Free quota

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Rules

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Validity period

Free quota is typically valid for 90 days, but the start date depends on the quota type:

• New user free quota: When you activate your account, all existing models receive a free quota. The 90-day period starts from your account activation date.
• New model free quota: For models released after you sign up, the 90-day period starts from the model's release date.

After expiration or depletion, continued model inference will incur charges. Once your free quota expires, it becomes invalid immediately, regardless of whether it has been fully used:

• The countdown is not paused by inactivity — unused quota still expires when the validity period ends.
• After expiration, any remaining quota is void and will not be reissued or extended.
• Signing up for a new account does not grant an additional free quota.

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Scope of application

Free quota only offsets costs from real-time model inference (invocation). It does not offset:

• Batch calls
• Built-in tool call fees (web search, image search, etc.)
• Model fine-tuning
• Model deployment
• Custom models (fine-tuned models, deployed models)

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Per-model quota

Free quota is independent for each model and cannot be shared or transferred across models:

• Each model (for example, qwen-plus or qwen3.6-plus) has its own free quota. Quota cannot be merged or transferred between models.
• A dated snapshot (for example, qwen3.6-plus-2026-04-02) and the latest version without a date suffix (for example, qwen3.6-plus) are treated as separate models, each with its own free quota.
• When one model's free quota is exhausted, requests are not automatically routed to another model that still has quota. You must manually change the model parameter in your code or tool configuration.

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Get the free quota

Sign up for QwenCloud to activate your free quota — no payment method required. You can try models immediately after signing up. After your free quota is exhausted, you will be guided to add a payment method to continue using paid services.

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View your remaining quota

Go to the Free Tier page to view and manage your free quota across all models. You can also navigate from the console home page: click Special Offer > My free tier to access this page. The page provides:

• Eligible models: Number of models with available free quota
• Models expiring soon: Models with quota expiring within 7 days
• Low balance models: Models with 80% or more of quota consumed
• Unavailable models: Models with free quota expired or exhausted (data from past 180 days)

Switch between model types (Embedding, LLM, Multimodal, Audio, Vision) and view details including:

• Model Code, Free Quota, Consumed, Remaining, Expiration, Status
• Toggle Free quota only switch in the Actions column to enable auto-stop when quota ends

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Use the free quota

When you make real-time calls to a model, free quota is automatically deducted. For more information, see Get started with QwenCloud.

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Free quota only

When Free quota only is enabled, model calls are blocked after quota exhaustion and no charges are incurred.

• Unverified users (users who have not set up payment): This feature is enabled by default and cannot be disabled.
• Verified users: This feature is disabled by default. You can enable or disable it on the Free Tier page.

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How to enable

Go to the Free Tier page:

• Single model: Toggle on the Free quota only switch for the target model
• Multiple models:
  1. Click the Auto-stop when free quota runs out dropdown at the top-right
  2. Select Enable selected models to enter bulk mode (checkboxes appear in the table)
  3. Check the boxes next to the models you want to enable, then click Enable selected models; or click Enable all models directly without selecting any
  4. Click Exit bulk mode when done

If the switch is not displayed for a model, it means the free quota for that model has been exhausted or has expired, or the model does not offer a free quota. Before you enable the switch, you can check the Status column to see whether a model supports this feature. If a model's status shows Enabling not supported, the model does not offer a free quota, and you cannot enable the Free Quota Only feature for it. You can search for a model by name to quickly locate it and check its status.

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How to disable

• Unverified users: This feature cannot be disabled. Set up payment to unlock this option.
• Verified users: If enabled, you can disable it at any time on the Free Tier page.

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FAQ

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Will I be notified when my free quota is used up?

Currently, there is no notification mechanism.

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What happens when my free quota is used up?

Unverified users: You cannot continue calling models after free quota is used up. You can click Set up payment on the Free Tier page to switch to pay-as-you-go billing. Verified users:

• If Free quota only is enabled, model calls are blocked after free quota is used up. Disable this feature to switch to pay-as-you-go billing.
• If Free quota only is not enabled, model calls in progress complete without interruption. Tokens exceeding free quota are billed based on input/output costs in Model invocation pricing. Charges are automatically deducted on a pay-as-you-go basis, which may result in overdue payment.

When your account has an overdue payment, all model calls are blocked — even if other models still have free quota. Before calling a model, check its free quota and use budget management.

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Why was I charged?

Possible reasons:

• You used a model without free quota.
• The free quota cannot be used to offset costs from Batch calls.
• Auto-completion in IDE plugins consumes tokens rapidly. When you call models through IDE plugins such as Cline or CodeBuddy, the plugin automatically sends the full code context and conversation history. As a result, a single exchange can consume thousands of tokens. In a test, a request that carried about 2,000 characters of code context consumed 1,758 tokens, whereas a short message consumed only 26 tokens — a 67-fold difference.
• Free quota data is subject to a delay of several minutes. The display might show remaining quota when it's actually exhausted, resulting in charges. Check status again later for latest data.

You can confirm the charge details on the Pay-as-you-go page.

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How do I avoid charges?

If you have not added a payment method, no charges can occur — your usage simply stops when free quota is exhausted. If you have added a payment method, charges are automatically deducted from your payment method after free quota is exhausted. To manage charge risk:

• Delete API keys: Go to the QwenCloud API-Key page and delete created API keys. After you delete an API key, you can no longer call models using the API, which prevents further charges.
• Set spending alert: Configure a spending alert. You'll receive email notifications when monthly spending exceeds the threshold.

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I have a remaining quota, so why did my call fail?

Your account may have an overdue payment. After the grace period expires, all model calls are blocked — even if you have remaining free quota. See Overdue payment protection for details.

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Why can't I see the free quota and its validity period?

If the Free Quota column shows No free quota or the section is not displayed, one of the following applies:

• Free quota has expired or been exhausted: Free quota is valid for 90 days from activation or model release (see Validity period). Once it expires or is used up, it's no longer displayed, and further calls are billed as pay-as-you-go.
• The model does not offer a free quota: Some models do not participate in the free quota program.