ZMIME
Comparison · 2 models · Updated Oct 4, 2026

Seed 1.6 Vision vs GLM-4.5-Air

Seed 1.6 Vision comes out ahead, 63 to 49 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
    Full specs Remove Seed 1.6 Vision

  2. Z.ai (Zhipu)

    GLM-4.5-Air

    Released Jul 28, 2025

    49/100
    • ECI—
    • Price$0.20 / $1.10
    • Context131K
    Full specs Remove GLM-4.5-Air

  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 GLM-4.5-Air (49). 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 · GLM-4.5-Air $0.425 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
  • Longest contextSeed 1.6 VisionSeed 1.6 Vision 256,000 · GLM-4.5-Air 131,072 tokens
  • Widest inputsSeed 1.6 VisionSeed 1.6 Vision: Text, Images · GLM-4.5-Air: Text
  • Self-hostingGLM-4.5-AirPublishes downloadable weights
How the score is built
MeasureWeightSeed 1.6 VisionGLM-4.5-Air
Price50%6968
Inputs & features30%7035
Context window20%3624
Overall100%63/10049/100

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 GLM-4.5-Air specifications side by side
SpecificationSeed 1.6 VisionByteDance SeedGLM-4.5-AirZ.ai (Zhipu)
Capability
Capabilities Index (ECI)——
ECI rank——
Price per million tokens
Input$0.119 (best)$0.20
Output$1.19$1.10 (best)
Cached input$0.024 (best)$0.03
Blended (3:1)$0.386 (best)$0.425
Long-context rateOver 32K: $0.178 / $2.37Same rate
Price sourceOfficial Volcengine Ark APIOfficial Z.AI API
Limits
Context window256,000 tokens (best)131,072 tokens
Max output32,000 tokens98,304 tokens (best)
Inputs and features
TextYesYes
ImagesYesNo
PDFsNoNo
AudioNoNo
VideoNoNo
ReasoningYesYes
Tool callingYesYes
Structured outputYesNo
Availability
WeightsProprietaryOpen
API model IDdoubao-seed-1-6-vision-250815glm-4.5-air
API providers213 (best)
ReleasedAug 15, 2025Jul 28, 2025
Knowledge cutoff—Apr 2025
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
  • GLM-4.5-Air$4.20
04 — Questions

Which should you choose?

Which is better: Seed 1.6 Vision or GLM-4.5-Air?

Seed 1.6 Vision is the better all-round choice, scoring 63/100 against GLM-4.5-Air (49). 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 GLM-4.5-Air?

Seed 1.6 Vision is cheaper at $0.119 input / $1.19 output per million tokens (official Volcengine Ark API price). GLM-4.5-Air costs $0.20 input / $1.10 output per million tokens (official Z.AI 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 $0.425 for GLM-4.5-Air (1.1× 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 GLM-4.5-Air has not been scored yet.

Which is better for coding?

There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for Seed 1.6 Vision and GLM-4.5-Air 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 131,072 for GLM-4.5-Air. Maximum output per response: Seed 1.6 Vision up to 32,000, GLM-4.5-Air up to 98,304 tokens.

Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?

Seed 1.6 Vision accepts text and images; GLM-4.5-Air accepts text. Seed 1.6 Vision handles the widest range of inputs.

Are any of these open source?

GLM-4.5-Air publishes its weights and can be self-hosted; Seed 1.6 Vision is proprietary.

Which is newer?

Seed 1.6 Vision is the newest, released Aug 15, 2025. GLM-4.5-Air came out Jul 28, 2025. Knowledge cutoff: GLM-4.5-Air Apr 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.

05 — Keep comparing

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