Qwen Code

github.com · CLI Tool · Terminal

Qwen Code is a CLI tool that runs in the terminal: Alibaba's coding agent that lives in the digital world. Its repository QwenLM/qwen-code carries 28,361 stars and 420 contributors, and is licensed Apache-2.0. The latest stable release is sdk-typescript-v0.1.18, published 5 Oct 2026. npm served 104,819 downloads of @qwen-code/qwen-code in the week we read.

Stars: 28,361; Verified 8 Oct 2026
Last commit: 8 Oct 2026; 0 days old when we read it; Verified 8 Oct 2026
License: Apache-2.0; Verified 8 Oct 2026
Latest stable release: sdk-typescript-v0.1.18; published 5 Oct 2026; Verified 8 Oct 2026
Contributors: 420; Verified 8 Oct 2026
npm downloads: 104,819 a week; @qwen-code/qwen-code; Verified 8 Oct 2026
Homebrew installs: 2,783 in 30 days; qwen-code; Verified 8 Oct 2026
Repository: QwenLM/qwen-code; TypeScript; Verified 8 Oct 2026

Visit Qwen Code QwenLM/qwen-code on GitHub Qwen Code alternatives

What Qwen Code is

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).”

github.com/QwenLM/qwen-code

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).”

qwenlm.github.io/qwen-code-docs/en

Use Qwen Code when

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 |”

github.com/QwenLM/qwen-code

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) |”

github.com/QwenLM/qwen-code

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 |”

github.com/QwenLM/qwen-code

Not the right fit for

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.”

qwenlm.github.io/qwen-code-docs/en

What Qwen Code is bad at

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.”

qwenlm.github.io/qwen-code-docs/en

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.”

qwenlm.github.io/qwen-code-docs/en

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”

github.com/QwenLM/qwen-code

Technical details

Category: CLI Tool · Terminal
Repository: QwenLM/qwen-code
Default branch: main
Primary language: TypeScript
Repository created: 26 Jun 2025
Newest commit on the default branch: 8 Oct 2026
GitHub topics: agentic, ai, ai-agent, ai-coding, cli, coding-agent, developer-tools, llm, mcp, qwen
Registries checked: npm:@qwen-code/qwen-code,qwen-code, homebrew:qwen-code, vscode_marketplace:search(Qwen Code)
Website check: https://github.com/QwenLM/qwen-code answered HTTP 200

Alternatives to Qwen Code

Claude CodeCommand-line AI coding agent that understands your codebase and automates tasks via natural languageCompare
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MyCoder.aiOpen source AI coding assistant with Git/GitHub integration and parallel executionCompare

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How we check this page

Machine facts. Stars, licence, the newest commit on the default branch, the latest stable release and download counts are read straight from the GitHub API and from npm, PyPI, Homebrew and the VS Code Marketplace. Each one shows the day it was last confirmed, not the day this page was built. A failed fetch keeps the old value and its old date rather than overwriting it.
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. If there is no link, we did not write the claim.
What we do not publish. No score out of five and no star rating. Every other claim here traces to a source, and a number we could not justify would undermine the ones that can.
This tool. Every claim carries the URL it came from and a verbatim quote from that URL, read on 2026-08-19.