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ChatGPT vs Qwen

Two fact sheets from our own research, side by side — pricing, platforms, API access and status re-checked by us rather than quoted from the vendors. ChatGPT publishes a starting price ($8); Qwen does not. Both have a free tier. Both ship a public API.

ChatGPTGeneral assistant with tools, memory, files and voiceQwenAlibaba's free web and mobile AI chat assistant, with a separate metered API for developers.

Side by side

FactChatGPTQwen
CategoryGeneral-purpose AI ChatbotsGeneral-purpose AI Chatbots
Pricing modelFreemiumFree
Starts at$8 month—
Public APIYesYes
PlatformsWeb, iOS, Android, macOS, Windows, APIWeb, iOS, Android, API
CompanyOpenAIAlibaba Cloud
Launched20222023
Last verifiedSep 6, 2026Sep 1, 2026

What our research says

ChatGPT

ChatGPT is the default general assistant and the one everyone else is measured against, but the tier you need is rarely the one you first buy. Free is now ad-supported, and the jump to genuinely unlimited reasoning is steep.

Pros

  • Broadest tool surface of any consumer assistant: browsing, code, images, voice, connectors
  • The $8 Go tier closed the gap between free and a $20 commitment
  • Apps on every desktop and mobile platform, not just a web wrapper
  • Model quality is consistently at or near the front of the field

Cons

  • Advertising now appears on the free and Go tiers
  • Message and reasoning limits are opaque and change without notice
  • Tier structure has churned repeatedly, so any price you quote ages fast
  • The API is a separate purchase, which surprises buyers who assume Plus includes it

Qwen

Qwen is a solid free daily-driver chatbot backed by a large, frequently updated model family, and the same models are available to self-host since several sizes ship open-weight. The chat product's polish trails ChatGPT or Gemini in the English-speaking market, and account creation nudges toward a phone number or Alibaba-linked login.

Pros

  • Free consumer chat and mobile apps with no visible message limit
  • Open-weight model releases available for self-hosting, not just API access
  • Multimodal chat handles file uploads and image generation in the same thread
  • Per-token API pricing is inexpensive next to comparable Western models

Cons

  • English-language polish and plugin ecosystem lag the top US chat products
  • Signing up leans on a phone number or Alibaba account

Which one fits

Choose ChatGPT if you need

  • General knowledge work, drafting, analysis and code across one interface
  • Anyone who wants file, image, voice and browsing input without assembling tools
  • Teams that need admin controls and data-retention terms via Business or Enterprise
  • Light users who want more headroom than free without paying $20

Choose Qwen if you need

  • Anyone wanting a free chatbot with no message cap
  • Developers who want to self-host an open-weight model instead of only calling an API
  • Users comfortable with a Chinese-company-operated service

More comparisons

All ChatGPT alternatives →All Qwen alternatives →Browse all General-purpose AI Chatbots →