Qwen (Alibaba) vs Codex (OpenAI)
Which one should you pick? Here's the full breakdown.
Qwen (Alibaba)
Alibaba's open-weights family -- Qwen3.5, Qwen3-Coder-Next, Qwen3-VL, Qwen3-Max. Apache 2.0 flagship sizes.
Codex (OpenAI)
OpenAI's cloud-based coding agent -- runs parallel tasks, proposes PRs, and lives inside ChatGPT
Powered by GPT-5.3-Codex / GPT-5.4
| Category | Qwen (Alibaba) | Codex (OpenAI) |
|---|---|---|
| Ease of Use | 7.0 | 8.0 |
| Output Quality | 9.0 | 8.0 |
| Value | 10.0 | 8.0 |
| Features | 9.0 | 9.0 |
| Overall | 8.8 | 8.3 |
Pricing Comparison
| Feature | Qwen (Alibaba) | Codex (OpenAI) |
|---|---|---|
| Free Tier | Yes | Yes |
| Starting Price | $0 | $0 |
Benchmark Head-to-Head
Qwen3.5-397B MoE vs GPT-5.3-Codex
| Benchmark | Qwen (Alibaba) | Codex (OpenAI) |
|---|---|---|
| HumanEval | 92.5% | 95% |
Which Should You Pick?
Pick Qwen (Alibaba) if...
- ✓Higher output quality (9 vs 8)
- ✓Better value for money (10/10)
Developers who want frontier-tier open weights with Apache 2.0 licensing. Qwen3-Coder-Next is arguably the best local coding model; Qwen3.5-397B is a top-3 open generalist.
Visit Qwen (Alibaba)Pick Codex (OpenAI) if...
- ✓Easier to use (8 vs 7)
- ✓Stronger on python code generation (+2.5% on HumanEval)
Developers already paying for ChatGPT Plus who want a coding agent at no extra cost. Especially good for parallel task execution -- assign multiple bug fixes or feature branches and let Codex work them simultaneously.
Visit Codex (OpenAI)Our Verdict
Qwen (Alibaba) edges out Codex (OpenAI) with a 8.8 vs 8.3 overall score. Both are solid picks, but Qwen (Alibaba) has the advantage in output quality.