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Comparison · 3 models · Updated Oct 4, 2026

Nex-N2-Pro vs LongCat-2.5-Preview vs Seed 2.1 Turbo

Seed 2.1 Turbo comes out ahead, 57 to 53 and 52 on our weighted score, and it is the cheaper option too.

  1. Nex AGI

    Nex-N2-Pro

    Released Jun 2, 2026

    53/100
    • ECI—
    • Price$0.50 / $2.50
    • Context262K
  2. Meituan (LongCat)

    LongCat-2.5-Preview

    Released Sep 25, 2026

    52/100
    • ECI—
    • Price$0.75 / $2.95
    • Context1M
  3. Our pick

    ByteDance Seed

    Seed 2.1 Turbo

    Released Jun 23, 2026

    57/100
    • ECI—
    • Price$0.445 / $2.23
    • Context256K
01 — Verdict

Seed 2.1 Turbo is our pick

Seed 2.1 Turbo is the better all-round choice, scoring 57/100 against Nex-N2-Pro (53) and LongCat-2.5-Preview (52). It leads on price and inputs & features. LongCat-2.5-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 priceSeed 2.1 TurboSeed 2.1 Turbo $0.891 · Nex-N2-Pro $1.00 · LongCat-2.5-Preview $1.30 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
  • Longest contextLongCat-2.5-PreviewLongCat-2.5-Preview 1,000,000 · Nex-N2-Pro 262,144 · Seed 2.1 Turbo 256,000 tokens
  • Widest inputsSeed 2.1 TurboNex-N2-Pro: Text, Images · LongCat-2.5-Preview: Text, Images · Seed 2.1 Turbo: Text, Images, Video
  • Self-hostingNex-N2-ProPublishes downloadable weights
How the score is built
MeasureWeightNex-N2-ProLongCat-2.5-PreviewSeed 2.1 Turbo
Price50%504452
Inputs & features30%706080
Context window20%376036
Overall100%53/10052/10057/100

Left out because at least one model lacks the data: capability. 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.

Nex-N2-Pro vs LongCat-2.5-Preview vs Seed 2.1 Turbo specifications side by side
SpecificationNex-N2-ProNex AGILongCat-2.5-PreviewMeituan (LongCat)Seed 2.1 TurboByteDance Seed
Capability
Capabilities Index (ECI)———
ECI rank———
Price per million tokens
Input$0.50$0.75$0.445 (best)
Output$2.50$2.95$2.23 (best)
Cached input——$0.089
Blended (3:1)$1.00$1.30$0.891 (best)
Long-context rateSame rateSame rateSame rate
Price sourceMedian of 1 providersMedian of 1 providersOfficial Volcengine Ark API
Limits
Context window262,144 tokens1,000,000 tokens (best)256,000 tokens
Max output262,144 tokens (best)131,072 tokens256,000 tokens
Inputs and features
TextYesYesYes
ImagesYesYesYes
PDFsNoNoNo
AudioNoNoNo
VideoNoNoYes
ReasoningYesYesYesminimal · low · medium · high · xhigh · max
Tool callingYesYesYes
Structured outputYesNoYes
Availability
WeightsOpenProprietaryProprietary
API model ID——doubao-seed-2-1-turbo-260628
API providers124 (best)
ReleasedJun 2, 2026Sep 25, 2026Jun 23, 2026
Knowledge cutoff———
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.

  • Nex-N2-Pro$10.00
  • LongCat-2.5-Preview$13.40
  • Seed 2.1 Turbo$8.91
04 — Questions

Which should you choose?

Which is better: Nex-N2-Pro, LongCat-2.5-Preview or Seed 2.1 Turbo?

Seed 2.1 Turbo is the better all-round choice, scoring 57/100 against Nex-N2-Pro (53) and LongCat-2.5-Preview (52). It leads on price and inputs & features. LongCat-2.5-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, Nex-N2-Pro, LongCat-2.5-Preview or Seed 2.1 Turbo?

Seed 2.1 Turbo is cheaper at $0.445 input / $2.23 output per million tokens (official Volcengine Ark API price). Nex-N2-Pro costs $0.50 input / $2.50 output per million tokens (median across 1 API provider); LongCat-2.5-Preview costs $0.75 input / $2.95 output per million tokens (median across 1 API provider). At a typical mix of three input tokens to one output token, that is $0.891 per million tokens for Seed 2.1 Turbo versus $1.00 for Nex-N2-Pro (1.1× as much) and $1.30 for LongCat-2.5-Preview (1.5× as much).

Which scores higher on benchmarks?

There is no independent benchmark that covers all three models yet. Nex-N2-Pro has not been scored yet, LongCat-2.5-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 Nex-N2-Pro, LongCat-2.5-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?

LongCat-2.5-Preview has the largest context window at 1,000,000 tokens, against 262,144 for Nex-N2-Pro and 256,000 for Seed 2.1 Turbo. Maximum output per response: Nex-N2-Pro up to 262,144, LongCat-2.5-Preview up to 131,072, Seed 2.1 Turbo up to 256,000 tokens.

Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?

Nex-N2-Pro accepts text and images; LongCat-2.5-Preview accepts text and images; Seed 2.1 Turbo accepts text, images and video. Seed 2.1 Turbo handles the widest range of inputs.

Are any of these open source?

Nex-N2-Pro publishes its weights and can be self-hosted; LongCat-2.5-Preview and Seed 2.1 Turbo is proprietary.

Which is newer?

LongCat-2.5-Preview is the newest, released Sep 25, 2026. Seed 2.1 Turbo came out Jun 23, 2026; Nex-N2-Pro came out Jun 2, 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.