API cost decision in 10 seconds

NewGrok 4.3 vs Seed 1.6

Pick Seed 1.6 for lower cost; pick Grok 4.3 only if the larger context window matters more.

Page updated: 2026-05-26T10:03:26Z Data confirmed: 2026-05-26T13:08:02Z Prices normalized to USD per 1M tokens Sample workload: 1M input + 500K output

Budget verdict

Pick Seed 1.6 for lower cost; pick Grok 4.3 only if the larger context window matters more.

On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, Seed 1.6 is estimated at $1.25 vs $2.5 for Grok 4.3, saving $1.25 (50% lower).

Cost-first pickSeed 1.6

Context-first pickGrok 4.3

Sample savings$1.2550%

10x traffic gap$12.5

Grok 4.3 has more context, but Seed 1.6 saves $1.25 on the standard workload. At 10x that traffic, the same price gap is about $12.5. 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 stays cheaper across input-heavy, balanced, and output-heavy sample workloads.

Workload shape	Token mix	Better pick	Grok 4.3	Seed 1.6
Input-heavy / RAG	5M input + 500K output	Seed 1.6	$7.5	$2.25
Balanced workload	1M input + 1M output	Seed 1.6	$3.75	$2.25
Output-heavy chatbot	1M input + 5M output	Seed 1.6	$13.75	$10.25

Cheaper input Seed 1.6 $1.25 vs $0.25 / 1M

Seed 1.6 is $1 cheaper per 1M input tokens (80% lower; 5x difference).

Cheaper output Seed 1.6 $2.5 vs $2 / 1M

Seed 1.6 is $0.5 cheaper per 1M output tokens (20% lower; 1.25x difference).

Larger context Grok 4.3 1M vs 262.14K

Grok 4.3 has 737.86K more context (3.81x larger).

Sample workload Seed 1.6 $2.5 vs $1.25

Seed 1.6 is $1.25 cheaper on the standard workload (50% lower).

Estimate your workload cost

Your Workload Cost

Prices are normalized to USD per 1M tokens.

Monthly input tokens Monthly output tokens

Grok 4.3 Calculating… Estimated API cost

Seed 1.6 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 has the lower input price; Seed 1.6 has the lower output price; Grok 4.3 offers the larger context window. For the 1M input plus 500K output sample, Seed 1.6 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 4.3 and $1.25 for Seed 1.6.

Best Fit

Choose Grok 4.3 when you care most about larger context window.

Choose Seed 1.6 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 is estimated at $1.25 vs $2.5 for Grok 4.3, saving $1.25 (50% lower).
Seed 1.6 is $1.25 cheaper on the standard workload (50% lower).
Seed 1.6 is $1 cheaper per 1M input tokens (80% lower; 5x difference).
Seed 1.6 is $0.5 cheaper per 1M output tokens (20% lower; 1.25x difference).
Grok 4.3 has 737.86K more context (3.81x larger).

Head-to-Head Specs

Feature	NewGrok 4.3 (xAI)	Seed 1.6 (ByteDance Seed)
Input Price prompt tokens per 1M	$1.25	$0.25
Completion Price per 1M tokens	$2.5	$2
Sample Workload Cost 1M input + 500K output	$2.5	$1.25
Context Window	1M	262.14K
Release Date	2026-04-30	2025-12-23

Use-Case Decision Matrix

Use case	Better pick	Why
Budget-constrained production	Seed 1.6	On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, Seed 1.6 is estimated at $1.25 vs $2.5 for Grok 4.3, saving $1.25 (50% lower).
High-volume input processing	Seed 1.6	Lower prompt-token price matters most when prompts, retrieved passages, or documents dominate the bill.
Long responses and chatbots	Seed 1.6	Lower output-token price matters most when assistants generate many completion tokens.
RAG or long-document work	Grok 4.3	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 4.3 when lower sample workload cost matters most: $2.
Seed 1.6 Flash can replace Seed 1.6 when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.22.
Seed-2.0-Mini can replace Seed 1.6 when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.3.

Larger context near this budget

Llama 4 Scout offers 10M context with $0.23 sample workload cost.
Grok 4.20 offers 2M context with $2.5 sample workload cost.
Owl Alpha offers 1.05M context with $0 sample workload cost.
DeepSeek V4 Flash offers 1.05M context with $0.2 sample workload cost.

Popular competitors

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Hy3 preview · Tencent · #2
Claude Opus 4.7 · Anthropic · #3
Claude Sonnet 4.6 · Anthropic · #4

Cheaper alternatives

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Larger context alternatives

Find models with larger context windows for RAG, long documents, and codebase review.

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Provider catalogs

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

Open provider hubs

xAI catalog

Review all tracked xAI models before deciding whether this matchup is the right shortlist.

Open xAI models

ByteDance Seed catalog

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

Open ByteDance Seed models

Grok 4.3

Grok 4.3 is a reasoning model from xAI. It accepts text and image inputs with text output, and is suited for agentic workflows, instruction-following tasks, and applications requiring high factual...

Seed 1.6

Seed 1.6 is a general-purpose model released by the ByteDance Seed team. It incorporates multimodal capabilities and adaptive deep thinking with a 256K context window.