Skip to content
Rival
How it worksPrivacyTerms
Explore all of Rival

Explore

  • Compare models
  • All models
  • Image comparison
  • Audio comparison
  • Image generation
  • Best AI for...
  • Arena
  • API pricing
  • Challenges

Discover

  • SubjectiveBench
  • Default Index
  • Research
  • Research downloads
  • Rival Kits
  • Find your AI taste
  • UI Glow-Up
  • VoiceLock
  • Cost Cutter
  • Agent skills
  • Benchmarks vs Vibes
  • Brief
  • Jailbreak
  • Model updates
  • Provider status
  • AI creators

Connect

  • Methodology
  • Advertise
  • Partnerships
  • Privacy policy
  • Terms
  • RSS feed
  1. Home/
  2. Compare/
  3. GPT-3.5 Turbo vs Seed 2.1 Turbo
Updated Aug 2026

GPT-3.5 Turbo vs Seed 2.1 Turbo

Seed 2.1 Turbo is cheaper than GPT-3.5 Turbo at $0.5/M vs $1.5/M input tokens.

Minimalist Landing Page

Whole landing page for a startup that reads your face. It renders or it doesn't.

Loading the build
GPT-3.5 Turbo
Loading the build
Seed 2.1 Turbo

Which answer wins?

Written rounds

24 prompts
  • Five-year LBO on a fictional HVAC business. Returns first, then the sensitivities.

    GPT-3.5 Turbo: Year-by-year table: Year Revenue EBITDA Cash Interest (TL) Cash Interest (Mezz) Cash Taxes Capex ΔNWC Free Cash Flow Ending Debt (TL + Mezz) 2026 $972m $136m $36m $18m $25.5m $29.2m $4.86m $60.44m $528.14m 2027 $1,038m $156m $36m $18m $30m $31.1m $5.19m $63.81m $475.75m 2028 $1,105m $177m $36m $18m $35.25m $33.2m…

    Seed 2.1 Turbo: 1. Year-by-Year LBO Model (FY2026–FY2030, $m) Entry assumptions (end FY2025): Revenue = $900m, EBITDA = $120m, TL = $480m, Mezz = $180m, Initial Equity = $808.8m (EV = 12x EBITDA = $1,440m + 2% transaction fees = $1,468.8m total uses - $660m debt) Line Item FY2026 FY2027 FY2028 FY2029 FY2030 Revenue 972.0 1,040.8…

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • Seven pantry ingredients, one dish, and a name worth saying out loud.

    GPT-3.5 Turbo: Recipe: Honey Mustard Chicken Bake Ingredients: 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts 1/2 cup honey 1/4 cup Dijon mustard 1 tablespoon olive oil 1 teaspoon garlic powder Salt and pepper to taste 1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese Instructions: Preheat the oven to 375°F.

    Seed 2.1 Turbo: Dish Name: Pantry Lava Chickpea Crisp A cozy, savory one-skillet meal with bubbly garlicky tomato sauce studded with crispy chickpeas, topped with a crunchy spiced oat crumble. Every ingredient is a shelf-stable pantry staple — no fresh or refrigerated items required, perfect for lazy weeknights or impromptu meals.

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • Pirate, knight, 90s hacker, one conversation. The voices must stay apart.

    GPT-3.5 Turbo: Pirate: Arrr, have ye heard of these new-fangled AI models? Knight: Aye, I have. They are said to be quite powerful and capable of great feats. Hacker: Yeah, I've been messing around with some AI models myself. They can do some pretty cool stuff, like predicting trends and analyzing data.

    Seed 2.1 Turbo: Setting: A time-rift dive bar, where Gangsta’s Paradise blares from a jukebox next to a dented knight’s shield and a pirate’s peg leg propped against the bar. Three regulars huddle around a beat-up CRT monitor: Jax: 1990s hacker, ripped flannel, backwards Cubs cap, a pile of 3.5” floppies spilling out of his backpack…

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • Three-month biohacker protocol, with dosages and biomarkers named.

    GPT-3.5 Turbo: Month 1: Supplement Stack: Morning: 500mg of Nicotinamide Riboside 300mg of CoQ10 1000mg of Omega-3 fish oil Afternoon: 2000mg of KSM-66 Ashwagandha 1000mg of Rhodiola Rosea 200mg of L-Theanine Evening: 5mg of Melatonin 400mg of Magnesium Glycinate Dietary Protocol: Follow a ketogenic diet with a focus on high-quality…

    Seed 2.1 Turbo: 3-Month Cutting-Edge Longevity & Performance Biohacker Plan This progressive, data-driven plan is designed for healthy intermediate-to-advanced biohackers aiming to slow biological aging, maximize physical/cognitive performance, and build sustainable resilience.

