Qwen3-Coder-Next scores 70.6% on SWE-bench Verified — the highest published score for any open-weight model in the coding CLI category. Anchors the strongest local/on-prem argument.
Qwen Code (Alibaba / QwenLM)
activeAlibaba's open-source coding CLI. Qwen3-Coder-Next model scores 70.6% SWE-bench Verified — highest open-weight model score. 1,000 free daily requests via Qwen OAuth. Supports OpenAI/Anthropic/Gemini-compatible APIs. 20K+ stars, v0.12.6 released 2026-03-17.

Where it wins
Qwen3-Coder-Next: 70.6% SWE-bench Verified — highest open-weight model score in the category
1,000 free daily requests via Qwen OAuth — best free tier for open-weight models
Supports OpenAI/Anthropic/Gemini-compatible APIs — multi-provider
Strongest local/on-prem story: run the 80B model yourself
Ships regularly: v0.12.6 released 2026-03-17
Where to be skeptical
Alibaba / Chinese cloud provenance — enterprise and GovCloud use cases require scrutiny
Gemini CLI fork — limited differentiation at the CLI layer
Near-zero HN engagement (~7 pts) — minimal Western developer community signal
SWE-bench Pro standardized score (38.70%) is the lowest among ranked contenders
Editorial verdict
Best cost=zero option for developers who want a serious open-weight model without paying per token. The 70.6% SWE-bench Verified figure (Qwen3-Coder-Next) is the strongest open-weight score in the category and anchors the strongest local/on-prem story. Alibaba/Chinese cloud provenance is a consideration for enterprise and GovCloud use cases.
Source
Videos
Reviews, tutorials, and comparisons from the community.
¡QWEN 3 rompe la IA con TODO Gratis e ilimitado! Esto puedes hacer 🚀
Qwen 3 ACTUALLY Made Me Quit Claude Code
NEW Qwen 3 Coder: FULLY FREE AI Coder! Develop a Full-stack App Without Writing ANY Code! (FREE API)
Related

Claude Code
98Anthropic's official agentic coding CLI. v2.1.81 (Mar 20) shipped `--bare`, smarter worktree resume, and improved MCP OAuth while the repo crossed 82,204 stars and logged ~14 commits/week across 10+ maintainers. Terminal-native, tool-use-driven, with deep file system + shell access, #1 SWE-bench Pro standardized (45.89%), ~4% of GitHub public commits (SemiAnalysis), $2.5B annualized revenue. 8M+ npm weekly downloads. Opus 4.6 with 1M context.

OpenHands
88Category leader in multi-agent orchestration — 69,352 stars (verified), $18.8M Series A, AMD hardware partnership, 455 contributors, 1M downloads/month PyPI (3.4M all-time). SWE-Bench Verified 72% with Claude 4.5 Extended Thinking (updated 2026-03-19), Multi-SWE-Bench #1 across 8 languages. Gap to #2 is enormous on every axis.
OpenCode
88Open-source AI coding agent from SST. v1.2.27 active (2026-03-16) — development resumed after a gap. OpenAI official partnership following the Anthropic OAuth block controversy. 126K+ GitHub stars (star surge driven by Anthropic controversy). Known unauthenticated RCE fixed in v1.1.10+ (CVE, 432 HN pts). CVE-2026-22812 (CVSS 8.8-10.0) is a second serious security incident.

