Qwen2
by Alibaba Group (Qwen/QwenLM team)
Open-weights multilingual LLMs for self-hosting.
Score
Score
Our verdict
Qwen2 remains a valuable open-weights release for developers who need multilingual, coding-capable models they can run locally or via Alibaba Cloud’s DashScope. The lineup spans 0.5B to 72B with a notable 57B‑A14B MoE checkpoint, Group Query Attention for efficient inference, and instruct variants with up to 128K context via YARN. The biggest caveats are licensing and currency: only the 0.5B/1.5B/7B/57B‑A14B models are Apache‑2.0, while the flagship 72B uses the Qianwen/Tongyi license, and the family itself is now two generations behind Qwen3.x. There are no subscription tiers—self‑hosting is free (subject to license), and hosted use is metered per token on DashScope with region‑specific pricing. It’s excellent for experimentation, on‑prem pilots, and China‑region access, but organizations needing SLAs or state‑of‑the‑art quality should look at Qwen3.x or other current leaders.
Overview
Score breakdown
Overall score
Scores are editorial assessments by the Compare Best AI team on a 0–10 scale.
Expert review
CBAI Editorial Team
Compare Best AI · Editorial Team
## Overview
How we tested
Days tested
7 days
Tasks evaluated
- ·Local inference on 7B and 57B‑A14B via vLLM/llama.cpp
- ·Multilingual chat evaluation (EN/ZH + 2 European languages)
- ·Coding/math prompts against Base vs Instruct variants
- ·Long‑context RAG with 64K and 128K (YARN) windows
Method
Compared against Meta Llama 3.1 70B Instruct and Mistral Mixtral 8x22B using identical inputs
Reviewer
CBAI Editorial Team
Plans & pricing
Self-host (Open Weights)
Researchers and engineers deploying locally or on-prem
- Download on Hugging Face/ModelScope
- Apache-2.0 for 0.5B/1.5B/7B/57B-A14B
- Qianwen/Tongyi licence for 72B
- Runs on Transformers, vLLM, llama.cpp, Ollama
- No vendor SLA or managed hosting included
Hosted API (DashScope)
Teams needing managed inference and China-region access
- Per-token billing; input/output priced separately
- Rates vary by model size and region (Beijing vs Singapore)
- No permanent free tier; trial quotas may be time-limited
- Model availability subject to deprecation/retirement notices
Pricing may vary by region. Always verify on the vendor's website.
Feature comparison
| Feature | Qwen2 | Meta Llama 3.1 70B Instruct | Mistral Mixtral 8x22B |
|---|---|---|---|
| Openness | |||
| Open weights available | |||
| Licensing | |||
| Apache-2.0 license across all sizes | |||
| Architecture | |||
| MoE variant available | |||
| Context | |||
| 128K context option | |||
| Deployment | |||
| Runs on Ollama | |||
| Regions | |||
| Chinese Mainland hosted API available | |||
| Scale | |||
| 72B-class dense model | |||
| Commercial use | |||
| Commercial use without extra terms | |||
Is it right for you?
Good fit for
Self-hosting developers
They get free, capable models to run locally with popular OSS stacks like Transformers, vLLM, and llama.cpp.
Multilingual app teams
Qwen2’s multilingual coverage suits apps serving English, Chinese, and additional languages without relying on closed APIs.
China-region deployments
Alibaba Cloud Model Studio offers region-specific endpoints aligned to Chinese Mainland requirements.
MoE experimentation
57B‑A14B offers an MoE design with only ~14B active per token, useful for efficiency research.
Less suited for
Enterprises needing SLAs
There’s no vendor SLA or support for self-hosting; hosted endpoints may be deprecated over time.
SOTA seekers
Qwen2 has been superseded by Qwen2.5/3/3.x; not the latest for cutting-edge quality.
User reviews
Editorial score
Distribution is estimated from our editorial score. Verified user reviews coming soon.
Use cases
Typical ways teams rely on this tool — from everyday tasks to specialized workflows.
- On‑prem LLM deployment
- Multilingual chatbots and agents
- Code assistants and pair programming
- Long‑context RAG pilots
- China‑region compliant inference
- Education and research
Integrations
Reported connectors
Apps and services commonly connected out of the box or via official connectors.
- Hugging Face
- ModelScope
- Ollama
Details
Category
Price
- Self-host: $0 download (Apache-2.0 for 0.5B/1.5B/7B/57B-A14B
- Qianwen/Tongyi licence for 72B)
- Hosted API: metered per-token via Alibaba Cloud Model Studio/DashScope (rates vary by model and region)
Free version
Best for
- On-prem or air‑gapped LLM deployments
- Multilingual chat/coding assistants
- China‑mainland API access via Alibaba Cloud
- Experimenting with MoE inference efficiently
Frequently asked questions
Qwen2
Developer
Ready to get started?
Visit the Qwen2 website to explore plans and pricing.
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