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Catalogmodels-api

Qwen API

shipBlueshift — gaining momentum

Alibaba Cloud Model Studio API for text, code, image, audio, video and omni models with OpenAI compatibility.

Visit alibabacloud.com →Add to kitOpen in Noemium

ledger entry · observed by @whysanesanders

The widest Chinese model menu in one API, with open weights and a real international region. Pricing is attractive, but the console still feels built for China-first users, so expect some billing and rate-card friction.

Strengths

  • Widest Chinese model menu in one API, with open weights and an international region.
  • Pricing is attractive next to US frontier labs.

Known limitations

  • The hosted Model Studio API is proprietary; many Qwen weights are open releases available separately.
  • International vs China pricing diverges; OpenRouter can be cheaper for some models.
  • Large MoE models are expensive to self-host.
  • China-region compliance and billing can be hard for non-China users.
  • Some docs and rate-card pages are JS-rendered or region-locked.

Use it when

  • Qwen-family text, code and omni calls with OpenAI-compatible endpoints.
  • Workloads that can live on Alibaba Cloud's international region.

Skip it when

  • China-region billing or compliance is the only path you get.
  • OpenRouter is already cheaper for the models you need.
  • You needed OSI-open hosted inference, not a proprietary studio API.

Buy-check

  • ·Price — paid, Qwen3.7 Max ~$1.48/$4.43 per 1M, Qwen3.6 Flash $0.19/$1.13 per 1M, Qwen-Image 2.0 ~$0.04/image; Token Plan and Coding Plan subscriptions available as of 2026-08-19. Open the pricing page, not a screenshot.
  • ·Free tier — Free tier exists — burn it first.
  • ·Cancel fallout — What happens to your data/projects on cancel — check the ToS, not the FAQ.
  • ·Seat math — Per-seat pricing multiplies quietly. Count seats before the annual plan.
  • ·Who skips it — Also skipped when: China-region billing or compliance is the only path you get.; OpenRouter is already cheaper for the models you need..

Price trailchangelog →

No price move in this repo yet.

Facts

pricing
paid1
price note
Qwen3.7 Max ~$1.48/$4.43 per 1M, Qwen3.6 Flash $0.19/$1.13 per 1M, Qwen-Image 2.0 ~$0.04/image; Token Plan and Coding Plan subscriptions available
free tier
yes — paid to keep using
open source
no
api
yes
self-host
no
category
models-api
evidence
source-verified
Models
Qwen3.8 Maxlocked

Sources

  1. 1alibabacloud.com/help/en/model-studio/what-is-model-studio[snapshot]
  2. 2alibabacloud.com/help/en/model-studio/model-pricing[snapshot]
  3. 3llmcostcalc.com/cloud/qwen[snapshot]
  4. 4a8gent.com/models/alibaba-qwen[snapshot]

No source, no number.

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