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Comparison · 2 models · Updated Oct 4, 2026

Seed 1.6 Vision vs Granite-4.0-H-Small

Too close to call on our weighted score (Seed 1.6 Vision 63, Granite-4.0-H-Small 63). The right pick depends on what you value most.

  1. ByteDance Seed

    Seed 1.6 Vision

    Released Aug 15, 2025

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

    Granite-4.0-H-Small

    Released Oct 2, 2025

    63/100
    • ECI—
    • Price$0.064 / $0.265
    • Context131K
  3. Add a model

    Make it a three-way comparison.

01 — Verdict

Too close to call

It is close. Our weighted score puts them within a point (Seed 1.6 Vision 63/100, Granite-4.0-H-Small 63/100), so choose by what matters most for your work: Granite-4.0-H-Small on price and Seed 1.6 Vision for long inputs. 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 priceGranite-4.0-H-SmallGranite-4.0-H-Small $0.114 · Seed 1.6 Vision $0.386 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
  • Longest contextSeed 1.6 VisionSeed 1.6 Vision 256,000 · Granite-4.0-H-Small 131,072 tokens
  • Widest inputsSeed 1.6 VisionSeed 1.6 Vision: Text, Images · Granite-4.0-H-Small: Text
  • Self-hostingGranite-4.0-H-SmallPublishes downloadable weights
How the score is built
MeasureWeightSeed 1.6 VisionGranite-4.0-H-Small
Price50%6995
Inputs & features30%7035
Context window20%3624
Overall100%63/10063/100

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 Granite-4.0-H-Small specifications side by side
SpecificationSeed 1.6 VisionByteDance SeedGranite-4.0-H-SmallIBM
Capability
Capabilities Index (ECI)——
ECI rank——
Price per million tokens
Input$0.119$0.064 (best)
Output$1.19$0.265 (best)
Cached input$0.024—
Blended (3:1)$0.386$0.114 (best)
Long-context rateOver 32K: $0.178 / $2.37Same rate
Price sourceOfficial Volcengine Ark APIOfficial watsonx.ai API
Limits
Context window256,000 tokens (best)131,072 tokens
Max output32,000 tokens131,072 tokens (best)
Inputs and features
TextYesYes
ImagesYesNo
PDFsNoNo
AudioNoNo
VideoNoNo
ReasoningYesNo
Tool callingYesYes
Structured outputYesYes
Availability
WeightsProprietaryOpen
API model IDdoubao-seed-1-6-vision-250815ibm/granite-4-h-small
API providers2 (best)1
ReleasedAug 15, 2025Oct 2, 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
  • Granite-4.0-H-Small$1.17
04 — Questions

Which should you choose?

Which is better: Seed 1.6 Vision or Granite-4.0-H-Small?

It is close. Our weighted score puts them within a point (Seed 1.6 Vision 63/100, Granite-4.0-H-Small 63/100), so choose by what matters most for your work: Granite-4.0-H-Small on price and Seed 1.6 Vision for long inputs. 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 Granite-4.0-H-Small?

Granite-4.0-H-Small is cheaper at $0.064 input / $0.265 output per million tokens (official watsonx.ai API price). Seed 1.6 Vision costs $0.119 input / $1.19 output per million tokens (official Volcengine Ark API price). At a typical mix of three input tokens to one output token, that is $0.114 per million tokens for Granite-4.0-H-Small versus $0.386 for Seed 1.6 Vision (3.4× 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 Granite-4.0-H-Small has not been scored yet.

Which is better for coding?

There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for Seed 1.6 Vision and Granite-4.0-H-Small 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 Granite-4.0-H-Small. Maximum output per response: Seed 1.6 Vision up to 32,000, Granite-4.0-H-Small up to 131,072 tokens.

Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?

Seed 1.6 Vision accepts text and images; Granite-4.0-H-Small accepts text. Seed 1.6 Vision handles the widest range of inputs.

Are any of these open source?

Granite-4.0-H-Small publishes its weights and can be self-hosted; Seed 1.6 Vision is proprietary.

Which is newer?

Granite-4.0-H-Small is the newest, released Oct 2, 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.