Tongyi

What is Tongyi Qianwen?

Tongyi Qianwen is a large-model and AI product suite launched by Alibaba. The products designed for ordinary users are currently referred to as “Qianwen,” and they represent an evolution from simple chat-based question-answering tools to AI assistants that can provide intelligent responses and help users with various tasks.

When developers use the Qwen model, knowledge bases, and Agent capabilities, they primarily access Alibaba Cloud BaiLian.

The old names “Tongyi” and “Tongyi Qianwen” are related to the current “Qianwen APP”, but the consumer members, the Bailian API, and the downloadable open-source weights represent three separate products; the credits from these different products cannot be used in combination with each other.

Core functions

• Research on Dialogue and Thinking:It handles routine questions and answers, online information, specialized queries, and complex research tasks; the responses can include charts, videos, and structured content.
• Office Assistant:Starting from answering questions, it is possible to carry out more complex tasks; files such as web pages, applications, PPTs, Word documents, Excel spreadsheets, and images can be generated, and professional processes can be implemented through various skills.
• Scheduled tasks:Set up one-time or recurring tasks to automatically collect information, send reminders, or deliver results at scheduled times; ideal for daily reports, monitoring, and scheduling personal activities.
• AI PPT and writing:Create PPTs from topics, documents, images, or existing answers; select templates and export in various formats; writing support different genres and intelligent formatting.
• Documents and data:A maximum of 10 documents or images can be uploaded at a time; it is possible to process texts of up to about 500 pages, carrying out tasks such as summarization, translation, analysis of financial reports, and analysis of table data.
• Smart Editor:Continue to modify the AI-generated content during the conversation, and complete conversions to formats such as PDF, Word, PPT, and Excel.
• Code and applications:It can generate web pages, mini-programs, games, and SQL code; it can also read code or screenshots for inspection and modification. The office assistant can deliver preliminary versions of functional web pages or applications.
• Tutoring:Qwen3-Learning covers subjects across various educational levels; it supports taking photos of questions, grading entire pages of work, providing explanations for incorrect answers, offering visual lesson presentations, and enabling voice interaction.
• Images and videos:Qwen-Image 2.0 is used for image generation, photo editing, restoration, and manipulation; Wan 2.7 supports text-to-video conversion, image-to-video conversion, handling of initial and final frames, as well as video editing.
• Daily life and tasks:It can be connected to the Alibaba ecosystem to provide services such as food delivery, hotel bookings, restaurant information, route suggestions, shopping recommendations, and certain government-related services. Before initiating a real transaction through AI, it is necessary to verify the merchant, prices, address, and refund policies.
• Agent Plaza:Official brands and professional agents are provided and can be invoked via @ in conversations; external services have their own terms and permissions.

Free access available for Office Assistant members

The Qianwen app can be downloaded and used for free; it offers basic Q&A functions, learning tools, creative features, as well as some services for handling tasks. The subscription options for office assistants and the video generation quotas listed on the App Store in China are as follows:

• Advanced Office Assistant Package:19 yuan for a continuous monthly subscription, and 200 yuan for a continuous annual subscription.
• Elite Office Assistant Package:49 yuan for a consecutive monthly subscription, and 568 yuan for a consecutive annual subscription.
• Flagship Office Assistant Package:The monthly fee is 128 yuan for a continuous subscription; the annual price is indicated on the in-app page.
• Video generation quota:10 pieces cost 26 yuan, 50 pieces cost 116 yuan, 100 pieces cost 228 yuan, 200 pieces cost 438 yuan, and 500 pieces cost 968 yuan.

Subscriptions are charged through the App Store account, and auto-renewal takes place 24 hours before the expiration date; to disable renewal, it is necessary to do so at least 24 hours in advance.

Prices and benefits may vary depending on the device, account, campaign, and Android channel.

Office memberships may impose limits on the number of tasks that can be performed, the number of concurrent tasks, the types of models that can be used, file sizes, and the types of deliverables. The video quota is a separately consumed resource; purchasing an office package does not mean unlimited access to videos.

Alibaba Cloud BaiLian API

Bailian offers Qwen text, multimodal, Embedding, speech, Qwen-Image, and Wan video models, and it provides support for OpenAI-compatible interfaces, DashScope SDK, knowledge bases, workflows, plugins, MCP, model evaluation, and fine-tuning. The pricing for these APIs is usually based on the number of input and output tokens, the number of images, the duration of audio and video content, or the specifications of the task; the exact costs vary depending on the model used, the length of the context, caching requirements, and the location of deployment.

