Pairwise benchmark snapshot · Aug 16, 2026
In this head-to-head showdown, Seed 2.1 Turbo delivers higher overall intelligence and human-preferred responses (Elo 1,472 vs 1,440), while Seed 2.1 Turbo leads in SWE-bench software engineering benchmarks (63.2%), while Qwen3 235B is more budget-friendly at $0.88/1M per 1M output tokens, while Seed 2.1 Turbo provides faster response streaming (160 tok/s). Review the complete breakdown below to determine which model best fits your performance and budget requirements.
8 direct benchmark disciplines evaluated across capability, speed, and cost
Open-weight Qwen3 mixture-of-experts.
ByteDance Seed 2.1 Turbo, listed on public model timelines as an Aug 10 2026 API drop.
Currently comparing Qwen3 235B vs Seed 2.1 Turbo. Alternative family tiers available.
Δ 32 Arena Elo pts
160 tok/s
$0.88 / 1M output
Relative percentile scores computed across all active models in the benchmark catalog.
Comparing top Western standard models with China's leading frontier rival across 6 skill dimensions. Tap any spoke or dot to inspect.
Category wins across reasoning intelligence, generation speed, and token cost.
Preference Elo, Coding proficiency, SWE-bench & LiveBench accuracy
Generation throughput and time to first token responsiveness
Cost per million tokens and max context window length
| Benchmark | Qwen3 235B | Seed 2.1 Turbo | Advantage Delta |
|---|---|---|---|
| Preference Elo | +32 | ||
| Coding Elo | — | — | |
| LiveBench | +1.3% | ||
| SWE-bench | +3.8% | ||
| GPQA Diamond | — | ||
| Time to first token | +200 ms | ||
| Output speed | 74 tok/s | 160 tok/s | +86 tok/s |
| Input price | $0.22/1M | $0.27/1M | +$0.05/1M |
| Output price | $0.88/1M | +$0.22/1M | |
| Context window | +125k |
Simulate monthly production API costs in USD (US Dollar).
Qwen3 235B is estimated to save $5.05/month ($61/year).
Higher SWE-bench (63.2%).
Lower output list price ($0.88/1M).
Lower TTFT (120 ms).
Larger window (256k).
Seed 2.1 Turbo is the side marked multimodal in the catalog.
| Target Workload | Recommended Pick | Evaluation Rationale |
|---|---|---|
| Repo / coding agents | Seed 2.1 Turbo | Higher SWE-bench (63.2%). |
| High-volume chat | Qwen3 235B | Lower output list price ($0.88/1M). |
| Voice / low-latency UI | Seed 2.1 Turbo | Lower TTFT (120 ms). |
| Long-document RAG | Seed 2.1 Turbo | Larger window (256k). |
| Screenshots / vision | Seed 2.1 Turbo | Seed 2.1 Turbo is the side marked multimodal in the catalog. |
Listed on public model timelines as an Aug 10 2026 API drop. Preview-quality story, indexable because we have a full snapshot.
Sep 2025 open-weight mixture-of-experts. Self-host path. Don’t confuse it with Qwen 3 Max.
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Verified Head-to-Head Telemetry