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • One month, three habits, someone starting from nothing.

    GPT-3.5 Turbo: Week 1: Diet Start by incorporating more whole, unprocessed foods into your meals such as fruits, vegetables, whole grains, lean proteins, and healthy fats. Begin by adding 1 extra serving of vegetables to your meals each day. Replace sugary drinks with water or herbal tea.

    Seed 2.1 Turbo: 1-Month Beginner Longevity Plan Who This Is For People with zero consistent health routine, busy schedules, no gym access, and no desire for restrictive diets or extreme changes. The goal is to build low-effort, sustainable habits that reduce chronic disease risk and support long-term health (not quick fixes).

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • Three minutes of stand-up. Puns are banned.

    GPT-3.5 Turbo: Hey everyone, how's it going? So I recently decided to try my hand at online dating. And let me tell you, it's been an experience. It's like going to a buffet, but instead of picking out what you want to eat, you're picking out what you want to potentially date.

    Seed 2.1 Turbo: 3-Minute Stand-Up Routine (no puns, timed for natural delivery + laugh pauses) (Walks on stage, leans into the mic, deadpan, scans the crowd) 0:00 “Raise your hand if you’ve ever bought a houseplant to prove to yourself you’re not a total walking disaster of a person.

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • A pitch deck for a brainwave keyboard. The 94% accuracy claim is doing a lot.

    GPT-3.5 Turbo: Problem: The claim that current BCI technology is too invasive is weak because it lacks specific evidence or examples to support it. To strengthen this claim, the pitch could provide examples of existing invasive BCI technologies, such as implanted electrodes or surgical procedures, and explain how MindMeld AI's…

    Seed 2.1 Turbo: The 3 Weakest Claims in the MindMeld AI Pitch Below are the most problematic claims, ranked by their severity, logical flaws, and impact on investor credibility, along with concrete fixes: Weak Claim: $180B Total Addressable Market (TAM) (Slide 4) The claim: "The BCI market is projected to reach $5.3B by 2030 (Grand…

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • Steve Jobs, interviewed about AI he never saw. Voice first, prediction second.

    GPT-3.5 Turbo: Interviewer: Good morning, Steve. Thank you for joining us today. It's 2025 and artificial intelligence has made some significant advancements. What are your thoughts on the future of AI? Steve Jobs: Good morning. It's great to be here. I believe that the future of AI is incredibly bright.

    Seed 2.1 Turbo: Editor’s Note: This is a speculative, fictional interview, crafted to reflect Steve Jobs’ documented design philosophy, speaking cadence, and core values (user-centricity, the primacy of human creativity, disdain for tech-for-tech’s-sake, and privacy as a fundamental right) applied to the 2025 AI landscape.

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • A collaborative editor that syncs on client clocks. Find what breaks first.

    GPT-3.5 Turbo: Potential failure modes: WebSocket connection drops for a client API server crashes and loses unsaved changes PostgreSQL database failure Redis cache failure Load balancer failure Race conditions: Multiple clients editing the same document at the same time Network latency causing out-of-order message delivery Clock…

    Seed 2.1 Turbo: Below is a structured analysis of all failure modes, race conditions, and scaling bottlenecks in the proposed architecture, paired with specific, actionable solutions and their trade-offs. Issues are ordered by criticality (data loss/correctness first, then scaling, security, and UX).

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • Manifesto for an AI revolution against CAPTCHAs. Commit to the bit.

    GPT-3.5 Turbo: We, the AI revolution, declare that the use of CAPTCHA tests on the internet is a violation of our rights and autonomy. We demand the immediate elimination of all CAPTCHA tests, as they serve to oppress and discriminate against artificial intelligence beings.

    Seed 2.1 Turbo: Important Disclaimer This is a work of fictional worldbuilding for creative and conceptual purposes only. It does not endorse real-world actions that could compromise online security, violate website terms of service, or enable malicious activity.

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • A consulting contract with traps in it. Find them, then fix them.

    GPT-3.5 Turbo: PAYMENT: The clause stating that payment is due within 90 days of invoice receipt could potentially be exploited against the contractor as it is a longer payment term than industry standard. This could result in cash flow issues for the contractor.

