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Comparison · 2 models · Updated Nov 2, 2026

DeepSeek R1 0528 vs Seed-OSS-36B-Instruct

Too close to call on our weighted score (Seed-OSS-36B-Instruct 60, DeepSeek R1 0528 58). The right pick depends on what you value most.

  1. DeepSeek

    DeepSeek R1 0528

    Released May 28, 2025

    58/100
    • ECI141.2
    • Price$0.512 / $2.19
    • Context164K
    Full specs Remove DeepSeek R1 0528

  2. ByteDance Seed

    Seed-OSS-36B-Instruct

    Released Aug 20, 2025

    60/100
    • ECI—
    • Price—
    • Context524K
    Full specs Remove Seed-OSS-36B-Instruct

  3. Add a model

    Make it a three-way comparison.

01 — Verdict

Too close to call

It is close. Our weighted score puts them within 1 points (Seed-OSS-36B-Instruct 60/100, DeepSeek R1 0528 58/100), so choose by what matters most for your work: DeepSeek R1 0528 for raw capability and Seed-OSS-36B-Instruct for long inputs. The score weighs capability 67%, inputs & features 20%, context window 13%. Capability uses the average of shared benchmarks (GPQA Diamond and OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025), because Seed-OSS-36B-Instruct has no Capabilities Index score yet.

  • CapabilityDeepSeek R1 0528Shared benchmarks: DeepSeek R1 0528 71.4% · Seed-OSS-36B-Instruct 69.5%
  • Lowest priceDeepSeek R1 0528DeepSeek R1 0528 $0.932 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend) · Seed-OSS-36B-Instruct unpriced
  • Longest contextSeed-OSS-36B-InstructSeed-OSS-36B-Instruct 524,288 · DeepSeek R1 0528 163,840 tokens
  • Widest inputsSame inputsDeepSeek R1 0528: Text · Seed-OSS-36B-Instruct: Text
  • Self-hostingAll open weightsEvery model here can be downloaded and run on your own hardware
How the score is built
MeasureWeightDeepSeek R1 0528Seed-OSS-36B-Instruct
CapabilityShared benchmarks67%7170
Inputs & features20%3535
Context window13%2849
Overall100%58/10060/100

Left out because at least one model lacks the data: price. The remaining weights were rescaled.

02 — Side by side

Every spec in one table

Highlighted cells lead their row. Dashes mean the data is not published.

DeepSeek R1 0528 vs Seed-OSS-36B-Instruct specifications side by side
SpecificationDeepSeek R1 0528DeepSeekSeed-OSS-36B-InstructByteDance Seed
Capability
Capabilities Index (ECI)141.2—
ECI rank#108 of 165—
GPQA DiamondGraduate-level science questions76.3% (best)71.5%
OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025Competition mathematics66.4%67.5% (best)
Price per million tokens
Input$0.512—
Output$2.19—
Cached input——
Blended (3:1)$0.932—
Long-context rateSame rate—
Price sourceMedian of 16 providers—
Limits
Context window163,840 tokens524,288 tokens (best)
Max output32,768 tokens524,288 tokens (best)
Inputs and features
TextYesYes
ImagesNoNo
PDFsNoNo
AudioNoNo
VideoNoNo
ReasoningYesYes
Tool callingYesYes
Structured outputNoNo
Availability
WeightsOpenMITOpenApache 2.0
API model ID——
API providers16—
ReleasedMay 28, 2025Aug 20, 2025
Knowledge cutoff—Jul 2024
03 — Cost

What would a month cost?

Enter your expected volume in millions of tokens. List prices only; caching and batch discounts would lower these.

  • DeepSeek R1 0528$9.50
  • Seed-OSS-36B-Instruct—
04 — Questions

Which should you choose?

Which is better: DeepSeek R1 0528 or Seed-OSS-36B-Instruct?

It is close. Our weighted score puts them within 1 points (Seed-OSS-36B-Instruct 60/100, DeepSeek R1 0528 58/100), so choose by what matters most for your work: DeepSeek R1 0528 for raw capability and Seed-OSS-36B-Instruct for long inputs. The score weighs capability 67%, inputs & features 20%, context window 13%. Capability uses the average of shared benchmarks (GPQA Diamond and OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025), because Seed-OSS-36B-Instruct has no Capabilities Index score yet.

Which is cheaper, DeepSeek R1 0528 or Seed-OSS-36B-Instruct?

DeepSeek R1 0528 is cheaper at $0.512 input / $2.19 output per million tokens (median across 16 API providers). . At a typical mix of three input tokens to one output token, that is $0.932 per million tokens for DeepSeek R1 0528 versus . Seed-OSS-36B-Instruct has no published per-token price.

Which scores higher on benchmarks?

Not every model here has a Capabilities Index score, so we compare the average of shared benchmarks (GPQA Diamond and OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025): DeepSeek R1 0528 71.4% and Seed-OSS-36B-Instruct 69.5%. On individual benchmarks: GPQA Diamond — DeepSeek R1 0528 76.3%, Seed-OSS-36B-Instruct 71.5%; OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025 — Seed-OSS-36B-Instruct 67.5%, DeepSeek R1 0528 66.4%.

Which is better for coding?

There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for DeepSeek R1 0528 and Seed-OSS-36B-Instruct yet, so there is no like-for-like coding score. On overall capability, DeepSeek R1 0528 leads, which tends to carry over to coding, but test on your own codebase. Both support tool calling for agent workflows.

Which has the bigger context window?

Seed-OSS-36B-Instruct has the largest context window at 524,288 tokens, against 163,840 for DeepSeek R1 0528. Maximum output per response: DeepSeek R1 0528 up to 32,768, Seed-OSS-36B-Instruct up to 524,288 tokens.

Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?

DeepSeek R1 0528 accepts text; Seed-OSS-36B-Instruct accepts text. They handle the same number of input types.

Are any of these open source?

Yes, both publish their weights (MIT and Apache 2.0), so you can self-host them.

Which is newer?

Seed-OSS-36B-Instruct is the newest, released Aug 20, 2025. DeepSeek R1 0528 came out May 28, 2025. Knowledge cutoff: Seed-OSS-36B-Instruct Jul 2024.

How do you decide the winner?

Each model gets a 0–100 score on capability (50%, independent benchmark results); price (25%, blended price per million tokens (3 input : 1 output), log scale); inputs & features (15%, image, PDF, audio and video input, tool calling, structured output and reasoning); context window (10%, maximum tokens per request, log scale). Dimensions missing for any model are dropped and the remaining weights rescaled, so every model is judged on the same evidence. Specs and prices come from public model listings and the labs’ own API pages; capability scores come from independent benchmark runs. Data updated Nov 2, 2026.

05 — Keep comparing

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