistants charge for, like video generation and website building, are included. Next to DeepSeek, it has far more tools, and it's the most complete free all-rounder in this category. Alibaba also releases many Qwen models openly, so a developer can run them on your own servers.

The catch is trust. The international version is run from Singapore, but it's still a Chinese company, it uses de-identified chats to improve its service, and it dodges or slants questions the Chinese government considers sensitive. Fine for drafts and research; keep confidential client data out of it.

• Students
• Developers
• Budget-conscious founders
• Content creators

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

• Deep Research

  Searches across many sources and writes a long report with references.

• Web Dev

  Describe a page and it builds a working website you can preview straight away.

• Slides

  Turns a topic into an outlined, written deck you can export.

• Image and video

  Generate and edit images, and make short video clips from a prompt.

• Thinking mode

  Works through hard maths, logic and long documents step by step and shows how it got there.

• Open models

  Many Qwen models are free to download, so a developer can run them where your data rules allow.

• Our pick

  Free

  Free

  Most people. The free limits are generous for chat and research.

  • Chat, web search and deep research
  • Slides and website building
  • Image and video generation with limits

• Go

  $4/mo

  Regular users who want higher chat limits.

  • Higher chat limits
  • 400 monthly credits
  • Extra image generations

• Plus

  $19/mo

  Creators making images and video most days.

  • Expanded quotas
  • 2,000 monthly credits

• Pro

  $99/mo

  Heavy video and image users who need priority.

  • Priority access
  • 10,500 monthly credits
  • Highest image and video limits

Prices in USD unless noted, checked 21 October 2026. Vendors change plans often, so confirm on their site before you buy.

Ways Qwen Chat can slot into your week.

1. 1

   Mock up a landing page

   Describe the offer and audience and get a working draft page to show a client or developer.

2. 2

   Research a market

   Run a deep research report on a competitor or industry, then check the sources it cites.

3. 3

   Make a quick deck

   Turn meeting notes or a brief into a slide outline with content, then polish it in your usual tool.

4. 4

   Visuals on a budget

   Generate images and short clips for social without paying for a separate tool.

It doesn't connect to your business apps, so treat it as a free second assistant for research, drafts and visuals. Developers can use the Qwen models through Alibaba Cloud's API or run the open ones themselves.

The closest alternatives to Qwen Chat in the library, best rated first.

• Claude4.6/5· best for long-form writing and editingQwen Chat vs Claude
• ChatGPT4.3/5· best for everyday questions and brainstormingQwen Chat vs ChatGPT
• Google Gemini4.2/5· best for searching and summarising your GmailQwen Chat vs Google Gemini
• Perplexity4.2/5· best for fact-checking and quick researchQwen Chat vs Perplexity

Nobody has reviewed Qwen Chat here yet. If you use it, your take helps everyone else choose.