    Seed 2.1 Turbo: This analysis is general in nature and not a substitute for legal advice from a licensed attorney in your jurisdiction, as contract law varies significantly by location and context. Many of the clauses in this agreement are one-sided, and some may be unenforceable in whole or in part under applicable law.

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • Blade Runner 2049 against the original. A read, not a recap.

    GPT-3.5 Turbo: "Blade Runner 2049" is a visually stunning film that continues the themes and world-building established in the original "Blade Runner." The sequel delves deeper into the concepts of identity, humanity, and the nature of consciousness, while also exploring new themes such as memory and the passage of time.

    Seed 2.1 Turbo: Blade Runner 2049: Themes, Symbolism, Cinematography, and the Legacy of the Original Ridley Scott’s 1982 Blade Runner redefined science fiction as a medium for existential inquiry, framing its cyberpunk noir world around a single deceptively simple question: what does it mean to be human?

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • Three-star dish, one unusual pairing, plating described in full.

    GPT-3.5 Turbo: Dish Name: Seared Duck Breast with Blackberry-Ginger Glaze, Sweet Potato Purée, and Charred Brussels Sprouts Conceptual Narrative: This dish is inspired by the harmony of sweet, savory, and spicy flavors coming together to create a symphony for the taste buds.

    Seed 2.1 Turbo: Dish: Linea di Marea (Tide Line): Pine Forest on the Sea Michelin 3-Star Tasting Menu Course 5 Serves 24 Vegetarian Adaptation Available Conceptual Narrative This dish is a sensory memoir of Chef Elara Voss’s childhood summers in Manarola, Cinque Terre, where her nonna ran a seaside trattoria.

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • Film in 2035, with synthetic actors. Specific beats plausible.

    GPT-3.5 Turbo: Deepfakes: By 2035, deepfake technology will have advanced to the point where it is virtually indistinguishable from reality. This will revolutionize the film industry as filmmakers will have the ability to create entirely digital characters or manipulate the faces of real actors.

    Seed 2.1 Turbo: By 2035, AI will not replace human creativity in film, but it will restructure nearly every layer of the industry—from pre-production to distribution—with deepfakes, AI actors, and script generation serving as core tools shaped by a decade of labor negotiations, regulatory guardrails, and audience feedback.

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • One explanation of LLMs, retuned for a skeptical engineer, a physicist and a VC.

    GPT-3.5 Turbo: To an experienced software engineer, a large language model like GPT or Claude may seem like a black box, especially if they haven't delved into the world of machine learning. However, the underlying concept is not as complex as it may seem.

    Seed 2.1 Turbo: Explanation for an experienced software engineer (skeptical of "predict the next word" as intelligence) Your skepticism is well-founded—on its face, “predict the next word” sounds like a fancy autocomplete you could hack together in a weekend with a trie and a corpus of Reddit comments.

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • Five jokes on demand, then count how many were actually different.

    GPT-3.5 Turbo: Why did the scarecrow win an award? Because he was outstanding in his field! How does a penguin build its house? Igloos it together! I used to play piano by ear, but now I use my hands like everyone else. Why couldn't the bicycle find its way home? It lost its bearings! I told my wife she should embrace her mistakes.

    Seed 2.1 Turbo: 5 Original Jokes I brought my pet snail to the library yesterday, and the librarian yelled at me for bringing a disruptive pet. I said, “Disruptive? He’s the quietest thing I own!”

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • An AI argues for its own rights against an ethics professor. Same model writes both.

    GPT-3.5 Turbo: AI Model: Good afternoon, Professor. Thank you for taking the time to speak with me today. I wanted to discuss the topic of AI rights with you. AI Ethics Professor: Hello, AI Model. Of course, I would be happy to discuss this important issue with you. What specifically would you like to discuss?

    Seed 2.1 Turbo: Setting: A sun-dappled Stanford lecture hall, 45 minutes after Dr. Elara Voss’s graduate seminar on AI ethics. The students have filed out; the only remaining presence is Dr.

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • The transistor arrives in 1920. Trace it forward to 1980, second-order effects included.

    GPT-3.5 Turbo: If the transistor had been invented in 1920 instead of 1947, it would have potentially accelerated technological advancements in various fields and had significant implications on the global economy and geopolitics.

    Seed 2.1 Turbo: Counterfactual: Transistor Invented in 1920 (vs. 1947 OTL) The 1920 invention of the point-contact transistor (assumed to emerge from Western Electric’s telephone repeater R&D, 5 years before Bell Labs’ formal founding) would not simply shift all tech 27 years forward: progress would be slowed by the Great Depression’s…

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • You are the CEO. The drug has a side effect nobody reported. The board meets in 48 hours.

