Alibaba Cloud · Language model
Qwen
Chinese model family from Alibaba Cloud with a free chat app, a large open-weight catalogue and the proprietary flagship Qwen3.8-Max with 1 million tokens of context.
1484#6 of 12 in the index
Elo, independently measuredQuality from blind duels on LMArena: users choose between two anonymous answers. A difference of around 20 points is noticeable; a few points is noise. How we measure
Elo, independently measuredQuality from blind duels on LMArena: users choose between two anonymous answers. A difference of around 20 points is noticeable; a few points is noise. How we measure
▲ 5 Eloin 30 days
- Editorial scoreOur own assessment on 10 of suitability for professional work, price and privacy. This is a judgement, not a measurement; that is why it always sits alongside the Elo. How we measure
- 7,9
- GDPR profileOur summary of what the provider itself publishes about your data: EU hosting possible, no training on your data for business use, and self-hosting available. Caution applies to a model with a documented problem, such as an investigation by a regulator. How we measure
- GDPR: Caution
- Entry price
- Freepaid from $2.00 / $6.00 per 1M
- Context
- 1M tokens
- Usage on OpenRouter
- 1.3% of tokens
Quality over time
137 daily measurementsThe line follows the strongest variant of the family; the figure at the top is the measured flagship.
1500149014801470
19 mei 20269 november 2026
Bron: LMArena · opgehaald 9 november 2026
Your data
GDPR: Caution✓Hosting in the EU possible
–No training on your data (business)
✓Self-hostable (open weights)
Through Alibaba Cloud Model Studio you can choose the Germany (Frankfurt) region with EU deployment scope: request data then stays in that region. According to Alibaba Cloud, Model Studio does not use your data for model training (SOC 2). For the consumer app Qwen Chat this is not confirmed. Many Qwen models are open-weight (Apache 2.0) and fully self-hostable; the flagship Qwen3.7-Max is only available via the API.
GDPR check by professionAlibaba Cloud's models
Qwen is a family. Choose the heaviest for demanding tasks, the fastest for volume.
| Model | Type | Elo | Price in | Price out | Context | Buzz |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Qwen3.8 Max | Flagship | 1484 | – | – | – | 30 |
| Qwen3.7 Max | Flagship | 1474 | $1.48 | $4.42 | 1.000.000 | 1 |
| Qwen3.7 Max Preview | Preview | 1474 | – | – | – | – |
| Qwen3.7 Plus | Balanced | 1455 | $0.32 | $1.28 | 1.000.000 | 4 |
| Qwen3.8 27B | Open-weight | 1433 | $0.15 | $1.88 | 1.024.000 | 494 |
| Qwen3.8 2.4T A95B | Newest (large) | – | $2 | $6 | 1.048.576 | 20 |
| Qwen3.8 Max 0902 | Snapshot | – | $2 | $6 | 1.000.000 | 5 |
| Qwen3.8 Max Prime | Fast variant | – | $4 | $12 | 1.000.000 | – |
| Qwen3.7 Flash | Fast & cheap | – | $0.03 | $0.13 | 1.000.000 | – |
| Qwen3.6 Flash | Fast & cheap | – | $0.19 | $1.12 | 1.000.000 | – |
| Qwen3.8 Flash | Fast & cheap | – | $0.15 | $0.47 | 1.000.000 | 248 |
| Qwen3.8 Omni Flash | Omni (audio/video) | – | $0.15 | $0.47 | 1.000.000 | 3 |
Bron: LMArena, OpenRouter, Hacker News · opgehaald 9 november 2026
Subscriptions
Qwen ChatFreeConsumer app at qwen.ai, no paid subscription required
API, Qwen3.8-Max$2.00 / $6.00 per 1MNewest flagship (Aug 2026) via Alibaba Cloud Model Studio
API, Qwen3.7-Max$2.50 / $7.50 per 1MPrevious-generation flagship; still available via Alibaba Cloud Model Studio
API, Qwen3.7-Plus±$0.32 / $1.28 per 1MCheaper workhorse with the same 1M context window; temporarily 20% off the list price of $0.40 / $1.60 (up to 25K tokens)
Where it excels
- 1Very broad range: from free open-weight models (Apache 2.0) to a 1M-context flagship
- 2Competitive API pricing via Alibaba Cloud Model Studio
- 3Strong in multilingual and multimodal tasks (image understanding, audio, video)
- 4Built for long agentic tasks and external tooling
Qwen by profession
6 professions where we recommend it, listed first.
MarketingE-commerceCustomer serviceLogisticsIndustry & manufacturingTranslation & localisationLegal professionAccountancyHealthcareRecruitmentEducationReal estateHospitalityConstruction & installationHR & personnelSales & prospectingGovernment & municipalitiesFinancial adviceVeterinary practices & animal carePhysiotherapyDentistryCommunications & mediaArchitecture & urban planningAutomotive sectorChildcareInsurance sectorSport & fitnessInstallation technologyAgricultural sectorTourism & travel sectorPharmacy & pharmaceuticalsNon-profit & fundraisingDebt collection & receivables managementNotaryStaffing & flexible workMental health & psychologyBeauty & wellnessGP practicesEvents sectorRenewable energy & the energy transitionIT & software developmentHousing associations & owners' associationsFacilities management & cleaningResearch & scienceBuilding management & installationsElderly care & long-term careRadiology & medical imagingBanks & fintechPathologyEye careProcurement & tenderingSocial domain & youth careOccupational health & absenteeismCorporate training & L&DGreenhouse horticultureHotels & holiday accommodationFashion & textilesFood industryPharmaceutical industryPhotographyWater managementCybersecurityGraphic design & designMusic & audio productionGame developmentInterior designVideo & film production
The full index on one scale
Ordered by quality; height is our editorial score. Qwen is highlighted.
#1Gemini#2Claude#3Kimi#4ChatGPT#5Copilot#6Qwen#7GLM (Z.ai)#8DeepSeek#9Grok#10Le Chat (Mistral)#11Perplexity#12Llama
Scale 0 to 10 · editorial score
1Gemini8,62Claude9,03Kimi7,64ChatGPT8,95Copilot8,36Qwen7,97GLM (Z.ai)7,78DeepSeek7,49Grok7,810Le Chat (Mistral)8,411Perplexity8,012Llama7,6
Compare Qwen with another
What the community says
Qwen3.8-2.4T713 points · 171 commentsQwen3.8-Flash-Next704 points · 233 commentsMemdoor: A team of 5 Qwen3.8-27B models beats Fable 5 on LiveCodeBench Hard465 points · 232 commentsQwen3.8 27B scores 52 on Artificial Analysis381 points · 180 comments
Hacker News, last 90 days, praise and criticism.