The official price page is continuously updated with the rates for various models, and it offers limited-time free credits to some new users. The current promotional page also displays different resource packages; for example, Qwen Plus provides 12 million tokens for 11 yuan over three months, while Qwen Max offers 18 million tokens for 57 yuan per year. There are also general discount packages available. However, these are specific package deals and promotional prices only; they cannot replace the pricing based on usage volume, nor do they equate to membership in the Qianwen app.

The production budget should be calculated based on the actual model, input/output ratios, caching, tool calls, and attempts to retry in case of failures.

Qwen open-source model and license

The Qwen team has released models and code such as Qwen3, Qwen3-VL, Qwen-Image, Qwen-Audio, and Qwen-Agent on GitHub, ModelScope, and Hugging Face. According to the official documentation for Qwen3, its weights are distributed under the Apache License 2.0, allowing for local inference, fine-tuning, and commercial use in accordance with the requirements of this license.

For different generations, sizes, derivative models, and datasets, it is still necessary to check the repository licenses one by one; the fact that most Qwen models are open source cannot be taken as an indication that all capabilities of Qwen have open-source weights.

The Qianwen APP, the Bailian hosting platform, the latest closed-source models, as well as the services related to daily transactions and office assistance, are not made available under an open-source license. Downloading the open-source models does not grant access to the search functions, Skills feature, cloud storage, daily services, or security management tools provided by the Qianwen APP.

When deploying it on your own, you are also responsible for handling GPU resources, inference frameworks, content security, monitoring, and registration requirements.

Platform, Privacy, and Reliability

Qianwen offers access via web, iPhone, iPad, Android, and desktop devices; for the Apple version in China, iOS or iPadOS 14.0 or later is required. Office tasks, lifestyle services, and new features will be released in phases, and there may be differences depending on the region and device used.

Documents, assignments, meeting recordings, images, and transaction information uploaded will be processed in the cloud. Sensitive business documents, personal identification information, and keys must first have their sensitive data removed, and the scope of sharing as well as the rules for retention and deletion should be considered.

Errors in facts can occur in AI research, volunteer advice, homework solutions, and shopping recommendations; for actual purchases, government-related matters, medical issues, legal matters, investment decisions, and educational choices, it is necessary to rely on authoritative information and the expertise of professionals.

Tongyi Qianwen Usage Guide

Complete a basic task.

1. Specify the presentation topic, objectives, duration, and number of pages;
2. Import reliable data into Tongyi Qianwen and remove any irrelevant or sensitive information;
3. Use dialogue and reflection to develop an outline rather than finalizing the text directly;
4. Select templates, illustrations, and visual hierarchy through the office assistant;
5. Check each page for numbers, citations, charts, font sizes, and layout;
6. Perform a full-screen preview before exporting in the desired format;

Create reusable professional workflows

1. Create brand templates, title hierarchies, and a library of common pages;
2. Fix the sequence for dialogue and thinking research, as well as for creating office assistants and scheduled tasks;
3. Specify one key point per page and control the text density;
4. Assign the review of facts, visuals, and presentation logic to respective responsible persons;
5. Test fonts, animations, and proportions on different devices;
6. Save the source files, versions, and records of final approval;

Which users are it suitable for

• Professional users who need Chinese-language Q&A, research, writing, and document delivery in multiple formats
• Students and parents who use question generation, grading, in-class explanations via the board, and databases
• Content creators who produce AI-generated images, videos, and PPTs
• Development teams that need the Qwen API, open-source weights, Agents, and a knowledge base

Frequently Asked Questions

Are Tongyi and Qianwen the same product?

“Tongyi Qianwen” was the old name for Alibaba’s AI system as well as the name of its model series; currently, ordinary users mainly use the Qianwen app. The developer platform is Alibaba Cloud BaiLian, and the entry points and billing methods for these three services are different.

Is Qianwen free?

The basic functions are available for free; the office assistant service offers monthly subscription plans priced at 19, 49, and 128 yuan, while the video generation capacity requires a separate purchase.

Does the Qianwen membership include the Bailian API?

It is not included. APP memberships, video usage quotas, and the BaiLian API are all charged separately; developers need to create a BaiLian API Key and pay according to the prices specified in the console.