The main difference
Qwen Code and Claude Code are terminal coding agents that read a codebase, edit files, run commands, and connect to MCP servers, but they treat models differently. Claude Code runs on Anthropic's Claude models, while Qwen Code is built around Alibaba's Qwen models and also connects to OpenAI, Anthropic, and Gemini APIs, other providers, and local models through Ollama or vLLM.
When Qwen Code is the better fit
Qwen Code suits developers who want an open-source agent they can point at more than one model family. It's licensed under Apache 2.0 and started as a fork of Gemini CLI, and it adds built-in skills like /review and /bugfix, subagents and agent teams, a headless mode for CI, and plugins for VS Code, Zed, and JetBrains. Qwen discontinued its OAuth free tier in April 2026, so model usage now comes from your own API key, Alibaba Cloud's usage-based Token Plan, or the Coding Plan Pro subscription at $50 a month, which covers Qwen, GLM, Kimi, and MiniMax models.
When Claude Code is the better fit
Claude Code suits teams that want Claude models in an agent that runs across the terminal, VS Code and JetBrains extensions, a desktop app, and the web. CLAUDE.md files hold project instructions, skills and hooks package repeatable workflows, and subagents split work across parallel agents. Access comes through a paid Claude plan, with Pro at $20 a month and Max at $100 or $200, or through pay-per-token billing in the Claude Console.
Running both through one gateway
Both agents can send their model calls through the Respan gateway. Qwen Code connects with three OpenAI-compatible environment variables, and Claude Code connects by changing its base URL, so every call from either agent is logged with tokens and cost in one place. One Respan key also gives Qwen Code access to 1,000+ models, Claude included, and respan integrate claude-code traces each Claude Code session with its thinking and tool calls.