API cost decision in 10 seconds

New🔥Gemini 3.5 Flash vs Seed-2.0-Mini

Pick Seed-2.0-Mini for lower cost; pick Gemini 3.5 Flash only if the larger context window matters more.

Page updated:  Data confirmed:  Prices normalized to USD per 1M tokens Sample workload: 1M input + 500K output

Budget verdict

Pick Seed-2.0-Mini for lower cost; pick Gemini 3.5 Flash only if the larger context window matters more.

On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, Seed-2.0-Mini is estimated at $0.3 vs $6 for Gemini 3.5 Flash, saving $5.7 (95% lower).

Cost-first pickSeed-2.0-Mini
Context-first pickGemini 3.5 Flash
Sample savings$5.795%
10x traffic gap$57

Gemini 3.5 Flash has more context, but Seed-2.0-Mini saves $5.7 on the standard workload. At 10x that traffic, the same price gap is about $57. Use the calculator below to replace the sample workload with your own token volume.

Cost sensitivity

Workload Sensitivity

Same prices, different token mixes.

Seed-2.0-Mini stays cheaper across input-heavy, balanced, and output-heavy sample workloads.

Workload shapeToken mixBetter pickGemini 3.5 FlashSeed-2.0-Mini
Input-heavy / RAG5M input + 500K outputSeed-2.0-Mini$12$0.7
Balanced workload1M input + 1M outputSeed-2.0-Mini$10.5$0.5
Output-heavy chatbot1M input + 5M outputSeed-2.0-Mini$46.5$2.1
Cheaper input Seed-2.0-Mini $1.5 vs $0.1 / 1M

Seed-2.0-Mini is $1.4 cheaper per 1M input tokens (93.3% lower; 15x difference).

Cheaper output Seed-2.0-Mini $9 vs $0.4 / 1M

Seed-2.0-Mini is $8.6 cheaper per 1M output tokens (95.6% lower; 22.5x difference).

Larger context Gemini 3.5 Flash 1.05M vs 262.14K

Gemini 3.5 Flash has 786.43K more context (4x larger).

Sample workload Seed-2.0-Mini $6 vs $0.3

Seed-2.0-Mini is $5.7 cheaper on the standard workload (95% lower).

Estimate your workload cost

Your Workload Cost

Prices are normalized to USD per 1M tokens.
Gemini 3.5 Flash Calculating… Estimated API cost
Seed-2.0-Mini Calculating… Estimated API cost
Cheaper for this workload Calculating… Difference: calculating…

This estimate uses normalized public API pricing per 1M tokens. It is a planning aid, not a billing quote. Verify provider pricing, limits, and terms before production use.

Quick Decision

Verdict

Seed-2.0-Mini has the lower input price; Seed-2.0-Mini has the lower output price; Gemini 3.5 Flash offers the larger context window. For the 1M input plus 500K output sample, Seed-2.0-Mini is cheaper for the standard workload.

For a 1M input token plus 500K output token workload, the estimated API cost is $6 for Gemini 3.5 Flash and $0.3 for Seed-2.0-Mini.

Best Fit

Choose Gemini 3.5 Flash when you care most about larger context window.

Choose Seed-2.0-Mini when you care most about lower input-token price, and lower output-token price.

Decision Notes
  • On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, Seed-2.0-Mini is estimated at $0.3 vs $6 for Gemini 3.5 Flash, saving $5.7 (95% lower).
  • Seed-2.0-Mini is $5.7 cheaper on the standard workload (95% lower).
  • Seed-2.0-Mini is $1.4 cheaper per 1M input tokens (93.3% lower; 15x difference).
  • Seed-2.0-Mini is $8.6 cheaper per 1M output tokens (95.6% lower; 22.5x difference).
  • Gemini 3.5 Flash has 786.43K more context (4x larger).
Head-to-Head Specs
FeatureNew🔥Gemini 3.5 Flash
(Google)
Seed-2.0-Mini
(ByteDance Seed)
Input Price
prompt tokens per 1M
$1.5$0.1
Completion Price
per 1M tokens
$9$0.4
Sample Workload Cost
1M input + 500K output
$6$0.3
Context Window1.05M262.14K
Release Date
Popularity#11

Use-Case Decision Matrix

Use caseBetter pickWhy
Budget-constrained productionSeed-2.0-MiniOn the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, Seed-2.0-Mini is estimated at $0.3 vs $6 for Gemini 3.5 Flash, saving $5.7 (95% lower).
High-volume input processingSeed-2.0-MiniLower prompt-token price matters most when prompts, retrieved passages, or documents dominate the bill.
Long responses and chatbotsSeed-2.0-MiniLower output-token price matters most when assistants generate many completion tokens.
RAG or long-document workGemini 3.5 FlashA larger context window leaves more room for retrieved passages, conversation history, or source files.

Related Alternatives

Same-provider lower-cost swaps
  • Gemma 4 26B A4B (free) can replace Gemini 3.5 Flash when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.
  • Gemma 4 31B (free) can replace Gemini 3.5 Flash when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.
  • Lyria 3 Pro Preview can replace Gemini 3.5 Flash when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.
  • Lyria 3 Clip Preview can replace Gemini 3.5 Flash when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.
Larger context near this budget

Cheaper alternatives

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Larger context alternatives

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Provider catalogs

Compare models within provider hubs before choosing a final API vendor.

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Google catalog

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ByteDance Seed catalog

Check other ByteDance Seed models with comparable pricing, context, or release timing.

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Gemini 3.5 Flash

Gemini 3.5 Flash is Google's high-efficiency multimodal model, bringing near-Pro level coding and reasoning at Flash-tier cost and speed. It is highly optimized for coding proficiency and parallel agentic execution...

Seed-2.0-Mini

Seed-2.0-mini targets latency-sensitive, high-concurrency, and cost-sensitive scenarios, emphasizing fast response and flexible inference deployment. It delivers performance comparable to ByteDance-Seed-1.6, supports 256k context, four reasoning effort modes (minimal/low/medium/high), multimodal understanding,...