Tongyi Qianwen vs Perplexity
Compare Tongyi Qianwen and Perplexity: free credits, features, and ratings. Which one is right for you?
Category
LLM
LLM
Rating
β 4
β 3.5
Free Credits
2.5 Max generates watermark-free images and videos for free
0 undefined
Refresh Period
one-time
daily
Resolution
N/A
N/A
Watermark
No
No
Commercial Use
No
No
Paid From
API $0.12/million tokens
$20/month
Tongyi Qianwen
Alibaba's model family, from lightweight 0.5B to flagship 235B. Qwen3 series is the all-rounder among open-source models. Free to use, cheap API. Supports multimodal (text, image, video, code).
Pros
- βGenerous new user credits
- βAffordable API
- βAlibaba ecosystem
- βStrong multimodal
Cons
- βAverage creativity
- βReasoning not as good as DeepSeek
Key Features
Qwen3 full series open sourceMultimodal support (text/image/video/code)0.5B to 235B multiple sizes200K context windowTool calling capabilityAgent framework support
Perplexity
AI search engine: search + read + summarize in one step. Free tier with limited daily Pro searches, unlimited basic search. Pro $20/mo. Best source transparency.
Pros
- βBest source transparency
- βGreat academic search
- βClean smooth interface
- βFree tier enough for daily use
Cons
- βChinese content index weaker than local tools
- βLimited free Pro searches
- βChinese answers less natural
Key Features
AI search + summarizeSource citationsFollow-up questionsFile upload analysisImage generationAcademic search