Every AI company is launching it's own CLI version of the interface. This way they want to add more competitive developer workflows. Some like IDE, Some like CLI and some prefer the API version through third party interfaces. Either way is fine and that is how they are allowing more options for the consumers.
I have tried Claude Code and the Gemini CLI both of them are awesome. And both of them get the work done. In fact the two of them alone are enough for most of the products. And people tend to use them from time to time changing the usage scenario too. So this make sense for the CLI use long term.
So I recently found out about the QWEN and they have both desktop, API and now the CLI version. They seem to be adjusting with the competition pressure and offering these same features and relatively lower cost too.
All you have to do is use the command
npm install -g qwen-cli
Alternatively find other means to install from their github.
You can also access the QWEN free option from the openrouter. Which is a good option for those who are using the Visual Studio Code. And they can use the extension like openrouter. And that would be a good option to choose QWEN free and they can select that and add their API key which is global API key for executing the code.
You are offered like 2000 runs for the AI usage. And for most coding projects per day that is more than enough. And it can get your work done. No need to manually do most of the stuff. Just create PRD and the app documentation and get the work done. This is what most of the people work with and process.
I have been using multiple AI and getting my work done. I may also use these for open source contributions now. :)