ZMIME
Comparison · 2 models · Updated Nov 2, 2026

Seed-OSS-36B-Instruct vs Gemma 4 26B A4B IT

Gemma 4 26B A4B IT comes out ahead, 71 to 60 on our weighted score, and it is the cheaper option too.

  1. ByteDance Seed

    Seed-OSS-36B-Instruct

    Released Aug 20, 2025

    60/100
    • ECI—
    • Price—
    • Context524K
    Full specs Remove Seed-OSS-36B-Instruct
  2. Our pick

    Google

    Gemma 4 26B A4B IT

    Released Apr 2, 2026

    71/100
    • ECI142.0
    • Price$0.112 / $0.40
    • Context262K
    Full specs Remove Gemma 4 26B A4B IT

  3. Add a model

    Make it a three-way comparison.

01 — Verdict

Gemma 4 26B A4B IT is our pick

Gemma 4 26B A4B IT is the better all-round choice, scoring 71/100 against Seed-OSS-36B-Instruct (60). It leads on capability and inputs & features. Seed-OSS-36B-Instruct wins on context window. The score weighs capability 67%, inputs & features 20%, context window 13%. Capability uses the average of shared benchmarks (GPQA Diamond and OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025), because Seed-OSS-36B-Instruct has no Capabilities Index score yet.

  • CapabilityGemma 4 26B A4B ITShared benchmarks: Gemma 4 26B A4B IT 77.7% · Seed-OSS-36B-Instruct 69.5%
  • Lowest priceGemma 4 26B A4B ITGemma 4 26B A4B IT $0.184 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend) · Seed-OSS-36B-Instruct unpriced
  • Longest contextSeed-OSS-36B-InstructSeed-OSS-36B-Instruct 524,288 · Gemma 4 26B A4B IT 262,144 tokens
  • Widest inputsGemma 4 26B A4B ITSeed-OSS-36B-Instruct: Text · Gemma 4 26B A4B IT: Text, Images
  • Self-hostingAll open weightsEvery model here can be downloaded and run on your own hardware
How the score is built
MeasureWeightSeed-OSS-36B-InstructGemma 4 26B A4B IT
CapabilityShared benchmarks67%7078
Inputs & features20%3570
Context window13%4937
Overall100%60/10071/100

Left out because at least one model lacks the data: 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 Gemma 4 26B A4B IT specifications side by side
SpecificationSeed-OSS-36B-InstructByteDance SeedGemma 4 26B A4B ITGoogle
Capability
Capabilities Index (ECI)—142.0
ECI rank—#103 of 165
GPQA DiamondGraduate-level science questions71.5%73.2% (best)
OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025Competition mathematics67.5%82.2% (best)
Price per million tokens
Input—$0.112
Output—$0.40
Cached input——
Blended (3:1)—$0.184
Long-context rate—Same rate
Price source—Median of 26 providers
Limits
Context window524,288 tokens (best)262,144 tokens
Max output524,288 tokens (best)32,768 tokens
Inputs and features
TextYesYes
ImagesNoYes
PDFsNoNo
AudioNoNo
VideoNoNo
ReasoningYesYes
Tool callingYesYes
Structured outputNoYes
Availability
WeightsOpenApache 2.0Open
API model ID—gemma-4-26b-a4b-it
API providers—29
ReleasedAug 20, 2025Apr 2, 2026
Knowledge cutoffJul 2024—
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—
  • Gemma 4 26B A4B IT$1.92
04 — Questions

Which should you choose?

Which is better: Seed-OSS-36B-Instruct or Gemma 4 26B A4B IT?

Gemma 4 26B A4B IT is the better all-round choice, scoring 71/100 against Seed-OSS-36B-Instruct (60). It leads on capability and inputs & features. Seed-OSS-36B-Instruct wins on context window. The score weighs capability 67%, inputs & features 20%, context window 13%. Capability uses the average of shared benchmarks (GPQA Diamond and OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025), because Seed-OSS-36B-Instruct has no Capabilities Index score yet.

Which is cheaper, Seed-OSS-36B-Instruct or Gemma 4 26B A4B IT?

Gemma 4 26B A4B IT is cheaper at $0.112 input / $0.40 output per million tokens (median across 26 API providers). . At a typical mix of three input tokens to one output token, that is $0.184 per million tokens for Gemma 4 26B A4B IT versus . Seed-OSS-36B-Instruct has no published per-token price.

Which scores higher on benchmarks?

Not every model here has a Capabilities Index score, so we compare the average of shared benchmarks (GPQA Diamond and OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025): Gemma 4 26B A4B IT 77.7% and Seed-OSS-36B-Instruct 69.5%. On individual benchmarks: GPQA Diamond — Gemma 4 26B A4B IT 73.2%, Seed-OSS-36B-Instruct 71.5%; OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025 — Gemma 4 26B A4B IT 82.2%, Seed-OSS-36B-Instruct 67.5%.

Which is better for coding?

There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for Seed-OSS-36B-Instruct and Gemma 4 26B A4B IT yet, so there is no like-for-like coding score. On overall capability, Gemma 4 26B A4B IT leads, which tends to carry over to coding, but test on your own codebase. Both support tool calling for agent workflows.

Which has the bigger context window?

Seed-OSS-36B-Instruct has the largest context window at 524,288 tokens, against 262,144 for Gemma 4 26B A4B IT. Maximum output per response: Seed-OSS-36B-Instruct up to 524,288, Gemma 4 26B A4B IT up to 32,768 tokens.

Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?

Seed-OSS-36B-Instruct accepts text; Gemma 4 26B A4B IT accepts text and images. Gemma 4 26B A4B IT handles the widest range of inputs.

Are any of these open source?

Yes, both publish their weights (Apache 2.0), so you can self-host them.

Which is newer?

Gemma 4 26B A4B IT is the newest, released Apr 2, 2026. Seed-OSS-36B-Instruct came out Aug 20, 2025. Knowledge cutoff: Seed-OSS-36B-Instruct Jul 2024.

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

Related comparisons