Qwen Cloud API key setup

Get your key

1. Open the Qwen Cloud API keys page: www.qwencloud.com/benefits/tokenplan?shareCode=subTask..68570008..12.. partner link
2. Create an account and generate an API key.
3. Paste it into the Dracon BYOK provider keys, stored encrypted (AES-256-GCM), used browser-direct, works in every Dracon tool.

Subscription setup walkthrough

Vendor plan information last checked 2026-10-27. Confirm current pricing and limits with the provider before purchase.

Official plan and documentation sources: www.qwencloud.com/benefits/tokenplan

Which key are you trying to get?

• Dedicated plan API key works in any OpenAI-compatible BYOK tool

Subscription-plan keys are typically distinct from pay-as-you-go keys: the plan key is what third-party tools (OpenAI-compatible or Anthropic-compatible) are pointed at when you want the subscription's rate limits instead of metered billing.

Tier options

Sign-up / new-customer: Referred new subscribers get a $4 voucher auto-credited as a voucher when the friend makes their first payment. Separately, new sign-ups can claim a $2 off Token Plan coupon: it needs a verified phone number and no previous payment, is valid for Token Plan only, expires 14 days after redemption, and coupon orders cannot be refunded.

Get the key and test it

1. Open the Qwen Cloud Token Plan API keys page: home.qwencloud.com/api-keys Create a key and copy the secret straight away.
2. Point your client at this provider's base URL: https://dashscope-intl.aliyuncs.com/compatible-mode/v1 It speaks the OpenAI-compatible shape, so an OpenAI SDK client works against it with no adapter: only the base URL and the key change.
3. Prove the endpoint answers before you trust it. Send one call with no Authorization header: a live endpoint answers 401 Unauthorized, because it is waiting for a bearer key. The wording of that error differs by provider (some say invalid_api_key, others incorrect_api_key or Token is invalid), so read the 401 as the signal, not the error text.
4. Paste the key into the Dracon BYOK provider keys ; stored encrypted, used browser-direct, no relay.
5. Compare other provider plans when this subscription does not match your usage or budget.

Test the key

Both examples read the key from the DASHSCOPE_API_KEY environment variable, so the key stays out of the command line.

export DASHSCOPE_API_KEY="<YOUR_PLAN_KEY>"

curl https://dashscope-intl.aliyuncs.com/compatible-mode/v1/chat/completions \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $DASHSCOPE_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"model":"qwen3.7-plus","messages":[{"role":"user","content":"hi"}]}'

import os
from openai import OpenAI

# export DASHSCOPE_API_KEY="<YOUR_PLAN_KEY>" first
client = OpenAI(
    api_key=os.environ["DASHSCOPE_API_KEY"],
    base_url="https://dashscope-intl.aliyuncs.com/compatible-mode/v1",
)
resp = client.chat.completions.create(
    model="qwen3.7-plus",
    messages=[{"role": "user", "content": "hi"}],
)
print(resp.choices[0].message.content)

Free tier

No recurring free tier advertised as of the last check (2026-10-27). Usage is billed per the provider's listed pricing. You pay them directly, no Dracon markup.

Rate limits: Token Plan quota varies by tier and off-peak window

Paid plans compared

Every tier Qwen Cloud Token Plan publishes, with the price and the limit as the vendor states them, last checked 2026-10-27. Confirm with the provider before you buy. You pay them directly, no Dracon markup.

Official plan source: www.qwencloud.com/benefits/tokenplan

Connection details

Base URL

https://dashscope-intl.aliyuncs.com/compatible-mode/v1

API shape

OpenAI-compatible

Env var

DASHSCOPE_API_KEY

Models

qwen3.7-plus, qwen-plus, qwen-flash

Model lineup

Qwen3.8-Max-Preview, Qwen3.7-Plus, Qwen-Max, Qwen-Plus, Qwen-Flash

Gotchas

Browser-direct chat is not available for this provider: Calls to this provider are blocked by our site's security policy; we'll re-enable it when our allowlist covers it.. Dracon provider keys still cover it for tools that run elsewhere (for example a LiteLLM chain from the Dracon Router builder).

Our verdicts on this kind of provider

Independent comparisons we keep current as pricing and free tiers shift. A guide is setup; a verdict is whether it's worth setting up.

• 22 of the 45 AI providers have a free tier. Only 7 are actually useful.
• Free AI rate limits, compared: which free tiers can do real work
• The AI price war: who cut what in July 2026