ChatGPT vs Qwen Studio
We give ChatGPT a 3.8 GPA and Qwen Studio a 3.0, out of 4.0. ChatGPT grades higher on the free plan, features, ease of use and platforms. They get the same grade on value for money.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
ChatGPT
OpenAI's general-purpose AI assistant for chat, images and voice
Qwen Studio
Alibaba Cloud's chat app for the Qwen family of AI models
How we grade them
| 3.8GPAChatGPTExcellent | 3.0GPAQwen StudioVery good | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | BPlus is $20 a month, which is the going rate, and Go is $8 if you need less. No bargain, though. Gemini's paid plan starts at $4.99, and Pro here runs $100 to $500. | BWe can't put a number on it. The web app shows paid Go, Plus and Pro tiers, but its pricing view didn't load when read, and the store listings show no in-app purchases. With no price on record, it stops at a B. |
| Free plan and trial | AUnlimited text chats for free, which is most of what people do with it. Uploads, images, voice, deep research and memory are there too, each with a limit. | BThe phone apps are listed as free with no in-app purchases, and the web app names a Free tier. But that tier comes with standard usage limits and no numbers beside them, so we can't tell you how far it goes. |
| Features | AChat, image generation, real-time voice, web search and Deep Research reports in one app. Plus adds projects, scheduled tasks, custom GPTs and Codex, a coding agent. | BChat with a Deep Thinking mode, web search, image generation and editing, and it takes in images, audio and video together. That's broad. But voice and video chat, document processing and artifacts appear only as names in the site's list of functions, with nothing to show how far each one goes. |
| Ease of use | A4.8 from about 11 million App Store ratings. You open it and type a question the way you'd text a friend. There's nothing to set up first. | BIt's a chat box on the web and a free app on your phone, so there's nothing to set up. We have no App Store rating on record for it, so it stops at a B. |
| Platforms and integrations | AWeb, Mac, Windows, iPhone and Android, with your chats synced across all of them. There's an API for developers too, and Codex hooks into Slack. | BWeb, iPhone, iPad and Android. But no Windows or Mac app is listed, and the listing shows no integrations and no API. The iOS app wasn't on the US App Store when checked, though it's in others such as Canada and the UK. |
| Best for | everyday questions, writing and images | trying Alibaba's Qwen models in a chat app |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: ChatGPT and Qwen Studio. How we grade
Where they differ
- Only ChatGPT lists macOS, Windows and Linux apps.
At a glance
| ChatGPT | Qwen Studio | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free plan |
| Starts at | $8 per month (Go) | Not published |
| Free plan | Unlimited text chats, with limits on uploads, image creation, voice chats, deep research and memory. | The mobile apps are listed as free with no in-app purchases. The web app names a Free tier with standard usage limits beside Go, Plus and Pro tiers; their prices could not be read. |
| Free trial | None listed | None listed |
| Web | ||
| macOS | ||
| Windows | ||
| Linux | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Made by | OpenAI | Alibaba Cloud |
| Price read from | learn.chatgpt.com | Not confirmed |
| Checked | Oct 9, 2026 | Oct 5, 2026 |
Who each one suits
ChatGPT
- General-purpose help with writing, questions and brainstorming
- People who want chat, voice, images and web search in one assistant
- Trying an AI assistant at no cost before paying
Qwen Studio
- People who want to use Alibaba's Qwen models in a chat app
- Working with images, audio and video as well as text
- Free everyday chat, search and image generation on a phone
Worth knowing
ChatGPT
- Pro is sold at three price points, $100, $200 or $500 per month, well above the $20 Plus plan.
- Business requires at least 2 users. SCIM, EKM and role-based access control are reserved for Enterprise and Edu.
- OpenAI's pricing page says the Go plan may include ads, and Wikipedia reports ad tests in the free version for logged-in adult US users since January 2026.
- The Linux desktop app is a preview, limited to recent Ubuntu, Debian, Fedora and Arch Linux releases on x64 and ARM64.
Qwen Studio
- Prices for the Go, Plus and Pro tiers could not be confirmed: the pricing view on chat.qwen.ai did not load when read, and the store listings show no in-app purchases.
- The iOS app was not found on the US App Store when checked, though it is listed in other storefronts such as Canada and the UK.
- No Windows or Mac app is listed; the store listings cover iPhone, iPad and Android.
- The app stores list the app as Qwen Studio, while the website's page title still reads Qwen.
Key features
ChatGPT
- Conversational help
- Answers questions, drafts and reworks text, explains topics and reads uploaded photos in a chat, with history synced across your devices.
- Image generation
- Creates original images from a description, or transforms existing images from a short instruction.
- Advanced Voice Mode
- Hold a real-time spoken conversation in the mobile app by tapping the soundwave icon.
- Search and Deep Research
- ChatGPT Search draws on the web for more up-to-date answers, and Deep Research generates a report from extensive web searches.
- Codex
- A coding agent that runs on the web, in a CLI, in an IDE extension and on iOS from the Plus plan, with integrations such as automatic code review and Slack.
- GPTs and agents
- GPTs customize ChatGPT's behavior for a specific use case, and ChatGPT agent carries out multi-step tasks.
Qwen Studio
- Deep Thinking
- A reasoning mode for complex problems that draws on real-time internet data to work toward a logical, step-by-step answer.
- Search
- Finds answers and resources from across the web, using the context of the query to narrow the results.
- Multimodal understanding
- Processes text, images, audio and video together, for example reading data from a chart or pulling key points from an audio clip.
- Image generation and editing
- Creates images from a description for presentations, illustrations or concept designs, and the site also lists image editing.
- Voice and video chat
- The site lists voice and video chat with the assistant among its functions, alongside document processing, tool use and artifacts.
Plans
ChatGPT
Free$0
Unlimited text chats, with limits on uploads, image creation, voice chats, deep research and memory.
Go$8
per month
More messages with tools, more uploads, image creation and voice chats than Free, and longer memory. OpenAI notes this plan may include ads.
Plus$20
per month
Advanced reasoning models, expanded deep research and memory, plus projects, scheduled tasks and custom GPTs.
Business$20
per user / month, billed annually
For 2 or more users: a dedicated workspace with admin controls, SAML SSO and MFA. $25 per user / month when billed monthly.
ProFrom $100
per month
A choice of three usage tiers at $100, $200 or $500 per month, with the highest limits, pro reasoning and an always-on agent.
Enterprise & EduCustom
Sold through sales, with priority request processing, SCIM, EKM, user analytics, domain verification and role-based access control.
Qwen Studio
Pricing could not be confirmed. See chat.qwen.ai.
Ways to pay less
ChatGPT
- Annual discount
Business is cheaper when billed annually
OpenAI's pricing page lists Business at $20 per user / month when billed annually, against $25 per user / month when billed monthly.
Qwen Studio
No public discounts listed.
