Alibaba is charging for premium features of its AI assistant Qwen, signalling a pivotal move from user growth to revenue generation amid rising computing costs. The platform is expanding into a comprehensive agent ecosystem connecting diverse services and industries, aligning with global AI monetisation trends.
Alibaba Group Holding is beginning to charge for parts of its Qwen artificial intelligence assistant, marking a clear shift from user growth towards monetisation in a market where computing costs continue to rise. According to the app’s listing in Apple’s App Store, Qwen now offers three membership tiers for its assistant functions, with annual plans starting at 200 yuan and rising to 1,499 yuan for the most advanced package. Users can also buy extra credits for video generation, while the basic chatbot remains free to use.
The move comes as the economics of running large language models and other multimodal AI systems have become more demanding. Alibaba has not commented publicly on the pricing change, but the structure suggests it is testing how much consumers will pay for higher-end digital assistance while keeping the core service free to preserve reach. That approach mirrors a wider industry pattern in which AI companies are trying to convert heavy usage into recurring revenue.
Qwen is also evolving beyond a single chatbot. Alibaba is building it into a broader agent platform that can connect external tools and services across smartphones, personal computers and smart glasses. The company says the open platform already spans more than 10 business areas, including logistics, property, finance and cars, and is designed to handle multi-step tasks through conversation. Examples cited by Alibaba include tracking a parcel through SF Express and searching rental listings through Ziroom.
The strategy puts Alibaba alongside global rivals such as OpenAI and Anthropic, which already charge for premium AI features, as well as Chinese competitors including Moonshot AI and Z.ai. Industry observers say monetisation and product improvement are now closely linked: more paying users can help fund infrastructure, while broader adoption generates feedback that improves the system. External data also points to Qwen’s scale, with some trackers reporting hundreds of millions of monthly active users and a fast-expanding model family that includes text, vision, audio and video tools. The platform’s integration with Alibaba’s commerce and payments ecosystem also gives it a practical advantage as the company pushes the assistant further into everyday transactions.
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