Seed 1.6 vs Gemma-SEA-LION-v4-27B-IT vs GLM-4.6V
GLM-4.6V comes out ahead, 59 to 55 and 39 on our weighted score, though Seed 1.6 is 14% cheaper per token.
ByteDance SeedSeed 1.6
55/100- ECI—
- Price$0.119 / $1.19
- Context256K
AI Singapore
Gemma-SEA-LION-v4-27B-IT
39/100- ECI—
- Price$0.351 / $0.555
- Context128K
- Our pick
Z.ai (Zhipu)GLM-4.6V
59/100- ECI—
- Price$0.30 / $0.90
- Context128K
GLM-4.6V is our pick
GLM-4.6V is the better all-round choice, scoring 59/100 against Seed 1.6 (55) and Gemma-SEA-LION-v4-27B-IT (39). It leads on inputs & features. Seed 1.6 wins on 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 1.6Seed 1.6 $0.386 · Gemma-SEA-LION-v4-27B-IT $0.402 · GLM-4.6V $0.45 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
- Longest contextSeed 1.6Seed 1.6 256,000 · Gemma-SEA-LION-v4-27B-IT 128,000 · GLM-4.6V 128,000 tokens
- Widest inputsGLM-4.6VSeed 1.6: Text · Gemma-SEA-LION-v4-27B-IT: Text · GLM-4.6V: Text, Images, Video
- Self-hostingGemma-SEA-LION-v4-27B-IT and GLM-4.6VPublishes downloadable weights
| Measure | Weight | Seed 1.6 | Gemma-SEA-LION-v4-27B-IT | GLM-4.6V |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price | 50% | 69 | 69 | 66 |
| Inputs & features | 30% | 45 | 0 | 70 |
| Context window | 20% | 36 | 24 | 24 |
| Overall | 100% | 55/100 | 39/100 | 59/100 |
Left out because at least one model lacks the data: capability. The remaining weights were rescaled.
Every spec in one table
Highlighted cells lead their row. Dashes mean the data is not published.
| Specification | Seed 1.6ByteDance Seed | Gemma-SEA-LION-v4-27B-ITAI Singapore | GLM-4.6VZ.ai (Zhipu) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Capability | |||
| Capabilities Index (ECI) | — | — | — |
| ECI rank | — | — | — |
| Price per million tokens | |||
| Input | $0.119 (best) | $0.351 | $0.30 |
| Output | $1.19 | $0.555 (best) | $0.90 |
| Cached input | $0.024 | — | — |
| Blended (3:1) | $0.386 (best) | $0.402 | $0.45 |
| Long-context rate | Over 32K: $0.178 / $2.37 | Same rate | Same rate |
| Price source | Official Volcengine Ark API | Median of 2 providers | Official Z.AI API |
| Limits | |||
| Context window | 256,000 tokens (best) | 128,000 tokens | 128,000 tokens |
| Max output | 64,000 tokens | 128,000 tokens (best) | 32,768 tokens |
| Inputs and features | |||
| Text | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Images | No | No | Yes |
| PDFs | No | No | No |
| Audio | No | No | No |
| Video | No | No | Yes |
| Reasoning | Yesminimal · low · medium · high | No | Yes |
| Tool calling | Yes | No | Yes |
| Structured output | Yes | No | No |
| Availability | |||
| Weights | Proprietary | Open | Open |
| API model ID | doubao-seed-1-6-251015 | — | glm-4.6v |
| API providers | 2 | 2 | 10 (best) |
| Released | Oct 15, 2025 | Sep 23, 2025 | Dec 8, 2025 |
| Knowledge cutoff | — | — | Apr 2025 |
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$3.56
- Gemma-SEA-LION-v4-27B-IT$4.62
- GLM-4.6V$4.80
Which should you choose?
Which is better: Seed 1.6, Gemma-SEA-LION-v4-27B-IT or GLM-4.6V?
GLM-4.6V is the better all-round choice, scoring 59/100 against Seed 1.6 (55) and Gemma-SEA-LION-v4-27B-IT (39). It leads on inputs & features. Seed 1.6 wins on 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, Gemma-SEA-LION-v4-27B-IT or GLM-4.6V?
Seed 1.6 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); GLM-4.6V costs $0.30 input / $0.90 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 versus $0.402 for Gemma-SEA-LION-v4-27B-IT (1× as much) and $0.45 for GLM-4.6V (1.2× as much).
Which scores higher on benchmarks?
There is no independent benchmark that covers all three models yet. Seed 1.6 has not been scored yet, Gemma-SEA-LION-v4-27B-IT has not been scored yet and GLM-4.6V has not been scored yet.
Which is better for coding?
There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for Seed 1.6, Gemma-SEA-LION-v4-27B-IT and GLM-4.6V 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 has the largest context window at 256,000 tokens, against 128,000 for Gemma-SEA-LION-v4-27B-IT and 128,000 for GLM-4.6V. Maximum output per response: Seed 1.6 up to 64,000, Gemma-SEA-LION-v4-27B-IT up to 128,000, GLM-4.6V up to 32,768 tokens.
Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?
Seed 1.6 accepts text; Gemma-SEA-LION-v4-27B-IT accepts text; GLM-4.6V accepts text, images and video. GLM-4.6V handles the widest range of inputs.
Are any of these open source?
Gemma-SEA-LION-v4-27B-IT and GLM-4.6V publishes its weights and can be self-hosted; Seed 1.6 is proprietary.
Which is newer?
GLM-4.6V is the newest, released Dec 8, 2025. Seed 1.6 came out Oct 15, 2025; Gemma-SEA-LION-v4-27B-IT came out Sep 23, 2025. Knowledge cutoff: GLM-4.6V 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.
