Hy4 preview vs Ornith 1.0 9B vs Seed 2.1 Pro
Seed 2.1 Pro comes out ahead, 62 to 51 and 45 on our weighted score, though Hy4 preview is 30% cheaper per token.
TencentHy4 preview
45/100- ECI—
- Price$0.834 / $2.50
- Context1.02M
DeepReinforce
Ornith 1.0 9B
51/100- ECI—
- Price—
- Context262K
- Our pick
ByteDance SeedSeed 2.1 Pro
62/100- ECI—
- Price$0.891 / $4.45
- Context256K
Seed 2.1 Pro is our pick
Seed 2.1 Pro is the better all-round choice, scoring 62/100 against Ornith 1.0 9B (51) and Hy4 preview (45). It leads on inputs & features. Hy4 preview wins on context window. The score weighs inputs & features 60%, context window 40%. None of the shared benchmarks cover every model here yet, so capability is left out of this verdict.
- CapabilityNot enough dataNo independent benchmark covers every model here yet
- Lowest priceHy4 previewHy4 preview $1.25 · Seed 2.1 Pro $1.78 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend) · Ornith 1.0 9B unpriced
- Longest contextHy4 previewHy4 preview 1,024,000 · Ornith 1.0 9B 262,144 · Seed 2.1 Pro 256,000 tokens
- Widest inputsSeed 2.1 ProHy4 preview: Text · Ornith 1.0 9B: Text, Images · Seed 2.1 Pro: Text, Images, Video
- Self-hostingHy4 preview and Ornith 1.0 9BPublishes downloadable weights (MIT)
| Measure | Weight | Hy4 preview | Ornith 1.0 9B | Seed 2.1 Pro |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Inputs & features | 60% | 35 | 60 | 80 |
| Context window | 40% | 60 | 37 | 36 |
| Overall | 100% | 45/100 | 51/100 | 62/100 |
Left out because at least one model lacks the data: capability and price. The remaining weights were rescaled.
Every spec in one table
Highlighted cells lead their row. Dashes mean the data is not published.
| Specification | Hy4 previewTencent | Ornith 1.0 9BDeepReinforce | Seed 2.1 ProByteDance Seed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Capability | |||
| Capabilities Index (ECI) | — | — | — |
| ECI rank | — | — | — |
| Price per million tokens | |||
| Input | $0.834 (best) | — | $0.891 |
| Output | $2.50 (best) | — | $4.45 |
| Cached input | $0.042 (best) | — | $0.178 |
| Blended (3:1) | $1.25 (best) | — | $1.78 |
| Long-context rate | Same rate | — | Same rate |
| Price source | Official Tencent TokenHub API | — | Official Volcengine Ark API |
| Limits | |||
| Context window | 1,024,000 tokens (best) | 262,144 tokens | 256,000 tokens |
| Max output | 64,000 tokens | — | 256,000 tokens (best) |
| Inputs and features | |||
| Text | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Images | No | Yes | Yes |
| PDFs | No | No | No |
| Audio | No | No | No |
| Video | No | No | Yes |
| Reasoning | Yeshigh | Yes | Yesminimal · low · medium · high · xhigh · max |
| Tool calling | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Structured output | No | No | Yes |
| Availability | |||
| Weights | Open | OpenMIT | Proprietary |
| API model ID | hy4-preview | — | doubao-seed-2-1-pro-260628 |
| API providers | 13 (best) | — | 2 |
| Released | Aug 28, 2026 | Jun 25, 2026 | Jun 23, 2026 |
| Knowledge cutoff | — | — | — |
What would a month cost?
Enter your expected volume in millions of tokens. List prices only; caching and batch discounts would lower these.
- Hy4 preview$13.34
- Ornith 1.0 9B—
- Seed 2.1 Pro$17.81
Which should you choose?
Which is better: Hy4 preview, Ornith 1.0 9B or Seed 2.1 Pro?
Seed 2.1 Pro is the better all-round choice, scoring 62/100 against Ornith 1.0 9B (51) and Hy4 preview (45). It leads on inputs & features. Hy4 preview wins on context window. The score weighs inputs & features 60%, context window 40%. None of the shared benchmarks cover every model here yet, so capability is left out of this verdict.
Which is cheaper, Hy4 preview, Ornith 1.0 9B or Seed 2.1 Pro?
Hy4 preview is cheaper at $0.834 input / $2.50 output per million tokens (official Tencent TokenHub API price). Seed 2.1 Pro costs $0.891 input / $4.45 output per million tokens (official Volcengine Ark API price). At a typical mix of three input tokens to one output token, that is $1.25 per million tokens for Hy4 preview versus $1.78 for Seed 2.1 Pro (1.4× as much). Ornith 1.0 9B has no published per-token price.
Which scores higher on benchmarks?
There is no independent benchmark that covers all three models yet. Hy4 preview has not been scored yet, Ornith 1.0 9B has not been scored yet and Seed 2.1 Pro has not been scored yet.
Which is better for coding?
There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for Hy4 preview, Ornith 1.0 9B and Seed 2.1 Pro yet, so there is no like-for-like coding score. Test both on a sample of your own tasks. All three support tool calling for agent workflows.
Which has the bigger context window?
Hy4 preview has the largest context window at 1,024,000 tokens, against 262,144 for Ornith 1.0 9B and 256,000 for Seed 2.1 Pro. Maximum output per response: Hy4 preview up to 64,000, Seed 2.1 Pro up to 256,000 tokens.
Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?
Hy4 preview accepts text; Ornith 1.0 9B accepts text and images; Seed 2.1 Pro accepts text, images and video. Seed 2.1 Pro handles the widest range of inputs.
Are any of these open source?
Hy4 preview and Ornith 1.0 9B publishes its weights (MIT) and can be self-hosted; Seed 2.1 Pro is proprietary.
Which is newer?
Hy4 preview is the newest, released Aug 28, 2026. Ornith 1.0 9B came out Jun 25, 2026; Seed 2.1 Pro came out Jun 23, 2026.
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 Oct 4, 2026.
