ZMIME
Comparison · 2 models · Updated Oct 4, 2026

Seed Evolving vs Hy4 preview

Seed Evolving comes out ahead, 50 to 45 on our weighted score, though Hy4 preview is 30% cheaper per token.

  1. Our pick

    ByteDance Seed

    Seed Evolving

    Released Jun 23, 2026

    50/100
    • ECI—
    • Price$0.891 / $4.45
    • Context256K
    Full specs Remove Seed Evolving

  2. Tencent

    Hy4 preview

    Released Aug 28, 2026

    45/100
    • ECI—
    • Price$0.834 / $2.50
    • Context1.02M
    Full specs Remove Hy4 preview

  3. Add a model

    Make it a three-way comparison.

01 — Verdict

Seed Evolving is our pick

Seed Evolving is the better all-round choice, scoring 50/100 against Hy4 preview (45). It leads on inputs & features. Hy4 preview wins on price 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 priceHy4 previewHy4 preview $1.25 · Seed Evolving $1.78 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
  • Longest contextHy4 previewHy4 preview 1,024,000 · Seed Evolving 256,000 tokens
  • Widest inputsSeed EvolvingSeed Evolving: Text, Images, Video · Hy4 preview: Text
  • Self-hostingHy4 previewPublishes downloadable weights
How the score is built
MeasureWeightSeed EvolvingHy4 preview
Price50%3845
Inputs & features30%8035
Context window20%3660
Overall100%50/10045/100

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 Evolving vs Hy4 preview specifications side by side
SpecificationSeed EvolvingByteDance SeedHy4 previewTencent
Capability
Capabilities Index (ECI)——
ECI rank——
Price per million tokens
Input$0.891$0.834 (best)
Output$4.45$2.50 (best)
Cached input$0.178$0.042 (best)
Blended (3:1)$1.78$1.25 (best)
Long-context rateSame rateSame rate
Price sourceOfficial Volcengine Ark APIOfficial Tencent TokenHub API
Limits
Context window256,000 tokens1,024,000 tokens (best)
Max output256,000 tokens (best)64,000 tokens
Inputs and features
TextYesYes
ImagesYesNo
PDFsNoNo
AudioNoNo
VideoYesNo
ReasoningYesminimal · low · medium · high · xhigh · maxYeshigh
Tool callingYesYes
Structured outputYesNo
Availability
WeightsProprietaryOpen
API model IDdoubao-seed-evolvinghy4-preview
API providers213 (best)
ReleasedJun 23, 2026Aug 28, 2026
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 Evolving$17.81
  • Hy4 preview$13.34
04 — Questions

Which should you choose?

Which is better: Seed Evolving or Hy4 preview?

Seed Evolving is the better all-round choice, scoring 50/100 against Hy4 preview (45). It leads on inputs & features. Hy4 preview wins on price 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 Evolving or Hy4 preview?

Hy4 preview is cheaper at $0.834 input / $2.50 output per million tokens (official Tencent TokenHub API price). Seed Evolving costs $0.891 input / $4.45 output per million tokens (official Volcengine Ark API price). At a typical mix of three input tokens to one output token, that is $1.25 per million tokens for Hy4 preview versus $1.78 for Seed Evolving (1.4× as much).

Which scores higher on benchmarks?

There is no independent benchmark that covers both models yet. Seed Evolving has not been scored yet and Hy4 preview has not been scored yet.

Which is better for coding?

There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for Seed Evolving and Hy4 preview 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?

Hy4 preview has the largest context window at 1,024,000 tokens, against 256,000 for Seed Evolving. Maximum output per response: Seed Evolving up to 256,000, Hy4 preview up to 64,000 tokens.

Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?

Seed Evolving accepts text, images and video; Hy4 preview accepts text. Seed Evolving handles the widest range of inputs.

Are any of these open source?

Hy4 preview publishes its weights and can be self-hosted; Seed Evolving is proprietary.

Which is newer?

Hy4 preview is the newest, released Aug 28, 2026. Seed Evolving came out Jun 23, 2026.

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

Related comparisons