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Comparison · 2 models · Updated Nov 2, 2026

Qwen3.5 35B-A3B Base vs Seed 2.1 Turbo

Seed 2.1 Turbo comes out ahead, 56 to 45 on our weighted score, though Qwen3.5 35B-A3B Base is 17% cheaper per token.

  1. Alibaba (Qwen)

    Qwen3.5 35B-A3B Base

    Released Feb 24, 2026

    45/100
    • ECI—
    • Price$0.54 / $1.33
    • Context262K
    Full specs Remove Qwen3.5 35B-A3B Base
  2. Our pick

    ByteDance Seed

    Seed 2.1 Turbo

    Released Jun 23, 2026

    56/100
    • ECI—
    • Price$0.445 / $2.23
    • Context256K
    Full specs Remove Seed 2.1 Turbo

  3. Add a model

    Make it a three-way comparison.

01 — Verdict

Seed 2.1 Turbo is our pick

Seed 2.1 Turbo is the better all-round choice, scoring 56/100 against Qwen3.5 35B-A3B Base (45). It leads on inputs & features. Qwen3.5 35B-A3B Base wins on price. 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 priceQwen3.5 35B-A3B BaseQwen3.5 35B-A3B Base $0.739 · Seed 2.1 Turbo $0.891 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
  • Longest contextQwen3.5 35B-A3B BaseQwen3.5 35B-A3B Base 262,144 · Seed 2.1 Turbo 256,000 tokens
  • Widest inputsSame inputsQwen3.5 35B-A3B Base: Text, Images, Video · Seed 2.1 Turbo: Text, Images, Video
  • Self-hostingQwen3.5 35B-A3B BasePublishes downloadable weights (Apache-2.0)
How the score is built
MeasureWeightQwen3.5 35B-A3B BaseSeed 2.1 Turbo
Price50%5450
Inputs & features30%3580
Context window20%3736
Overall100%45/10056/100

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.

Qwen3.5 35B-A3B Base vs Seed 2.1 Turbo specifications side by side
SpecificationQwen3.5 35B-A3B BaseAlibaba (Qwen)Seed 2.1 TurboByteDance Seed
Capability
Capabilities Index (ECI)——
ECI rank——
Price per million tokens
Input$0.54$0.445 (best)
Output$1.33 (best)$2.23
Cached input—$0.089
Blended (3:1)$0.739 (best)$0.891
Long-context rateSame rateSame rate
Price sourceMedian of 1 providersOfficial Volcengine Ark API
Limits
Context window262,144 tokens (best)256,000 tokens
Max output65,536 tokens256,000 tokens (best)
Inputs and features
TextYesYes
ImagesYesYes
PDFsNoNo
AudioNoNo
VideoYesYes
ReasoningNoYesminimal · low · medium · high · xhigh · max
Tool callingNoYes
Structured outputNoYes
Availability
WeightsOpenApache-2.0Proprietary
API model ID—doubao-seed-2-1-turbo-260628
API providers18 (best)
ReleasedFeb 24, 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.

  • Qwen3.5 35B-A3B Base$8.07
  • Seed 2.1 Turbo$8.91
04 — Questions

Which should you choose?

Which is better: Qwen3.5 35B-A3B Base or Seed 2.1 Turbo?

Seed 2.1 Turbo is the better all-round choice, scoring 56/100 against Qwen3.5 35B-A3B Base (45). It leads on inputs & features. Qwen3.5 35B-A3B Base wins on price. 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, Qwen3.5 35B-A3B Base or Seed 2.1 Turbo?

Qwen3.5 35B-A3B Base is cheaper at $0.54 input / $1.33 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). At a typical mix of three input tokens to one output token, that is $0.739 per million tokens for Qwen3.5 35B-A3B Base versus $0.891 for Seed 2.1 Turbo (1.2× as much).

Which scores higher on benchmarks?

There is no independent benchmark that covers both models yet. Qwen3.5 35B-A3B Base 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 Qwen3.5 35B-A3B Base and Seed 2.1 Turbo yet, so there is no like-for-like coding score. Test both on a sample of your own tasks. Note that Qwen3.5 35B-A3B Base does not support tool calling, which most coding agents need.

Which has the bigger context window?

Qwen3.5 35B-A3B Base has the largest context window at 262,144 tokens, against 256,000 for Seed 2.1 Turbo. Maximum output per response: Qwen3.5 35B-A3B Base up to 65,536, Seed 2.1 Turbo up to 256,000 tokens.

Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?

Qwen3.5 35B-A3B Base accepts text, images and video; Seed 2.1 Turbo accepts text, images and video. They handle the same number of input types.

Are any of these open source?

Qwen3.5 35B-A3B Base publishes its weights (Apache-2.0) and can be self-hosted; Seed 2.1 Turbo is proprietary.

Which is newer?

Seed 2.1 Turbo is the newest, released Jun 23, 2026. Qwen3.5 35B-A3B Base came out Feb 24, 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 Nov 2, 2026.

05 — Keep comparing

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