But is it possible?

I followed through on my promise to share an article on how to set up Qwen3-Coder. Initially, it's a tough combination when setting up (but I must acknowledge I was a little impatient — I would like to know your experience in the comments regarding the setup)

But the good news,

I found the easy way to install and use Qwen3-Coder on Claude Code, and I will be sharing with you the step-by-step process you can take to start using Qwen3-Coder with Claude Code.

If you are new to Qwen3-Coder, it's Alibaba's latest coding model that rivals the best in the industry.

This 480B-parameter model with 35B active parameters supports up to 256K tokens natively and can extend to 1M tokens.

It matches or exceeds Claude Sonnet 4's performance in coding tasks while being completely free to use. Which gives you these benefits :

• State-of-the-art performance in agentic coding tasks
• Matches Claude Sonnet 4 in many coding benchmarks
• Free API access through Alibaba Cloud
• 256K native context window for large codebases
• Specialized training on real-world software engineering tasks

Why Pair Qwen3-Coder + Claude Code

This combination is a no-brainer if you want Claude Code's powerful agentic capabilities combined with Qwen3-Coder's cutting-edge performance at zero cost.

Claude Code capabilities include its ability to understand your entire codebase, manage complex multi-file edits, handle git workflows, and execute long-running development tasks.

Claude Code is good at :

• Reading and understanding large codebases beyond traditional context limits
• Managing complex refactoring across multiple files
• Automating git workflows and handling pull requests
• Interactive debugging and iterative development
• Tool integration and environment management

However, there's an important consideration: Qwen3-Coder is developed by Alibaba, a Chinese company.

If you're working with sensitive proprietary code or have strict data privacy requirements, you should carefully evaluate whether using a model hosted by a Chinese cloud provider aligns with your security policies.

Now let's get to the easy part of setting up Qwen3-Coder on Claude Code.

Setting Up Qwen3-Coder with Claude Code

Claude Code commonly uses Anthropic's models, but with a simple configuration change, you can point it to use Qwen3-Coder instead.

This provides you with Claude Code's powerful interface, complemented by Qwen3-Coder's free, high-performance coding capabilities.

Prerequisites

First, ensure you have Node.js 20 or higher installed:

curl -qL https://www.npmjs.com/install.sh | sh

This command downloads and installs the latest version of Node.js.

Claude Code requires Node.js version 20 or later to function properly.

Step 1: Install Claude Code

Install Claude Code globally via npm

npm install -g @anthropic-ai/claude-code

This installs the Claude Code CLI tool, which typically connects to Anthropic's servers.

The -g flag installs it globally so that you can use the claude command from anywhere on your system.

Step 2: Get Your Qwen3-Coder API Key ( I Found it to be Complicated)

You need an API key from Alibaba Cloud's DashScope platform:

• Outside mainland China: Go to Alibaba Cloud Model Studio
• Inside mainland China: Use Bailian Console or ModelScope

Create an account and generate your API key. Keep this handy for the next step.

Getting my key from Alibaba Cloud was too much work, I opted to go with OpenRouter as you will see in the steps below.

Step 3: Choose Your Integration Method

Qwen3-Coder offers two ways to integrate with Claude Code. I'll show you both, but I recommend Option 1 for simplicity.

Option 1: Direct Proxy API (Recommended)

This is the simplest method. Set these environment variables:

export ANTHROPIC_BASE_URL=https://dashscope-intl.aliyuncs.com/api/v2/apps/claude-code-proxy
export ANTHROPIC_AUTH_TOKEN=your-dashscope-apikey

What this does:

• ANTHROPIC_BASE_URL redirects Claude Code to use Qwen3-Coder's API instead of Anthropic's
• ANTHROPIC_AUTH_TOKEN uses your DashScope API key for authentication
• The proxy handles the translation between Claude Code's requests and Qwen3-Coder's responses

Replace your-dashscope-apikey with the actual API key you got from Step 2.

Option 2: Router Customization (Advanced) — My Preferred Method

This method gives you more control over the routing configuration:

npm install -g @musistudio/claude-code-router
npm install -g @dashscope-js/claude-code-config

What these packages do:

• claude-code-router allows you to customize which backend models Claude Code uses
• claude-code-config provides pre-configured settings for DashScope integration

Run the configuration setup:

ccr-dashscope

This command automatically generates configuration files in ~/.claude-code-router/config.json and sets up the necessary plugins.

Start coding with the router:

ccr code

Step 4: Test Your Setup

Navigate to any project directory and run:

claude

If everything is configured correctly, you'll see Claude Code start up, but it will be powered by Qwen3-Coder instead of Anthropic's models.

You can now set the model you want to use with Claude Code, and you are ready :

You should see Qwen3-Coder respond through the Claude Code interface, providing you with the best of both worlds: Claude Code's user experience combined with Qwen3-Coder's performance and cost savings.

Final Thoughts

This Qwen3-Coder + Claude Code combination is great for saving costs and still using Claude Code.

I haven't tested it on a full-stack build yet, which would be the real stress test for this Combo. Complex projects with multiple services, databases, and frontend components will reveal whether there is a smooth flow and if high cost savings are possible.

I also encountered this Auth error, which you are likely to come across:

Regarding performance, I encountered some sluggishness during setup; however, switching to the direct API key method improved performance.

The cost savings alone make this a worthwhile exploration. While using Claude Code with Anthropic's models can become expensive, I have yet to find any alternative that delivers a better ROI than what Anthropic offers.

I'm continuing to experiment, and if you'd like to stay updated on my findings and explore more tutorials like this, follow me here on Medium and visit my YouTube channel for video walkthroughs.

Let's Connect!

If you are new to my content, my name is Joe Njenga

Join thousands of other software engineers, AI engineers, and solopreneurs who read my content daily on Medium and on YouTube where I review the latest AI engineering tools and trends.

If you would like to connect directly, you can reach out here:

Follow me on Medium | YouTube Channel | X | LinkedIn