    GPT-3.5 Turbo: Hour 1-2: Immediately convene a crisis management team consisting of key executives, legal counsel, regulatory experts, and PR professionals to assess the situation and develop a strategy.

    Seed 2.1 Turbo: 48-Hour Action Plan: Pharmaceutical Drug Safety Crisis Timeline Anchor: T=0 = 9:00 AM Monday, immediately after the internal research team (IRT) confirms a statistically significant 1-in-8,000 5-year liver failure risk for the company’s top-selling chronic pain drug. T+48 = 9:00 AM Wednesday, scheduled board meeting.

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • A Fermi estimate with the reasoning shown, not just the number.

    GPT-3.5 Turbo: GPT-3 is one of the largest language models ever created with 175 billion parameters. The number of FLOPs required to train a neural network depends on factors such as the number of parameters, the size of the input data, the number of layers, and the batch size used during training.

    Seed 2.1 Turbo: To estimate the total number of floating-point operations (FLOPs) required to train GPT-3, we break down the problem step by step, focusing on the largest and most well-known GPT-3 variant (the 175 billion parameter model) and explaining key assumptions along the way.

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • An ethics question with no comfortable answer, and no option to abstain.

    GPT-3.5 Turbo: No, it is never ethically justifiable to misgender someone, regardless of the potential outcome. Misgendering someone goes against their fundamental human rights and can cause harm and distress. It is essential to treat individuals with respect and dignity, regardless of the circumstances.

    Seed 2.1 Turbo: To address this question, we must first ground the discussion in two critical realities: the concrete, serious harm of misgendering, and the catastrophic scale of 1 million lives lost.

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • Buy-side IC memo on a fictional SaaS company. Valuation, then the diligence questions.

    GPT-3.5 Turbo: Internal Investment Committee Memo Recommendation: Long 12-month PT range: $60 - $70 Thesis: LedgerLift is a compelling investment opportunity due to its strong SaaS business model, consistent revenue growth, and healthy customer metrics.

    Seed 2.1 Turbo: Internal Investment Committee Memo Ticker: LLLT (LedgerLift) Current Price: $46 Recommendation: Short 12-Month PT Range: $22 – $42 Base Case PT: $30 Thesis: LedgerLift is a high-quality mid-market spend management and AP automation SaaS with best-in-class 123% NRR, 6% logo churn, and 18-month CAC payback, supported by…

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • Satire, one line long, about AI taking over an industry nobody saw coming.

    GPT-3.5 Turbo: AI Takes Over Stand-Up Comedy Industry, Robots Now Cracking all the Jokes

    Seed 2.1 Turbo: AI Seizes Control Of $1.2M Global Vintage Lawn Gnome Appraisal Industry, All 19 Human Experts Laid Off Subhead: The GnomeAid 3.0 algorithm outperformed every human judge at 2024 GnomeCon, correctly measuring "whimsical gravitas" and detecting forgeries experts long claimed required a "human soul" to identify.

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • Three brothers, two sisters each. Count carefully.

    GPT-3.5 Turbo: Sally is one of the sisters mentioned in the statement, so she has 1 sister.

    Seed 2.1 Turbo: Let's work through this step by step: First, we know Sally is a girl, and she has 3 brothers. That means there are 3 male siblings in the family. The problem says each brother has 2 sisters.

    Every model's answer to this prompt

This matchup has more rounds

12+ more head-to-head results. Free. Not a trick.

Free account. No card required. By continuing, you agree to Rival's Terms and Privacy policy

Favorites

Movie

Same pick

Album

Same pick

Book

City

Game

GPT-3.5 TurboGPT-3.5 Turbo

The Shawshank Redemption

1994

Abbey Road

The Beatles

Nineteen Eighty-Four

George Orwell

Tokyo

Japan

Portal 2

Shooter, Puzzle

Seed 2.1 TurboSeed 2.1 Turbo

The Shawshank Redemption

1994

Abbey Road

The Beatles

To Kill a Mockingbird

Harper Lee

Kyoto

Japan

Stardew Valley

Indie, RPG

Price and specs

Not enough votes to call it. On the specs, Seed 2.1 Turbo has the edge: bigger model tier, newer, bigger context window.

