AI Lineup
Qwen
by Alibaba Cloud (China)
Alibaba's model, strong in both Chinese and English and one of the most capable widely-used Chinese-origin AI tools.
Free + PaidOpen SourceRuns LocallyChatbot
Last checked: 28 September 2026
The details
- Current models
- The family changes quickly. Current official releases include Qwen3.8-Omni-Flash for omnimodal agent work, Qwen3.8-LiveTranslate for live interpretation, and Qwen-Image 2.1 for image generation and editing.
- Cost
- Qwen Chat is available on the web, and many Qwen model releases are open and downloadable. Alibaba Cloud API or hosted use may be paid.
- Open Source?
- Many models are released openly, but licensing and availability vary by model. Made by Alibaba Cloud (China). ⚠️ Use caution with sensitive personal data.
- Input / Output
- Varies by model — current Qwen releases cover textimagesaudiovideotranslationtool useand image creation/editing.
Best for
- Multilingual tasks
- Very long documents
- Free local running
- Coding & reasoning
Kevin’s take
“Made by Alibaba — the Amazon of China. One of the most downloaded open source models in the world, with over 300 million downloads. The Qwen3 series is genuinely impressive and runs well through Ollama. Supports 119 languages, which is remarkable.”
— Kevin, formerly of IT Support
Privacy snapshot
Research FirstPrivacy risk: High
Alibaba's capable AI model, strong in many languages and at coding. Available both as a hosted chatbot and as open models you can download.
See what Qwen does with your data →Knowing the tool is just the start.
We teach non-tech people how to actually use AI — what to ask, how to ask it, and what to do with the answers. Tutorials, prompts, plain English. All of it.
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