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Comparison · 2 models · Updated Oct 4, 2026

Seed 1.6 Vision vs Gemma-SEA-LION-v4-27B-IT

Seed 1.6 Vision comes out ahead, 63 to 39 on our weighted score, and it is the cheaper option too.

  1. Our pick

    ByteDance Seed

    Seed 1.6 Vision

    Released Aug 15, 2025

    63/100
    • ECI—
    • Price$0.119 / $1.19
    • Context256K
  2. AI Singapore

    Gemma-SEA-LION-v4-27B-IT

    Released Sep 23, 2025

    39/100
    • ECI—
    • Price$0.351 / $0.555
    • Context128K
  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 63/100 against Gemma-SEA-LION-v4-27B-IT (39). It leads on 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 · Gemma-SEA-LION-v4-27B-IT $0.402 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
  • Longest contextSeed 1.6 VisionSeed 1.6 Vision 256,000 · Gemma-SEA-LION-v4-27B-IT 128,000 tokens
  • Widest inputsSeed 1.6 VisionSeed 1.6 Vision: Text, Images · Gemma-SEA-LION-v4-27B-IT: Text
  • Self-hostingGemma-SEA-LION-v4-27B-ITPublishes downloadable weights
How the score is built
MeasureWeightSeed 1.6 VisionGemma-SEA-LION-v4-27B-IT
Price50%6969
Inputs & features30%700
Context window20%3624
Overall100%63/10039/100

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 Gemma-SEA-LION-v4-27B-IT specifications side by side
SpecificationSeed 1.6 VisionByteDance SeedGemma-SEA-LION-v4-27B-ITAI Singapore
Capability
Capabilities Index (ECI)——
ECI rank——
Price per million tokens
Input$0.119 (best)$0.351
Output$1.19$0.555 (best)
Cached input$0.024—
Blended (3:1)$0.386 (best)$0.402
Long-context rateOver 32K: $0.178 / $2.37Same rate
Price sourceOfficial Volcengine Ark APIMedian of 2 providers
Limits
Context window256,000 tokens (best)128,000 tokens
Max output32,000 tokens128,000 tokens (best)
Inputs and features
TextYesYes
ImagesYesNo
PDFsNoNo
AudioNoNo
VideoNoNo
ReasoningYesNo
Tool callingYesNo
Structured outputYesNo
Availability
WeightsProprietaryOpen
API model IDdoubao-seed-1-6-vision-250815—
API providers22
ReleasedAug 15, 2025Sep 23, 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
  • Gemma-SEA-LION-v4-27B-IT$4.62
04 — Questions

Which should you choose?

Which is better: Seed 1.6 Vision or Gemma-SEA-LION-v4-27B-IT?

Seed 1.6 Vision is the better all-round choice, scoring 63/100 against Gemma-SEA-LION-v4-27B-IT (39). It leads on 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 Gemma-SEA-LION-v4-27B-IT?

Seed 1.6 Vision is cheaper at $0.119 input / $1.19 output per million tokens (official Volcengine Ark API price). Gemma-SEA-LION-v4-27B-IT costs $0.351 input / $0.555 output per million tokens (median across 2 API providers). 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 $0.402 for Gemma-SEA-LION-v4-27B-IT (1× 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 Gemma-SEA-LION-v4-27B-IT has not been scored yet.

Which is better for coding?

There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for Seed 1.6 Vision and Gemma-SEA-LION-v4-27B-IT yet, so there is no like-for-like coding score. Test both on a sample of your own tasks. Note that Gemma-SEA-LION-v4-27B-IT does not support tool calling, which most coding agents need.

Which has the bigger context window?

Seed 1.6 Vision has the largest context window at 256,000 tokens, against 128,000 for Gemma-SEA-LION-v4-27B-IT. Maximum output per response: Seed 1.6 Vision up to 32,000, Gemma-SEA-LION-v4-27B-IT up to 128,000 tokens.

Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?

Seed 1.6 Vision accepts text and images; Gemma-SEA-LION-v4-27B-IT accepts text. Seed 1.6 Vision handles the widest range of inputs.

Are any of these open source?

Gemma-SEA-LION-v4-27B-IT publishes its weights and can be self-hosted; Seed 1.6 Vision is proprietary.

Which is newer?

Gemma-SEA-LION-v4-27B-IT is the newest, released Sep 23, 2025. Seed 1.6 Vision came out Aug 15, 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 Oct 4, 2026.