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Comparison · 2 models · Updated Nov 2, 2026

Seed-OSS-36B-Instruct vs Seed 1.6 Flash

Seed 1.6 Flash comes out ahead, 62 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

    ByteDance Seed

    Seed 1.6 Flash

    Released Aug 28, 2025Deprecated

    62/100
    • ECI—
    • Price$0.022 / $0.223
    • Context256K
    Full specs Remove Seed 1.6 Flash

  3. Add a model

    Make it a three-way comparison.

01 — Verdict

Seed 1.6 Flash is our pick

Seed 1.6 Flash is the better all-round choice, scoring 62/100 against Seed-OSS-36B-Instruct (40). It leads on inputs & features. Seed-OSS-36B-Instruct wins on 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 priceSeed 1.6 FlashSeed 1.6 Flash $0.072 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend) · Seed-OSS-36B-Instruct unpriced
  • Longest contextSeed-OSS-36B-InstructSeed-OSS-36B-Instruct 524,288 · Seed 1.6 Flash 256,000 tokens
  • Widest inputsSeed 1.6 FlashSeed-OSS-36B-Instruct: Text · Seed 1.6 Flash: Text, Images, Video
  • Self-hostingSeed-OSS-36B-InstructPublishes downloadable weights (Apache 2.0)
How the score is built
MeasureWeightSeed-OSS-36B-InstructSeed 1.6 Flash
Inputs & features60%3580
Context window40%4936
Overall100%40/10062/100

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 Seed 1.6 Flash specifications side by side
SpecificationSeed-OSS-36B-InstructByteDance SeedSeed 1.6 FlashByteDance Seed
Capability
Capabilities Index (ECI)——
ECI rank——
GPQA DiamondGraduate-level science questions71.5%—
OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025Competition mathematics67.5%—
Price per million tokens
Input—$0.022
Output—$0.223
Cached input—$0.0044
Blended (3:1)—$0.072
Long-context rate—Over 32K: $0.045 / $0.445
Price source—Official Volcengine Ark API
Limits
Context window524,288 tokens (best)256,000 tokens
Max output524,288 tokens (best)32,000 tokens
Inputs and features
TextYesYes
ImagesNoYes
PDFsNoNo
AudioNoNo
VideoNoYes
ReasoningYesYes
Tool callingYesYes
Structured outputNoYes
Availability
WeightsOpenApache 2.0Proprietary
API model ID—doubao-seed-1-6-flash-250828
API providers—5
ReleasedAug 20, 2025Aug 28, 2025
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—
  • Seed 1.6 Flash$0.668
04 — Questions

Which should you choose?

Which is better: Seed-OSS-36B-Instruct or Seed 1.6 Flash?

Seed 1.6 Flash is the better all-round choice, scoring 62/100 against Seed-OSS-36B-Instruct (40). It leads on inputs & features. Seed-OSS-36B-Instruct wins on 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 Seed 1.6 Flash?

Seed 1.6 Flash is cheaper at $0.022 input / $0.223 output per million tokens (official Volcengine Ark API price). . At a typical mix of three input tokens to one output token, that is $0.072 per million tokens for Seed 1.6 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 Seed 1.6 Flash has not been scored yet.

Which is better for coding?

There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for Seed-OSS-36B-Instruct and Seed 1.6 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?

Seed-OSS-36B-Instruct has the largest context window at 524,288 tokens, against 256,000 for Seed 1.6 Flash. Maximum output per response: Seed-OSS-36B-Instruct up to 524,288, Seed 1.6 Flash up to 32,000 tokens.

Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?

Seed-OSS-36B-Instruct accepts text; Seed 1.6 Flash accepts text, images and video. Seed 1.6 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; Seed 1.6 Flash is proprietary.

Which is newer?

Seed 1.6 Flash is the newest, released Aug 28, 2025. 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

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