Tell HN: Qwen Free Tier Is Discontinued

[dhruv_ahuja]

I kept getting 401 'token expired' errors on my existing Qwen session. Attempting to resume it after quitting, I got:

    qwen resume                                        
    [API Error: 401 invalid access token or token expired]
    [API Error: 401 invalid access token or token expired][API Error: [API Error: 401 invalid access token or token expired]]
    An unexpected critical error occurred:
    Error: [API Error: 401 invalid access token or token expired]
        at file:///opt/homebrew/lib/node_modules/@qwen-code/qwen-code/cli.js:459092:19
        at process.processTicksAndRejections (node:internal/process/task_queues:104:5)
        at async main (file:///opt/homebrew/lib/node_modules/@qwen-code/qwen-code/cli.js:513740:5)

To attempt to refresh the token, I ran `qwen` which brought up the agent without errors. Assuming the issue to be fixed, I attempted resuming my previous session again:

    qwen resume
    Qwen OAuth free tier was discontinued on 2026-04-15. Run /auth to switch to Coding Plan, OpenRouter, Fireworks AI, or another provider.

It's official: Qwen free tier is dead. It was great while it lasted, especially with the latest 3.6 plus model.

[jqpabc123]

Surprise!

Those who swallowed the bait should have expected the switch.

[vikas-sharma]

I miss it already. Been using it for a year. Checked the price for the alibaba coding plan and it's a single tier pricing with $50/month. What a bummer :(

[dhruv_ahuja]

Yeah, and weirdly, the page said that the plan was unavailable for me.

I've switched to OpenRouter with the 3.6-pro model right now, but will have to play around and see if some other model works out better on the cost front.

Honestly, Qwen had spoiled me with their free plan.

[obomeretic]

:(