Gemini CLI
88Google's open-source terminal agent with Gemini 3 models, 1M token context, built-in Google Search grounding, and the best free tier in the category (60 req/min, 1K req/day). v0.35.0 (Mar 24) shipped keybinding, policy, and telemetry fixes while the repo hit 98,957 stars and 12,593 forks. Terminal-Bench 2.0: 78.4% (#1). SWE-bench Pro standardized 43.30% (#3). Plan Mode added March 2026. First-pass correctness ~50-60% (Educative.io).
Public evidence
376K npm downloads per month and 1,000 free daily API requests via Qwen OAuth — the most generous free tier for an open-weight coding CLI in the category.
Raw GitHub source
GitHub README peek
Constrained peek so you can sanity-check the source material without leaving the site.
<a href="https://trendshift.io/repositories/15287" target="_blank"><img src="https://trendshift.io/api/badge/repositories/15287" alt="QwenLM%2Fqwen-code | Trendshift" style="width: 250px; height: 55px;" width="250" height="55"/></a>
The open-source AI coding agent that lives in your terminal.
<a href="https://qwenlm.github.io/qwen-code-docs/zh/users/overview">中文</a> | <a href="https://qwenlm.github.io/qwen-code-docs/de/users/overview">Deutsch</a> | <a href="https://qwenlm.github.io/qwen-code-docs/fr/users/overview">français</a> | <a href="https://qwenlm.github.io/qwen-code-docs/ja/users/overview">日本語</a> | <a href="https://qwenlm.github.io/qwen-code-docs/ru/users/overview">Русский</a> | <a href="https://qwenlm.github.io/qwen-code-docs/pt-BR/users/overview">Português (Brasil)</a> | <a href="https://qwenlm.github.io/qwen-code-docs/ko/users/overview">한국어</a>
</div>Why Qwen Code?
- Agentic out of the box — Auto-Memory, Auto-Skills, SubAgents, Agent Teams, and MCP. Dynamic workflows, zero setup.
- Open-source, inside and out — The framework and the Qwen models are open-source. They evolve together. No vendor lock-in.
- Multi-protocol — Supports OpenAI, Anthropic, Gemini, and Qwen APIs. Any third-party provider or local model (Ollama / vLLM). Switch at runtime.
- Beyond the terminal — IDE plugins, Desktop app, daemon mode, SDKs, and IM bots (Telegram / DingTalk / WeChat / Feishu).
[!TIP] Qwen Code is actively iterating on itself — using its own agent and models to file issues, submit PRs, review code, and run tests. Powered by the community, driven by AI.
Installation
Linux / macOS:
curl -fsSL https://qwen-code-assets.oss-cn-hangzhou.aliyuncs.com/installation/install-qwen-standalone.sh | bash
Windows:
irm https://qwen-code-assets.oss-cn-hangzhou.aliyuncs.com/installation/install-qwen-standalone.ps1 | iex
<details> <summary>NPM / Homebrew</summary>Restart your terminal after installation to ensure environment variables take effect.
NPM (requires Node.js 22+):
npm install -g @qwen-code/qwen-code@latest
Homebrew (macOS / Linux):
brew install qwen-code
</details>
Quick Start
qwen # Launch interactive terminal UI
# Inside the session:
/auth # Configure your provider and API key
See the Authentication Guide and Settings Reference for detailed setup.

How to Use Qwen Code
| Mode | Command | Use Case |
|---|---|---|
| Interactive | qwen | Terminal UI with rich rendering, @file references, slash commands |
| Headless | qwen -p "..." | Scripts, CI/CD, batch processing — no UI |
| IDE | — | VS Code, Zed, JetBrains |
| Desktop | — | Qwen Code Desktop — GUI for macOS, Windows, Linux |
| Daemon | qwen serve | Shared agent session over HTTP+SSE (ACP). Multiple clients, one agent. (experimental) Docs |
| SDK | — | TypeScript, Python, Java |
| IM Bot | qwen channel | Connect to Telegram, DingTalk, WeChat, or Feishu |
import asyncio
from qwen_code_sdk import is_sdk_result_message, query
async def main() -> None:
result = query(
"Summarize the repository layout.",
{
"cwd": "/path/to/project",
"path_to_qwen_executable": "qwen",
},
)
async for message in result:
if is_sdk_result_message(message):
print(message["result"])
asyncio.run(main())
</details>
Capabilities
If you know Claude Code, you already know Qwen Code — and then some. We've put significant effort into bringing Qwen Code to feature parity with Claude Code, improving both breadth and reliability across the board.
| Feature | Qwen Code | Claude Code |
|---|---|---|
| SubAgents, Agent Teams, Dynamic Workflows | ✓ | ✓ |
| Auto-Memory, Auto-Skills, Hooks | ✓ | ✓ |
| Built-in Skills (/review, /batch, /loop, /bugfix…) | ✓ | ✓ |
| MCP, Plan Mode, LSP Integration | ✓ | ✓ |
| Auto Mode, Sandbox, Git Worktrees | ✓ | ✓ |
| Computer Use (desktop automation) | ✓ | ✓ |
| IDE Plugins (VS Code / JetBrains / Zed) | ✓ | ✓ |
| SDK | ✓ | ✓ |
| Headless Mode, Session Management | ✓ | ✓ |
| Open-source — model and framework | ✓ | — |
| Multi-protocol (OpenAI / Anthropic / Gemini / Qwen + any provider) | ✓ | — |
| Agent Arena (multi-model head-to-head on same task) | ✓ | — |
Daemon Mode — qwen serve (multi-client shared agent) | ✓ | — |
| IM Channels (Telegram / DingTalk / WeChat / Feishu) | ✓ | — |
Ecosystem
-
Qwen Code Desktop — Official desktop app for macOS, Windows, and Linux
-
AionUi — A modern GUI for command-line AI tools including Qwen Code
-
Gemini CLI Desktop — A cross-platform desktop/web/mobile UI for Qwen Code
-
🦞 Qwen Code Claw — Let other agents (Claude, Codex, etc.) delegate coding tasks to Qwen Code via ACP. Paste this prompt into your agent: