Seed 1.6 Flash vs Qwen3 VL 8B Instruct
Seed 1.6 Flash costs 2.5x less per output token than Qwen3 VL 8B Instruct ($0.30 vs $0.75 per million). Updated October 23, 2026; no benchmark has tested both models yet.
- Coding
- No data
- Overall
- No data
- Output $/M
- $0.30
- Coding
- No data
- Overall
- No data
- Output $/M
- $0.75
Seed 1.6 Flash or Qwen3 VL 8B Instruct: which to pick
Neither model has a coding score yet, so the two cannot be ranked on coding.
Pick Seed 1.6 Flash for output tokens 2.5x cheaper ($0.30 vs $0.75 per million).
No benchmark has tested both yet. Seed 1.6 Flash has none yet; Qwen3 VL 8B Instruct on LiveCodeBench (Artificial Analysis run), Terminal-Bench Hard (Artificial Analysis run) and AA Intelligence Index. Compare them on price and context instead.
Which one for your work
Each card is decided by one number both models carry. Where only one has it, the card says so and makes no call.
Coding
Vibe Coding Index, six public coding benchmarks
No call
Neither has a coding score yet.
One side not measured
Intelligence
AA Intelligence Index
No call
Only Qwen3 VL 8B Instruct has a AA Intelligence Index result, 7.3.
Directional only
Long documents
Listed context window
No call
Both take 262K tokens.
Listed by OpenRouter
Everyday cost
1K input + 500 output tokens
Seed 1.6 Flash
Seed 1.6 Flash $0.0002, Qwen3 VL 8B Instruct $0.0006 per turn.
List prices
At a glance
- Coding index
- Seed 1.6 Flash not benchmarked, Qwen3 VL 8B Instruct not benchmarked.
- Widest category
- None yet: no category has been tested on both models.
- Widest single gap
- None yet: no benchmark has tested both models.
- Output price
- Seed 1.6 Flash $0.30 against Qwen3 VL 8B Instruct $0.75 per million output tokens, 2.5x apart.
- Context window
- Both take 262K tokens.
Benchmark by benchmark
Every board either model has a result on, a category to a fold; bars are each result on a 0 to 100 scale. Only one model is measured on each, so no row names a leader.
CodingDirectional onlySix of these boards feed the Vibe Coding Index2 boards measured
| Benchmark | Seed 1.6 Flash | Qwen3 VL 8B Instruct | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| LiveCodeBench (Artificial Analysis run) | Not measured | 35.3% | Only Qwen3 VL 8B Instruct measured |
| Terminal-Bench Hard (Artificial Analysis run) | Not measured | 3.8% | Only Qwen3 VL 8B Instruct measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 41 boards here | |||
IntelligenceDirectional onlyPublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index1 board measured
| Benchmark | Seed 1.6 Flash | Qwen3 VL 8B Instruct | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| AA Intelligence Index | Not measured | 7.3 | Only Qwen3 VL 8B Instruct measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 1 board here | |||
Agentic workDirectional onlyPublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index1 board measured
| Benchmark | Seed 1.6 Flash | Qwen3 VL 8B Instruct | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| τ²-Bench Telecom | Not measured | 29.2% | Only Qwen3 VL 8B Instruct measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 41 boards here | |||
ReasoningDirectional onlyPublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index2 boards measured
| Benchmark | Seed 1.6 Flash | Qwen3 VL 8B Instruct | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| GPQA Diamond (Artificial Analysis run) | Not measured | 57.9% | Only Qwen3 VL 8B Instruct measured |
| Humanity's Last Exam (Artificial Analysis run) | Not measured | 3.8% | Only Qwen3 VL 8B Instruct measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 21 boards here | |||
MathDirectional onlyPublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index2 boards measured
| Benchmark | Seed 1.6 Flash | Qwen3 VL 8B Instruct | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| AA Math Index | Not measured | 30.7 | Only Qwen3 VL 8B Instruct measured |
| AIME 2025 (Artificial Analysis run) | Not measured | 30.7% | Only Qwen3 VL 8B Instruct measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 12 boards here | |||
KnowledgeDirectional onlyPublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index1 board measured
| Benchmark | Seed 1.6 Flash | Qwen3 VL 8B Instruct | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| MMLU Pro (Artificial Analysis run) | Not measured | 74.9% | Only Qwen3 VL 8B Instruct measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 19 boards here | |||
GeneralDirectional onlyPublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index2 boards measured
| Benchmark | Seed 1.6 Flash | Qwen3 VL 8B Instruct | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| IFBench | Not measured | 39.9% | Only Qwen3 VL 8B Instruct measured |
| Long context reasoning (AA-LCR) | Not measured | 33.3% | Only Qwen3 VL 8B Instruct measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 46 boards here | |||
What each workload costs
Three fixed token mixes at each model's listed price, so per-token rates become a bill.
Chat turn
1K input + 500 output tokens
Seed 1.6 Flash costs less
Repository review
50K input + 3K output tokens
Seed 1.6 Flash costs less
Agent loop
200K input + 10K output tokens
Seed 1.6 Flash costs less
Listed OpenRouter rates, without cache or batch discounts. A workload that does not fit a model's context window would need splitting.
Specification differences
The leading value in a row is marked; a row with a missing value names no leader. Our two rows are marked in red.
| Specification | ByteDance Seed Seed 1.6 Flash | Qwen3 VL 8B Instruct |
|---|---|---|
| Maker | ByteDance Seed | Qwen |
| Weights | No public weights listed | Open weights |
| Released | December 23, 2025 | October 14, 2025 |
| Context window | 262K | 262K |
| Input $/Mtok | $0.075 | $0.25 |
| Output $/Mtok | $0.30 | $0.75 |
| Coding index | Not benchmarked | Not benchmarked |
| Independent measurements behind it | 0 | 0 |
| Cost per solved task | Not computable | Not computable |
| Source | OpenRouter listing | OpenRouter listing |
Questions
Is Seed 1.6 Flash better than Qwen3 VL 8B Instruct for coding?
Neither model has a coding score yet, so the two cannot be ranked on coding. Pick Seed 1.6 Flash for output tokens 2.5x cheaper ($0.30 vs $0.75 per million).
Which is cheaper, Seed 1.6 Flash or Qwen3 VL 8B Instruct?
Seed 1.6 Flash costs $0.075 per million input tokens and $0.30 per million output tokens; Qwen3 VL 8B Instruct costs $0.25 and $0.75. Cost per solved task is known for neither of them.
Which has the bigger context window, Seed 1.6 Flash or Qwen3 VL 8B Instruct?
Neither: both take 262K tokens.
Has any benchmark tested both Seed 1.6 Flash and Qwen3 VL 8B Instruct?
No benchmark has tested both yet. Seed 1.6 Flash has none yet; Qwen3 VL 8B Instruct on LiveCodeBench (Artificial Analysis run), Terminal-Bench Hard (Artificial Analysis run) and AA Intelligence Index. Compare them on price and context instead. Data as of October 23, 2026.