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Comparison · 2 models · Updated Nov 2, 2026

Seed 1.6 Vision vs Codestral 25.08

Seed 1.6 Vision comes out ahead, 61 to 47 on our weighted score, and it is the cheaper option too.

  1. Our pick

    ByteDance Seed

    Seed 1.6 Vision

    Released Aug 15, 2025Deprecated

    61/100
    • ECI—
    • Price$0.119 / $1.19
    • Context256K
    Full specs Remove Seed 1.6 Vision

  2. Mistral AI

    Codestral 25.08

    Released Jul 30, 2025

    47/100
    • ECI—
    • Price$0.30 / $0.90
    • Context128K
    Full specs Remove Codestral 25.08

  3. Add a model

    Make it a three-way comparison.

01 — Verdict

Seed 1.6 Vision is our pick

Seed 1.6 Vision is the better all-round choice, scoring 61/100 against Codestral 25.08 (47). It leads on price, inputs & features and 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 VisionSeed 1.6 Vision $0.386 · Codestral 25.08 $0.45 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
  • Longest contextSeed 1.6 VisionSeed 1.6 Vision 256,000 · Codestral 25.08 128,000 tokens
  • Widest inputsSeed 1.6 VisionSeed 1.6 Vision: Text, Images · Codestral 25.08: Text
  • Self-hostingNo open weightsBoth are available only through APIs
How the score is built
MeasureWeightSeed 1.6 VisionCodestral 25.08
Price50%6764
Inputs & features30%7035
Context window20%3624
Overall100%61/10047/100

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.

Seed 1.6 Vision vs Codestral 25.08 specifications side by side
SpecificationSeed 1.6 VisionByteDance SeedCodestral 25.08Mistral AI
Capability
Capabilities Index (ECI)——
ECI rank——
Price per million tokens
Input$0.119 (best)$0.30
Output$1.19$0.90 (best)
Cached input$0.024 (best)$0.03
Blended (3:1)$0.386 (best)$0.45
Long-context rateOver 32K: $0.178 / $2.37Same rate
Price sourceOfficial Volcengine Ark APIOfficial Mistral API
Limits
Context window256,000 tokens (best)128,000 tokens
Max output32,000 tokens (best)8,192 tokens
Inputs and features
TextYesYes
ImagesYesNo
PDFsNoNo
AudioNoNo
VideoNoNo
ReasoningYesNo
Tool callingYesYes
Structured outputYesYes
Availability
WeightsProprietaryProprietary
API model IDdoubao-seed-1-6-vision-250815codestral-2508
API providers211 (best)
ReleasedAug 15, 2025Jul 30, 2025
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.

  • Seed 1.6 Vision$3.56
  • Codestral 25.08$4.80
04 — Questions

Which should you choose?

Which is better: Seed 1.6 Vision or Codestral 25.08?

Seed 1.6 Vision is the better all-round choice, scoring 61/100 against Codestral 25.08 (47). It leads on price, inputs & features and 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, Seed 1.6 Vision or Codestral 25.08?

Seed 1.6 Vision is cheaper at $0.119 input / $1.19 output per million tokens (official Volcengine Ark API price). Codestral 25.08 costs $0.30 input / $0.90 output per million tokens (official Mistral API price). At a typical mix of three input tokens to one output token, that is $0.386 per million tokens for Seed 1.6 Vision versus $0.45 for Codestral 25.08 (1.2× as much).

Which scores higher on benchmarks?

There is no independent benchmark that covers both models yet. Seed 1.6 Vision has not been scored yet and Codestral 25.08 has not been scored yet.

Which is better for coding?

There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for Seed 1.6 Vision and Codestral 25.08 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 1.6 Vision has the largest context window at 256,000 tokens, against 128,000 for Codestral 25.08. Maximum output per response: Seed 1.6 Vision up to 32,000, Codestral 25.08 up to 8,192 tokens.

Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?

Seed 1.6 Vision accepts text and images; Codestral 25.08 accepts text. Seed 1.6 Vision handles the widest range of inputs.

Are any of these open source?

No. Seed 1.6 Vision and Codestral 25.08 are proprietary and only available through APIs and apps.

Which is newer?

Seed 1.6 Vision is the newest, released Aug 15, 2025. Codestral 25.08 came out Jul 30, 2025.

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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