Qwen
FreeBest for multilingual and Chinese-first applications.
FreeFree tier
Inputs: text, image, audioOutputs: text, image
About Qwen
Qwen is a family of open-source generalist AI models developed by the Qwen team, aiming to advance artificial general intelligence. The Qwen series includes large language models (Qwen), expert models (Qwen-Coder, Qwen-Math), and multimodal models (Qwen-VL, Qwen-Audio) that handle text, images, and audio. Recent additions include Qwen3Guard for safety moderation, Qwen-Image for advanced text rendering and image editing, and Qwen-MT for multilingual translation across 92 languages. The models are available through web services, apps, and platforms like GitHub, Hugging Face, and ModelScope.
Key Features
Open-source model series including LLMs, expert models (code, math), and multimodal models (vision, audio)
Strong multilingual support with Qwen-MT covering 92 languages and over 95% of the global population
Advanced text rendering in image generation with Qwen-Image, supporting multi-line layouts and fine-grained details
Image editing capabilities with Qwen-Image-Edit, featuring precise text editing and semantic control
Safety guardrail model Qwen3Guard for prompt and response classification with risk levels
Reinforcement learning-based translation accuracy improvement via Group Sequence Policy Optimization (GSPO)
Available as web service, mobile app, and API through Alibaba Cloud
Pros & Cons
Pros
- Entirely open-source with models available on major platforms
- Excellent performance on Chinese-language tasks and multilingual benchmarks
- Covers a wide range of modalities: text, image, audio, video (via multimodal models)
- Active development with frequent new model releases (guardrails, image editing, translation)
- Strong safety features with dedicated guardrail model
- Backed by Alibaba Cloud infrastructure for scalable deployment
Cons
- As an open-source model, may require significant compute resources for local deployment
- Newer models like Qwen-Image and Qwen3Guard have limited community documentation compared to established models
Best For
Multilingual translation across 92 languagesImage generation with complex text renderingPrecise image editing and semantic editingSafety moderation of AI prompts and responsesCode generation and math reasoning (via expert models)Multimodal tasks combining text, image, and audio inputGeneral chat and assistant capabilities
FAQ
Is Qwen free to use?
Qwen models are open-source and free to download and use under applicable licenses. A free web service and app are also available.
Which programming languages and frameworks are supported?
Qwen models are available via Hugging Face Transformers, ModelScope, and can be deployed using PyTorch. The team provides integration with Alibaba Cloud API.
Does Qwen support languages other than Chinese?
Yes. Qwen-MT supports 92 major official languages and dialects, covering over 95% of the global population. The base models also perform well in English and other languages.