For quite some time, rumors have been swirling about Doubao potentially introducing fees. Some netizens have even declared, 'If Doubao starts charging, I'll delete it immediately.'

Yesterday, Doubao officially announced the launch of its 'Doubao Professional Version,' much to the relief of anxious users.

The Professional Version is an additional subscription tier, distinct from the free service. Users of the free version will retain all their current features and usage limits, with the underlying model upgraded to Doubao 2.1 Turbo, enhancing its overall capabilities. Daily search Q&A, writing, image generation, and voice conversations will remain free of charge.

In simpler terms, you can continue using Doubao without paying and even enjoy a slightly improved experience compared to before.

So, what exactly are you getting with this Professional Version, starting at 68 RMB?

You're gaining access to something called the 'Office Task Mode.'

Previously, when you interacted with Doubao, it provided answers. Now, you set a goal, and Doubao breaks down the task, executes it, completes it, and delivers the final product to you.

The Office Task Mode boasts five key capabilities: operating local computers and browsers, generating applications, creating Office documents, spreadsheets, and PPTs, invoking skills, and scheduling tasks.

It's quite straightforward—essentially bundling common AI agent capabilities.

Let's take it for a test drive together～

Case 1 | Operating Local Computers

I'm sure many of you, like me, have a desktop cluttered with temporary files.

Let Doubao tidy it up.

It's done quickly. You can also instruct Doubao to categorize files in various ways.

Note: Operating local computers requires installing the client.

Case 2 | Generating Applications

Next, let's have Doubao generate a 'Company Team-Building Activity Recommendation and Registration Website.'

Honestly, it's done exceptionally well. It includes activity categories, recommendations, company announcements, event details, registration forms, and a personal center.

It can even export verification vouchers.

Case 3 | Office Documents, Spreadsheets, PPTs

Ask Doubao to research the global AI chip industry and generate documents, spreadsheets, and PPTs respectively.

The data is detailed, and the presentation is clear. Office workers can finally breathe a sigh of relief.

Case 4 | Invoking Skills

Doubao comes equipped with some built-in basic skills. Let's try the 'Individual Stock Daily Report.'

Upon closer inspection, it's incredibly detailed. It can even generate an HTML daily report for easier reading.

After seeing these examples, you'll realize that this national-level AI application has evolved into an agent on par with Claude Code, CodeX, and OpenClaw.

Beyond the agent architecture, we must mention the 'Doubao 2.1 Pro' that supports task performance.

This latest Doubao model was announced at the Volcano Engine Force Conference two days ago.

Officially, it has crossed the 'production-grade tipping point' in four dimensions: code delivery, long-term agent tasks, multimodal understanding, and enterprise-grade stable operation.

In a chip RTL design task, Doubao 2.1 Pro ran continuously for nearly 18 hours, writing 6 core modules and 1,303 lines of code, undergoing 9 rounds of iteration, and completing the entire engineering process of simulation, testing, and synthesis checks.

This task would have taken 3 to 5 engineers weeks to complete in the past.

In benchmarks, developers evaluated it with a 59.1% win rate against Claude Opus 4.6; it ranks in the top tier in the ALE benchmark covering over 1,000 real-world tasks; it scored the highest among participating models in GDPval; and it achieved 71.0 in Terminal Bench 2.1, nearly on par with Claude Opus 4.7's 71.7.

But when it comes to benchmarks, as Volcano Engine President Tan Dai himself said, the only standard that matters is whether the model can truly help people get work done.

He also shared an interesting observation. Previously, model usage peaked on weekends and holidays, indicating that personal users were mainly using it for leisure. Now, Doubao's usage peaks almost exclusively on weekdays.

This means the product has truly integrated into productivity scenarios.

Why is Doubao introducing fees now? Because the numbers simply don't add up.

As of June 2026, Doubao's large model has reached a daily average of 180 trillion token calls, a surge of over 1,500 times since its release. Meanwhile, ByteDance's total revenue in 2025 is expected to approach 200 billion USD, but net profit has declined by over 70% year-on-year, primarily due to AI business investments.

This is the reality behind why the free lunch is no longer sustainable.

Over the past few decades in the internet industry, almost every free tool that matures follows the same path: 'acquire users for free -> achieve scale -> implement tiered pricing.'

Doubao offers three pricing tiers: 68, 200, and 500 RMB, with identical features and only differing quotas.

This is a classic economic strategy—using usage volume to screen high-value users, making heavy users pay for computing power. Meanwhile, the 38 RMB student price cultivates the next generation of users early on.

But this pricing path is not without challenges, as competitors like Alibaba's QianWen remain free, with its flagship model Qwen3.7-Max fully accessible at no cost. Tencent Yuanbao explicitly states it has no plans to charge, relying on enterprise service revenue to subsidize free personal use.

Some predict that Yuanbao and QianWen may seize this opportunity to poach Doubao's users.

Thus, Doubao's biggest risk in introducing fees isn't whether 68 RMB is expensive—it's that alternatives nearby are nearly free.

This battle hinges on Doubao's delivery quality—whether it can truly be high enough to make users feel that the time saved is worth the cost.

Finally, let's talk practically: Should you spend this 68 RMB?

My advice is, don't rush to pay yet.

The free version has been upgraded to 2.1 Turbo, and the Office Task Mode is also freely available to everyone within certain quotas.

You can completely assign daily tasks to it first, see how it performs, and then decide whether to subscribe.

If you're a university student, the 38 RMB monthly plan offers great value and is worth considering.

If you have any thoughts, feel free to discuss them in the comments section.

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