Alibaba Model Studio

Qwen straight from the source, with a 1M-context tier and free quota to start.

Alibaba Model Studio (DashScope) is Qwen from the people who train it. International accounts must use the -intl host; the China endpoint rejects foreign keys. New users get 1M tokens per model for 90 days on the Singapore / International scope.

An Alibaba Cloud account needs a phone number that matches the country you picked at sign-up — not just an email. The plus line is qwen3.5-plus, qwen3.6-plus, qwen3.7-plus — qwen3-plus is not a current id. Long variants still reach 1M of context. OpenAI-compatible via /compatible-mode/v1.

Max context: 1M
Free tier: 1M tokens per model for 90 days
Requirement: Phone verification, no card

Endpoint

Base URLhttps://dashscope-intl.aliyuncs.com/compatible-mode/v1

Env varDASHSCOPE_API_KEY

Rate limit1M tokens per model for 90 days on the Singapore / International endpoint

OpenAI-compatible
Native SDK: DashScope SDK
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image
code

Code examples

npm install openai

import OpenAI from 'openai'

const client = new OpenAI({
  baseURL: 'https://dashscope-intl.aliyuncs.com/compatible-mode/v1',
  apiKey: process.env.DASHSCOPE_API_KEY
})

const response = await client.chat.completions.create({
  model: 'qwen3.7-plus',
  messages: [{ role: 'user', content: 'Explain closures in one paragraph.' }]
})

console.log(response.choices[0].message.content)

pip install openai

import os
from openai import OpenAI

client = OpenAI(
    base_url="https://dashscope-intl.aliyuncs.com/compatible-mode/v1",
    api_key=os.environ["DASHSCOPE_API_KEY"],
)

response = client.chat.completions.create(
    model="qwen3.7-plus",
    messages=[{"role": "user", "content": "Explain closures in one paragraph."}],
)

print(response.choices[0].message.content)

curl https://dashscope-intl.aliyuncs.com/compatible-mode/v1/chat/completions \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $DASHSCOPE_API_KEY" \
  -d '{
    "model": "qwen3.7-plus",
    "messages": [{"role": "user", "content": "Explain closures in one paragraph."}]
  }'

pip install dashscope

import os
import dashscope

dashscope.api_key = os.environ["DASHSCOPE_API_KEY"]
dashscope.base_http_api_url = "https://dashscope-intl.aliyuncs.com/api/v1"

response = dashscope.Generation.call(
    model="qwen3.7-plus",
    messages=[{"role": "user", "content": "Explain closures in one paragraph."}],
    result_format="message",
)

print(response.output.choices[0].message.content)

Worth knowing

Use the -intl host outside mainland China; the domestic one rejects foreign accounts.
An Alibaba Cloud account needs a phone number that matches the country you picked at sign-up.
qwen3-plus is not a current id. The plus line is qwen3.5-plus / qwen3.6-plus / qwen3.7-plus.

Models you get for free5

Qwen 3.7 Plusqwen3.7-plus
Qwen 3.6 Plusqwen3.6-plus
Qwen 3.5 Plusqwen3.5-plus
Qwen 3 Coder Plusqwen3-coder-plus
Qwen 3.5 Plus Longqwen3.5-plus-2026