Compare/Head to head

ChatGPT vs Qwen

Same facts, side by side: starting price, free tier, MCP, API and what each one is actually built for.

Starting price

ChatGPT

$8/mo Free tier

OpenAI's AI assistant for recruiting writing, research and analysis. Free plan; Go $8/mo, Plus $20/mo, Pro from $100/mo, Business from $20/user/mo billed annually.

Where ChatGPT fits

  • Recruiters drafting outreach, job ads and Boolean strings every day
  • Agency desks that want one project per req with the JD and notes attached
  • Teams that work in Excel, Word, Slack or Teams
  • Anyone new to AI who wants to start on a free plan

Qwen

Free Free tier

Qwen is Alibaba's free AI assistant for chat, web search, Deep Research, document reading and image generation. Recruiters can use it to draft outreach, research companies and summarise uploaded documents without paying. The assistant is free; only the developer API is paid.

Where Qwen fits

  • Recruiters who want free Deep Research for company and market briefs
  • Summarising uploaded documents and charts at no cost
  • Trying a capable assistant before paying for one

At a glance

DetailChatGPTQwen
Starting price$8/moFree
Free tier✓Yes✓Yes
MCP server–No–No
Public API✓Yes✓Yes
Listed underAI assistantsAI assistants

Where they pull apart

ChatGPT

Stands out: ChatGPT packs the widest set of everyday tools into one plan: projects, scheduled tasks, custom GPTs, deep research, voice and Office extensions. Most recruiting prompt guides, including the prompt library on this site, are written with it in mind.

Watch out: Personal plans use your chats for training unless you opt out, so keep candidate personal data out of Free, Go and Plus, or move the team to Business, where data is never used for training. It cannot reach LinkedIn or your ATS on its own.

Not the right fit for

  • Finding candidate contact data or LinkedIn profiles
  • Teams handling candidate data on personal accounts instead of a Business workspace

Qwen

Stands out: Deep Research, reasoning, image generation and multimodal reading of documents, charts, audio and video all come free, with apps for web, phone and desktop.

Watch out: There is no team plan, admin console or business data agreement for the chat product, so it suits personal use only. Alibaba is a Chinese company, so keep candidate personal data out of chats.

Not the right fit for

  • Teams that need shared workspaces or admin controls
  • Uploading résumés or other candidate personal data

Pros and cons

ChatGPT

  • Free plan with unlimited everyday text chats
  • Projects, scheduled tasks and custom GPTs on paid plans
  • Extensions for Excel, Word, PowerPoint and Google Sheets
  • Free and Go plans limit uploads, images and deep research
  • The Go plan may show ads
  • Personal plans can train on your chats unless you opt out

Qwen

  • Free, including Deep Research and image generation
  • Apps on web, mobile, macOS and Windows
  • Reads documents, charts, audio and video
  • No team plan, admin console or business workspace
  • No connectors to email, calendar or recruiting tools
  • Chinese data jurisdiction to weigh for candidate data

What each one costs

ChatGPT

$8/mo

The Free plan costs nothing and includes unlimited everyday text chats, with tighter limits on uploads, images and deep research. Go is $8/mo and may show ads, Plus is $20/mo, and Pro comes in three monthly tiers at $100, $200 and $500. ChatGPT Business costs $20/user/mo billed annually ($25 monthly) for Standard seats and $100/user/mo billed annually for Premium seats, with a two-seat minimum; Enterprise is quoted. Confirm current terms on the vendor site.

Checked 7 Oct 2026

Qwen

Free

The Qwen assistant at chat.qwen.ai and in its apps is free to use, and Alibaba publishes no paid consumer plan. The Qwen API, sold through Alibaba Cloud, is billed separately by usage. Confirm current terms on the vendor site.

Checked 15 Oct 2026

Common questions

Can you try ChatGPT or Qwen for free?
ChatGPT and Qwen carry a free tier on our listing.

Not the pair you wanted?

All ChatGPT alternatives All Qwen alternatives Every AI assistants tool

Editorial listings, never paid rankings. Prices checked 7 Oct 2026. Confirm current terms on the vendor site. Spot an error?