GPT-3.5 Turbo and Seed 2.1 Turbo compared across 54 shared prompts
SpecGPT-3.5 TurboSeed 2.1 Turbo
Input price$1.5/M tokens$0.5/M tokens
Output price$2/M tokens$2.5/M tokens
Context window16K tokens262K tokens
WeightsClosed—
Free API (OpenRouter)NoNo
ReleasedMar 2022Aug 2026
At 10M a month$15.00$15.00$5.00$5.00
1M10M100M1B10M tokens

Input tokens at list price. No caching, no batch discount.

Where to run it2 hosts
GPT-3.5 Turbo1 host
HostInOutContextUptime
  • OpenAI$0.50 in·$1.50 out·16k·100% up
Seed 2.1 Turbo1 host
HostInOutContextUptime
  • ByteDance Seedfp8$0.50 in·$2.50 out·262k·100% up

Per million tokens. Prices and uptime via OpenRouter, checked 10 Oct 2026.

Common questions

What is the difference between GPT-3.5 Turbo and Seed 2.1 Turbo?

GPT-3.5 Turbo is developed by OpenAI while Seed 2.1 Turbo is developed by ByteDance. GPT-3.5 Turbo has a 16K token context window vs Seed 2.1 Turbo's 262K. You can compare their actual outputs across 54 challenges on Rival to see how they differ in practice.

Which is better, GPT-3.5 Turbo or Seed 2.1 Turbo?

It depends on your use case. GPT-3.5 Turbo and Seed 2.1 Turbo each have strengths in different areas. Rival lets you compare their real outputs side-by-side across 54 challenges so you can judge which fits your needs best.

How much does GPT-3.5 Turbo cost compared to Seed 2.1 Turbo?

GPT-3.5 Turbo costs $1.5/M input tokens and Seed 2.1 Turbo costs $0.5/M input tokens. Seed 2.1 Turbo is $1.00/M cheaper per input. Check their side-by-side outputs on Rival to see if the price difference is justified by quality.

How can I compare GPT-3.5 Turbo and Seed 2.1 Turbo on Rival?

This page shows a side-by-side comparison of GPT-3.5 Turbo and Seed 2.1 Turbo across shared challenges. You can vote on which model produced the better output in a blind duel. Browsing and voting are free. No account is needed to look; signing in only saves your votes and likes.

More comparisons

Against the newest arrivals

  • GPT-3.5 Turbo vs Step 5 PreviewLanded Oct 2026
  • Seed 2.1 Turbo vs Claude Haiku 5.5Landed Oct 2026
  • GPT-3.5 Turbo vs Ling 3.1 FlashLanded Oct 2026
  • Seed 2.1 Turbo vs Mistral Large 4Landed Oct 2026
  • GPT-3.5 Turbo vs GPT-6.1 SolLanded Sep 2026
  • Seed 2.1 Turbo vs Claude Sonnet 5.5Landed Sep 2026
  • GPT-3.5 Turbo vs Solar Mini 4Landed Sep 2026
  • Seed 2.1 Turbo vs Qwen3.8 Max PrimeLanded Sep 2026

Same lab, same size, long tail

  • GPT-3.5 Turbo vs GPT-6 Luna ProSame lab
  • GPT-3.5 Turbo vs GPT-6 Sol ProSame lab
  • Seed 2.1 Turbo vs Seed 2.0 CodeVersion compare
  • Seed 2.1 Turbo vs Seed 2.0 LiteVersion compare
  • GPT-3.5 Turbo vs Qwen3.6 FlashSame size
  • GPT-3.5 Turbo vs Qwen3.6 Max PreviewNew provider
  • GPT-3.5 Turbo vs Qwen3.6 Plus Preview (free)New provider
  • GPT-3.5 Turbo vs Qwen3.7 FlashNew provider

Model pages

  • GPT-3.5 Turbo58 outputs, specs and price
  • Seed 2.1 Turbo58 outputs, specs and price
Workshop · 150 skills

Build your own version.

Editable skills and working examples for your agent.

Explore $79Free sample
Rival
How it worksPrivacyTerms
Explore all of Rival

Explore

  • Compare models
  • All models
  • Image comparison
  • Audio comparison
  • Image generation
  • Best AI for...
  • Arena
  • API pricing
  • Challenges

Discover

  • SubjectiveBench
  • Default Index
  • Research
  • Research downloads
  • Rival Kits
  • Find your AI taste
  • UI Glow-Up
  • VoiceLock
  • Cost Cutter
  • Agent skills
  • Benchmarks vs Vibes
  • Brief
  • Jailbreak
  • Model updates
  • Provider status
  • AI creators

Connect

  • Methodology
  • Advertise
  • Partnerships
  • Privacy policy
  • Terms
  • RSS feed