Motif 3 vs Qwen3.8 Max Preview vs Seed 2.1 Turbo
Seed 2.1 Turbo comes out ahead, 57 to 47 and 44 on our weighted score.
Motif Technologies
Motif 3
44/100- ECI—
- Price$0.50 / $2.00
- Context262K
Alibaba (Qwen)Qwen3.8 Max Preview
47/100- ECI—
- Price$2.00 / $6.00
- Context1M
- Our pick
ByteDance SeedSeed 2.1 Turbo
57/100- ECI—
- Price$0.445 / $2.23
- Context256K
Seed 2.1 Turbo is our pick
Seed 2.1 Turbo is the better all-round choice, scoring 57/100 against Qwen3.8 Max Preview (47) and Motif 3 (44). It leads on inputs & features. Qwen3.8 Max Preview wins on context window. The score weighs price 50%, inputs & features 30%, context window 20%. 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 priceMotif 3Motif 3 $0.875 · Seed 2.1 Turbo $0.891 · Qwen3.8 Max Preview $3.00 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
- Longest contextQwen3.8 Max PreviewQwen3.8 Max Preview 1,000,000 · Motif 3 262,144 · Seed 2.1 Turbo 256,000 tokens
- Widest inputsQwen3.8 Max Preview and Seed 2.1 TurboMotif 3: Text · Qwen3.8 Max Preview: Text, Images, Video · Seed 2.1 Turbo: Text, Images, Video
- Self-hostingMotif 3Publishes downloadable weights (MIT)
| Measure | Weight | Motif 3 | Qwen3.8 Max Preview | Seed 2.1 Turbo |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price | 50% | 53 | 27 | 52 |
| Inputs & features | 30% | 35 | 70 | 80 |
| Context window | 20% | 37 | 60 | 36 |
| Overall | 100% | 44/100 | 47/100 | 57/100 |
Left out because at least one model lacks the data: capability. The remaining weights were rescaled.
Every spec in one table
Highlighted cells lead their row. Dashes mean the data is not published.
| Specification | Motif 3Motif Technologies | Qwen3.8 Max PreviewAlibaba (Qwen) | Seed 2.1 TurboByteDance Seed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Capability | |||
| Capabilities Index (ECI) | — | — | — |
| ECI rank | — | — | — |
| Price per million tokens | |||
| Input | $0.50 | $2.00 | $0.445 (best) |
| Output | $2.00 (best) | $6.00 | $2.23 |
| Cached input | — | — | $0.089 |
| Blended (3:1) | $0.875 (best) | $3.00 | $0.891 |
| Long-context rate | Same rate | Same rate | Same rate |
| Price source | Median of 1 providers | Median of 6 providers | Official Volcengine Ark API |
| Limits | |||
| Context window | 262,144 tokens | 1,000,000 tokens (best) | 256,000 tokens |
| Max output | 262,144 tokens (best) | 131,072 tokens | 256,000 tokens |
| Inputs and features | |||
| Text | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Images | No | Yes | Yes |
| PDFs | No | No | No |
| Audio | No | No | No |
| Video | No | Yes | Yes |
| Reasoning | Yes | Yes | Yesminimal · low · medium · high · xhigh · max |
| Tool calling | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Structured output | No | No | Yes |
| Availability | |||
| Weights | OpenMIT | Proprietary | Proprietary |
| API model ID | — | — | doubao-seed-2-1-turbo-260628 |
| API providers | 1 | 6 (best) | 4 |
| Released | Aug 7, 2026 | Jul 19, 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.
- Motif 3$9.00
- Qwen3.8 Max Preview$32.00
- Seed 2.1 Turbo$8.91
Which should you choose?
Which is better: Motif 3, Qwen3.8 Max Preview or Seed 2.1 Turbo?
Seed 2.1 Turbo is the better all-round choice, scoring 57/100 against Qwen3.8 Max Preview (47) and Motif 3 (44). It leads on inputs & features. Qwen3.8 Max Preview wins on context window. The score weighs price 50%, inputs & features 30%, context window 20%. None of the shared benchmarks cover every model here yet, so capability is left out of this verdict.
Which is cheaper, Motif 3, Qwen3.8 Max Preview or Seed 2.1 Turbo?
Motif 3 is cheaper at $0.50 input / $2.00 output per million tokens (median across 1 API provider). Seed 2.1 Turbo costs $0.445 input / $2.23 output per million tokens (official Volcengine Ark API price); Qwen3.8 Max Preview costs $2.00 input / $6.00 output per million tokens (median across 6 API providers). At a typical mix of three input tokens to one output token, that is $0.875 per million tokens for Motif 3 versus $0.891 for Seed 2.1 Turbo (1× as much) and $3.00 for Qwen3.8 Max Preview (3.4× as much).
Which scores higher on benchmarks?
There is no independent benchmark that covers all three models yet. Motif 3 has not been scored yet, Qwen3.8 Max Preview has not been scored yet and Seed 2.1 Turbo has not been scored yet.
Which is better for coding?
There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for Motif 3, Qwen3.8 Max Preview and Seed 2.1 Turbo 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?
Qwen3.8 Max Preview has the largest context window at 1,000,000 tokens, against 262,144 for Motif 3 and 256,000 for Seed 2.1 Turbo. Maximum output per response: Motif 3 up to 262,144, Qwen3.8 Max Preview up to 131,072, Seed 2.1 Turbo up to 256,000 tokens.
Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?
Motif 3 accepts text; Qwen3.8 Max Preview accepts text, images and video; Seed 2.1 Turbo accepts text, images and video. Qwen3.8 Max Preview handles the widest range of inputs.
Are any of these open source?
Motif 3 publishes its weights (MIT) and can be self-hosted; Qwen3.8 Max Preview and Seed 2.1 Turbo is proprietary.
Which is newer?
Motif 3 is the newest, released Aug 7, 2026. Qwen3.8 Max Preview came out Jul 19, 2026; Seed 2.1 Turbo 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.
