Qwen Code and vibe-cli, fact by fact
| Fact | Qwen Code | vibe-cli |
|---|---|---|
| Stars | 28,361Verified 8 Oct 2026 | not tracked for vibe-cli |
| Newest commit | 8 Oct 20260 days old when we read itVerified 8 Oct 2026 | not tracked for vibe-cli |
| Contributors | 420Verified 8 Oct 2026 | not tracked for vibe-cli |
| License | Apache-2.0Verified 8 Oct 2026 | not tracked for vibe-cli |
| Latest stable release | sdk-typescript-v0.1.18published 5 Oct 2026Verified 8 Oct 2026 | not tracked for vibe-cli |
| npm downloads | 104,819 a week@qwen-code/qwen-codeVerified 8 Oct 2026 | not tracked for vibe-cli |
| Homebrew installs | 2,783 in 30 daysqwen-codeVerified 8 Oct 2026 | not tracked for vibe-cli |
| Repository | QwenLM/qwen-codeTypeScriptVerified 8 Oct 2026 | not tracked for vibe-cli |
What our catalogue holds
These are curated rows, not readings. We state no difference between the two columns because we have not checked either of them.
| Catalogue field | Qwen Code | vibe-cli |
|---|---|---|
| Category | CLI Tool | CLI Tool |
| Where it runs | Terminal | Terminal |
| Pricing string, uncheckedWrong on 43 of our 190 rows. Not a price of ours. | Open Source | Open Source |
| Vendor page | github.com | github.com |
What we know about Qwen Code
Qwen Code binds the local agent to Telegram, DingTalk, WeChat or Feishu with one command, `qwen channel`, and ships TypeScript, Python and Java SDKs beside the CLI.
“- **Beyond the terminal** — IDE plugins, Desktop app, daemon mode, SDKs, and IM bots (Telegram / DingTalk / WeChat / Feishu).”
Run the agent from a group chat your team already uses, with `qwen channel`.
“| **IM Bot** | `qwen channel` | Connect to Telegram, DingTalk, WeChat, or Feishu |”
Embed the agent in your own program through the TypeScript, Python or Java SDK instead of shelling out to a CLI.
“| **SDK** | — | [TypeScript](./packages/sdk-typescript/README.md), [Python](./packages/sdk-python/README.md), [Java](./packages/sdk-java/qwencode/README.md) |”
Batch a repository-wide edit in CI with `qwen -p "..."`, which runs without the terminal UI.
“| **Headless** | `qwen -p "..."` | Scripts, CI/CD, batch processing — no UI |”
Qwen Code is no longer free: the Qwen OAuth free tier was discontinued on 2026-04-15, and requests on an old token are now rejected.
“The Qwen OAuth free tier was discontinued on 2026-04-15. Existing cached tokens may continue working briefly, but new requests will be rejected.”
You cannot finish sign-in on a server: OAuth needs a browser, which CI, SSH and container sessions do not have.
“In non-interactive or headless environments (e.g., CI, SSH, containers), you typically cannot complete the OAuth browser login flow.”
Image input regressed in the shipping line: a crash on image load since 0.21.2 is open, and the current release is v0.21.14.
“[Regression] Qwen code crashes on image load since 0.21.2”
A developer who chose Qwen Code because it was free should now price the Alibaba ModelStudio Coding Plan, or move to goose, which runs a local Ollama model at no per-token cost.
“Cost & quota : the free tier has been discontinued as of 2026-04-15.”
What Qwen Code costs
The free tier is gone as of 2026-04-15; the vendor's recommended replacement is the Alibaba ModelStudio Coding Plan, whose weekly quota is priced on Alibaba's own page, which I did not read today.
“Alibaba ModelStudio : official recommended setup. Opens a sub-menu with Coding Plan (for individual developers · weekly quota included), Token Plan (for teams and companies · usage-based billing with a dedicated endpoint), or Standard API Key (connect with an existing ModelStudio API key).”
What this page does not answer
We have researched Qwen Code and we have not researched vibe-cli. That means the judgments above answer for one tool and not for the other, and we publish no price for vibe-cli because we have not read its pricing page. Nothing on this page about vibe-cli is our opinion; there is not enough evidence yet for one.
Questions people ask
- Are Qwen Code and vibe-cli still maintained?
- Qwen Code committed to QwenLM/qwen-code (main) on 8 Oct 2026. vibe-cli has no repository we track. Both readings come from the default branch of each repository, on the date shown beside them.
- What does Qwen Code cost?
- Qwen Code: The free tier is gone as of 2026-04-15; the vendor's recommended replacement is the Alibaba ModelStudio Coding Plan, whose weekly quota is priced on Alibaba's own page, which I did not read today. vibe-cli: we have not read its pricing page, so we publish no price for it. Every figure here is quoted from the vendor's own page and linked beside the claim.
- Is Qwen Code or vibe-cli open source?
- Qwen Code's repository QwenLM/qwen-code reports the Apache-2.0 licence. We have not read a licence for vibe-cli. We read the licence GitHub reports for the repository, which is not the same question as whether the hosted product is free.
How we check this page
- Machine facts. Stars, contributors, the newest commit on the default branch, the licence GitHub reports and the latest stable release come from the GitHub API, and download counts from npm, PyPI, Homebrew and the VS Code Marketplace. Each value carries the day it was last confirmed, never the day this page was built. The line under each label is arithmetic on those two values.
- Judgments. Every claim about what a tool suits, what it is bad at and what it costs is quoted from a page we read, and that page is linked beside the claim. Where there is no link, we wrote no claim.
- Index status. Qwen Code carries claims we read, quoted and linked; vibe-cli does not. So this page is offered to search engines.
Related comparisons
Pairs we can answer for come first.
