API cost decision in 10 seconds

Grok 4.20 vs Seed 1.6 Flash

Pick Seed 1.6 Flash for lower cost; pick Grok 4.20 only if the larger context window matters more.

Page updated: 2026-05-26T10:03:26Z Data confirmed: 2026-05-26T12:43:06Z Prices normalized to USD per 1M tokens Sample workload: 1M input + 500K output

Budget verdict

Pick Seed 1.6 Flash for lower cost; pick Grok 4.20 only if the larger context window matters more.

On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, Seed 1.6 Flash is estimated at $0.22 vs $2.5 for Grok 4.20, saving $2.27 (91% lower).

Cost-first pickSeed 1.6 Flash

Context-first pickGrok 4.20

Sample savings$2.2791%

10x traffic gap$22.75

Grok 4.20 has more context, but Seed 1.6 Flash saves $2.27 on the standard workload. At 10x that traffic, the same price gap is about $22.75. Use the calculator below to replace the sample workload with your own token volume.

Cost sensitivity

Workload Sensitivity

Same prices, different token mixes.

Seed 1.6 Flash stays cheaper across input-heavy, balanced, and output-heavy sample workloads.

Workload shape	Token mix	Better pick	Grok 4.20	Seed 1.6 Flash
Input-heavy / RAG	5M input + 500K output	Seed 1.6 Flash	$7.5	$0.53
Balanced workload	1M input + 1M output	Seed 1.6 Flash	$3.75	$0.38
Output-heavy chatbot	1M input + 5M output	Seed 1.6 Flash	$13.75	$1.57

Cheaper input Seed 1.6 Flash $1.25 vs $0.075 / 1M

Seed 1.6 Flash is $1.18 cheaper per 1M input tokens (94% lower; 16.7x difference).

Cheaper output Seed 1.6 Flash $2.5 vs $0.3 / 1M

Seed 1.6 Flash is $2.2 cheaper per 1M output tokens (88% lower; 8.33x difference).

Larger context Grok 4.20 2M vs 262.14K

Grok 4.20 has 1.74M more context (7.63x larger).

Sample workload Seed 1.6 Flash $2.5 vs $0.22

Seed 1.6 Flash is $2.27 cheaper on the standard workload (91% lower).

Estimate your workload cost

Your Workload Cost

Prices are normalized to USD per 1M tokens.

Monthly input tokens Monthly output tokens

Grok 4.20 Calculating… Estimated API cost

Seed 1.6 Flash 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 1.6 Flash has the lower input price; Seed 1.6 Flash has the lower output price; Grok 4.20 offers the larger context window. For the 1M input plus 500K output sample, Seed 1.6 Flash is cheaper for the standard workload.

For a 1M input token plus 500K output token workload, the estimated API cost is $2.5 for Grok 4.20 and $0.22 for Seed 1.6 Flash.

Best Fit

Choose Grok 4.20 when you care most about larger context window.

Choose Seed 1.6 Flash 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 1.6 Flash is estimated at $0.22 vs $2.5 for Grok 4.20, saving $2.27 (91% lower).
Seed 1.6 Flash is $2.27 cheaper on the standard workload (91% lower).
Seed 1.6 Flash is $1.18 cheaper per 1M input tokens (94% lower; 16.7x difference).
Seed 1.6 Flash is $2.2 cheaper per 1M output tokens (88% lower; 8.33x difference).
Grok 4.20 has 1.74M more context (7.63x larger).

Head-to-Head Specs

Feature	Grok 4.20 (xAI)	Seed 1.6 Flash (ByteDance Seed)
Input Price prompt tokens per 1M	$1.25	$0.075
Completion Price per 1M tokens	$2.5	$0.3
Sample Workload Cost 1M input + 500K output	$2.5	$0.22
Context Window	2M	262.14K
Release Date	2026-03-31	2025-12-23

Use-Case Decision Matrix

Use case	Better pick	Why
Budget-constrained production	Seed 1.6 Flash	On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, Seed 1.6 Flash is estimated at $0.22 vs $2.5 for Grok 4.20, saving $2.27 (91% lower).
High-volume input processing	Seed 1.6 Flash	Lower prompt-token price matters most when prompts, retrieved passages, or documents dominate the bill.
Long responses and chatbots	Seed 1.6 Flash	Lower output-token price matters most when assistants generate many completion tokens.
RAG or long-document work	Grok 4.20	A larger context window leaves more room for retrieved passages, conversation history, or source files.

Related Alternatives

Same-provider lower-cost swaps

Grok Build 0.1 can replace Grok 4.20 when lower sample workload cost matters most: $2.

Larger context near this budget

Llama 4 Scout offers 10M context with $0.23 sample workload cost.

Popular competitors

DeepSeek V4 Flash · DeepSeek · #1
Hy3 preview · Tencent · #2
Claude Opus 4.7 · Anthropic · #3
Claude Sonnet 4.6 · Anthropic · #4

Cheaper alternatives

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Provider catalogs

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xAI catalog

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ByteDance Seed catalog

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Grok 4.20

Grok 4.20 is a reasoning model from xAI with industry-leading speed and agentic tool calling capabilities. It combines the lowest hallucination rate on the market with strict prompt adherance, delivering...

Seed 1.6 Flash

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