Qwen Flash vs Seed 1.6 Flash
Seed 1.6 Flash comes out ahead, 78 to 68 on our weighted score, and it is the cheaper option too.
Alibaba (Qwen)Qwen Flash
68/100- ECI—
- Price$0.05 / $0.40
- Context1M
- Our pick
ByteDance SeedSeed 1.6 Flash
78/100- ECI—
- Price$0.022 / $0.223
- Context256K
Add a model
Make it a three-way comparison.
Seed 1.6 Flash is our pick
Seed 1.6 Flash is the better all-round choice, scoring 78/100 against Qwen Flash (68). It leads on price and inputs & features. Qwen Flash 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 1.6 FlashSeed 1.6 Flash $0.072 · Qwen Flash $0.138 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
- Longest contextQwen FlashQwen Flash 1,000,000 · Seed 1.6 Flash 256,000 tokens
- Widest inputsSeed 1.6 FlashQwen Flash: Text · Seed 1.6 Flash: Text, Images
- Self-hostingNo open weightsBoth are available only through APIs
| Measure | Weight | Qwen Flash | Seed 1.6 Flash |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price | 50% | 91 | 100 |
| Inputs & features | 30% | 35 | 70 |
| Context window | 20% | 60 | 36 |
| Overall | 100% | 68/100 | 78/100 |
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 | Qwen FlashAlibaba (Qwen) | Seed 1.6 FlashByteDance Seed |
|---|---|---|
| Capability | ||
| Capabilities Index (ECI) | — | — |
| ECI rank | — | — |
| Price per million tokens | ||
| Input | $0.05 | $0.022 (best) |
| Output | $0.40 | $0.223 (best) |
| Cached input | — | $0.0044 |
| Blended (3:1) | $0.138 | $0.072 (best) |
| Long-context rate | Same rate | Over 32K: $0.045 / $0.445 |
| Price source | Official Alibaba API | Official Volcengine Ark API |
| Limits | ||
| Context window | 1,000,000 tokens (best) | 256,000 tokens |
| Max output | 32,768 tokens (best) | 32,000 tokens |
| Inputs and features | ||
| Text | Yes | Yes |
| Images | No | Yes |
| PDFs | No | No |
| Audio | No | No |
| Video | No | No |
| Reasoning | Yes | Yes |
| Tool calling | Yes | Yes |
| Structured output | No | Yes |
| Availability | ||
| Weights | Proprietary | Proprietary |
| API model ID | qwen-flash | doubao-seed-1-6-flash-250828 |
| API providers | 6 (best) | 2 |
| Released | Jul 28, 2025 | Aug 28, 2025 |
| Knowledge cutoff | Apr 2024 | — |
What would a month cost?
Enter your expected volume in millions of tokens. List prices only; caching and batch discounts would lower these.
- Qwen Flash$1.30
- Seed 1.6 Flash$0.668
Which should you choose?
Which is better: Qwen Flash or Seed 1.6 Flash?
Seed 1.6 Flash is the better all-round choice, scoring 78/100 against Qwen Flash (68). It leads on price and inputs & features. Qwen Flash 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, Qwen Flash or Seed 1.6 Flash?
Seed 1.6 Flash is cheaper at $0.022 input / $0.223 output per million tokens (official Volcengine Ark API price). Qwen Flash costs $0.05 input / $0.40 output per million tokens (official Alibaba API price). At a typical mix of three input tokens to one output token, that is $0.072 per million tokens for Seed 1.6 Flash versus $0.138 for Qwen Flash (1.9× as much).
Which scores higher on benchmarks?
There is no independent benchmark that covers both models yet. Qwen Flash has not been scored yet and Seed 1.6 Flash has not been scored yet.
Which is better for coding?
There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for Qwen Flash and Seed 1.6 Flash yet, so there is no like-for-like coding score. Test both on a sample of your own tasks. Both support tool calling for agent workflows.
Which has the bigger context window?
Qwen Flash has the largest context window at 1,000,000 tokens, against 256,000 for Seed 1.6 Flash. Maximum output per response: Qwen Flash up to 32,768, Seed 1.6 Flash up to 32,000 tokens.
Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?
Qwen Flash accepts text; Seed 1.6 Flash accepts text and images. Seed 1.6 Flash handles the widest range of inputs.
Are any of these open source?
No. Qwen Flash and Seed 1.6 Flash are proprietary and only available through APIs and apps.
Which is newer?
Seed 1.6 Flash is the newest, released Aug 28, 2025. Qwen Flash came out Jul 28, 2025. Knowledge cutoff: Qwen Flash Apr 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 Oct 4, 2026.
