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Comparison · 2 models · Updated Nov 2, 2026

Seed-OSS-36B-Instruct vs Gemini 2.5 Flash

Gemini 2.5 Flash comes out ahead, 84 to 40 on our weighted score, and it is the cheaper option too.

  1. ByteDance Seed

    Seed-OSS-36B-Instruct

    Released Aug 20, 2025

    40/100
    • ECI—
    • Price—
    • Context524K
    Full specs Remove Seed-OSS-36B-Instruct
  2. Our pick

    Google

    Gemini 2.5 Flash

    Released Jun 17, 2025

    84/100
    • ECI140.6
    • Price$0.30 / $2.50
    • Context1.05M
    Full specs Remove Gemini 2.5 Flash

  3. Add a model

    Make it a three-way comparison.

01 — Verdict

Gemini 2.5 Flash is our pick

Gemini 2.5 Flash is the better all-round choice, scoring 84/100 against Seed-OSS-36B-Instruct (40). It leads on inputs & features and context window. The score weighs inputs & features 60%, context window 40%. 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 priceGemini 2.5 FlashGemini 2.5 Flash $0.85 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend) · Seed-OSS-36B-Instruct unpriced
  • Longest contextGemini 2.5 FlashGemini 2.5 Flash 1,048,576 · Seed-OSS-36B-Instruct 524,288 tokens
  • Widest inputsGemini 2.5 FlashSeed-OSS-36B-Instruct: Text · Gemini 2.5 Flash: Text, Images, PDFs, Audio, Video
  • Self-hostingSeed-OSS-36B-InstructPublishes downloadable weights (Apache 2.0)
How the score is built
MeasureWeightSeed-OSS-36B-InstructGemini 2.5 Flash
Inputs & features60%35100
Context window40%4961
Overall100%40/10084/100

Left out because at least one model lacks the data: capability and price. 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-OSS-36B-Instruct vs Gemini 2.5 Flash specifications side by side
SpecificationSeed-OSS-36B-InstructByteDance SeedGemini 2.5 FlashGoogle
Capability
Capabilities Index (ECI)—140.6
ECI rank—#110 of 165
GPQA DiamondGraduate-level science questions71.5%—
OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025Competition mathematics67.5%—
Price per million tokens
Input—$0.30
Output—$2.50
Cached input—$0.03
Blended (3:1)—$0.85
Long-context rate—Same rate
Price source—Official Google API
Limits
Context window524,288 tokens1,048,576 tokens (best)
Max output524,288 tokens (best)65,536 tokens
Inputs and features
TextYesYes
ImagesNoYes
PDFsNoYes
AudioNoYes
VideoNoYes
ReasoningYesYes
Tool callingYesYes
Structured outputNoYes
Availability
WeightsOpenApache 2.0Proprietary
API model ID—gemini-2.5-flash
API providers—32
ReleasedAug 20, 2025Jun 17, 2025
Knowledge cutoffJul 2024Jan 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-OSS-36B-Instruct—
  • Gemini 2.5 Flash$8.00
04 — Questions

Which should you choose?

Which is better: Seed-OSS-36B-Instruct or Gemini 2.5 Flash?

Gemini 2.5 Flash is the better all-round choice, scoring 84/100 against Seed-OSS-36B-Instruct (40). It leads on inputs & features and context window. The score weighs inputs & features 60%, context window 40%. None of the shared benchmarks cover every model here yet, so capability is left out of this verdict.

Which is cheaper, Seed-OSS-36B-Instruct or Gemini 2.5 Flash?

Gemini 2.5 Flash is cheaper at $0.30 input / $2.50 output per million tokens (official Google API price). . At a typical mix of three input tokens to one output token, that is $0.85 per million tokens for Gemini 2.5 Flash versus . Seed-OSS-36B-Instruct has no published per-token price.

Which scores higher on benchmarks?

There is no independent benchmark that covers both models yet. Seed-OSS-36B-Instruct has not been scored yet and Gemini 2.5 Flash has an ECI of 140.6.

Which is better for coding?

There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for Seed-OSS-36B-Instruct and Gemini 2.5 Flash 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?

Gemini 2.5 Flash has the largest context window at 1,048,576 tokens, against 524,288 for Seed-OSS-36B-Instruct. Maximum output per response: Seed-OSS-36B-Instruct up to 524,288, Gemini 2.5 Flash up to 65,536 tokens.

Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?

Seed-OSS-36B-Instruct accepts text; Gemini 2.5 Flash accepts text, images, PDFs, audio and video. Gemini 2.5 Flash handles the widest range of inputs.

Are any of these open source?

Seed-OSS-36B-Instruct publishes its weights (Apache 2.0) and can be self-hosted; Gemini 2.5 Flash is proprietary.

Which is newer?

Seed-OSS-36B-Instruct is the newest, released Aug 20, 2025. Gemini 2.5 Flash came out Jun 17, 2025. Knowledge cutoff: Seed-OSS-36B-Instruct Jul 2024, Gemini 2.5 Flash Jan 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 Nov 2, 2026.

05 — Keep comparing

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