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Comparison · 2 models · Updated Nov 2, 2026

Seed 1.6 Flash vs Seed-OSS-36B-Instruct

Seed 1.6 Flash comes out ahead, 62 to 40 on our weighted score, and it is the cheaper option too.

  1. Our pick

    ByteDance Seed

    Seed 1.6 Flash

    Released Aug 28, 2025Deprecated

    62/100
    • ECI—
    • Price$0.022 / $0.223
    • Context256K
    Full specs Remove Seed 1.6 Flash

  2. ByteDance Seed

    Seed-OSS-36B-Instruct

    Released Aug 20, 2025

    40/100
    • ECI—
    • Price—
    • Context524K
    Full specs Remove Seed-OSS-36B-Instruct

  3. Add a model

    Make it a three-way comparison.

01 — Verdict

Seed 1.6 Flash is our pick

Seed 1.6 Flash is the better all-round choice, scoring 62/100 against Seed-OSS-36B-Instruct (40). It leads on inputs & features. Seed-OSS-36B-Instruct 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 priceSeed 1.6 FlashSeed 1.6 Flash $0.072 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend) · Seed-OSS-36B-Instruct unpriced
  • Longest contextSeed-OSS-36B-InstructSeed-OSS-36B-Instruct 524,288 · Seed 1.6 Flash 256,000 tokens
  • Widest inputsSeed 1.6 FlashSeed 1.6 Flash: Text, Images, Video · Seed-OSS-36B-Instruct: Text
  • Self-hostingSeed-OSS-36B-InstructPublishes downloadable weights (Apache 2.0)
How the score is built
MeasureWeightSeed 1.6 FlashSeed-OSS-36B-Instruct
Inputs & features60%8035
Context window40%3649
Overall100%62/10040/100

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

Seed 1.6 Flash vs Seed-OSS-36B-Instruct specifications side by side
SpecificationSeed 1.6 FlashByteDance SeedSeed-OSS-36B-InstructByteDance Seed
Capability
Capabilities Index (ECI)——
ECI rank——
GPQA DiamondGraduate-level science questions—71.5%
OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025Competition mathematics—67.5%
Price per million tokens
Input$0.022—
Output$0.223—
Cached input$0.0044—
Blended (3:1)$0.072—
Long-context rateOver 32K: $0.045 / $0.445—
Price sourceOfficial Volcengine Ark API—
Limits
Context window256,000 tokens524,288 tokens (best)
Max output32,000 tokens524,288 tokens (best)
Inputs and features
TextYesYes
ImagesYesNo
PDFsNoNo
AudioNoNo
VideoYesNo
ReasoningYesYes
Tool callingYesYes
Structured outputYesNo
Availability
WeightsProprietaryOpenApache 2.0
API model IDdoubao-seed-1-6-flash-250828—
API providers5—
ReleasedAug 28, 2025Aug 20, 2025
Knowledge cutoff—Jul 2024
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.

  • Seed 1.6 Flash$0.668
  • Seed-OSS-36B-Instruct—
04 — Questions

Which should you choose?

Which is better: Seed 1.6 Flash or Seed-OSS-36B-Instruct?

Seed 1.6 Flash is the better all-round choice, scoring 62/100 against Seed-OSS-36B-Instruct (40). It leads on inputs & features. Seed-OSS-36B-Instruct 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, Seed 1.6 Flash or Seed-OSS-36B-Instruct?

Seed 1.6 Flash is cheaper at $0.022 input / $0.223 output per million tokens (official Volcengine Ark 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 . Seed-OSS-36B-Instruct has no published per-token price.

Which scores higher on benchmarks?

There is no independent benchmark that covers both models yet. Seed 1.6 Flash has not been scored yet and Seed-OSS-36B-Instruct has not been scored yet.

Which is better for coding?

There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for Seed 1.6 Flash and Seed-OSS-36B-Instruct 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?

Seed-OSS-36B-Instruct has the largest context window at 524,288 tokens, against 256,000 for Seed 1.6 Flash. Maximum output per response: Seed 1.6 Flash up to 32,000, Seed-OSS-36B-Instruct up to 524,288 tokens.

Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?

Seed 1.6 Flash accepts text, images and video; Seed-OSS-36B-Instruct accepts text. Seed 1.6 Flash handles the widest range of inputs.

Are any of these open source?

Seed-OSS-36B-Instruct publishes its weights (Apache 2.0) and can be self-hosted; Seed 1.6 Flash is proprietary.

Which is newer?

Seed 1.6 Flash is the newest, released Aug 28, 2025. Seed-OSS-36B-Instruct came out Aug 20, 2025. Knowledge cutoff: Seed-OSS-36B-Instruct Jul 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 Nov 2, 2026.

05 — Keep comparing

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