Gemini 3.1 Pro vs Doubao Seed 2.1 Pro
Gemini 3.1 Pro wins on Overall; Doubao Seed 2.1 Pro wins on Coding. Every numeric field is compared below, with a worked monthly-cost example and a pick rule for each use case.
Verdict at a glance
Choose Gemini 3.1 Pro if you…
- Native audio and video
- Strong scientific computing
- Largest 2M context
- Search integration
- Best for: Multimodal, Scientific reasoning, Audio & video
Choose Doubao Seed 2.1 Pro if you…
- World-leading video understanding
- Excellent Chinese
- Strong agent ability
- Full 256K context
- Best for: Video understanding, Chinese tasks, AI agents
Head-to-head aggregate scores
Scores are 0–100, aggregated from public benchmark information and independently weighted across three leaderboards. Rank is out of 22 tracked models.
Aggregated from public sources and independently weighted; methodology on the Terms page. Scores within 3 points are treated as statistically tied.
Specs & pricing — every field side by side
List API prices in USD per 1M tokens. The highlighted cell is the stronger value/capability on that row.
| Dimension | Gemini 3.1 Pro | Doubao Seed 2.1 Pro | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|
| Vendor | Google (US) | ByteDance (CN) | Different vendors |
| Released | 2026.05 | 2026.06 | Doubao Seed 2.1 Pro is newer |
| Overall (rank) | 83 · #3 | 78 · #7 | Gemini 3.1 Pro +5 |
| Coding | 74 · #9 | 76 · #7 | Doubao Seed 2.1 Pro +2 |
| Multimodal | 92 · #2 | 92 · #2 | Tie |
| Context window | 2M | 256K | Gemini 3.1 Pro larger |
| Max output | 128K | 256K | Doubao Seed 2.1 Pro longer |
| Effective-context | 92 | 93 | Doubao Seed 2.1 Pro more reliable |
| Input $/1M | $2 | $0.83 | Doubao Seed 2.1 Pro cheaper |
| Output $/1M | $12 | $4.17 | Doubao Seed 2.1 Pro cheaper |
| Cache discount | none | custom | Doubao Seed 2.1 Pro deeper |
| Speed | ~60 tok/s | ~65 tok/s | Doubao Seed 2.1 Pro faster |
| TTFT | 0.7s | 0.5s | Doubao Seed 2.1 Pro snappier |
| Function calling | 78 | 85 | Doubao Seed 2.1 Pro ahead |
| Refusal rate | ~12% | ~11% | Doubao Seed 2.1 Pro less restrictive |
| English | 90 | 72 | Gemini 3.1 Pro |
| Chinese | 75 | 95 | Doubao Seed 2.1 Pro |
| Modalities | text, image, audio, video | text, image, video | different coverage |
| Open weights | No | No | Both closed |
| Fine-tuning | Yes | Yes | |
| Free tier | Gemini App free with limited quota; API free tier available | Doubao App free; free quota on the Ark platform | |
| SOC2 / no-train | yes / yes | no / yes | |
| Private deployment | No | Yes | Doubao Seed 2.1 Pro |
Fields drawn from vendor public documentation and the Modelspectra 22-model dataset; speed varies with network, concurrency and prompt length. Verify current pricing before purchase.
Dimension-by-dimension analysis
Reasoning & overall intelligence
Gemini 3.1 Pro leads the overall aggregate by 5 points (83 vs 78). That is a meaningful, not marginal, edge on hard, multi-step reasoning, while Doubao Seed 2.1 Pro remains a strong generalist that is not out of its depth on routine work.
Agentic coding
This is a modest gap: Doubao Seed 2.1 Pro scores 76 against 74. On multi-file edits, SWE-style tickets and long-horizon agent loops Doubao Seed 2.1 Pro needs fewer correction turns; Gemini 3.1 Pro is still competent for scripts and assisted completion but trails as task complexity rises.
Multimodal
They tie on the multimodal aggregate at 92. A concrete modality difference: Gemini 3.1 Pro additionally handles audio. Both accept video, so weigh their video-understanding reliability, not mere support.
Speed & latency
Doubao Seed 2.1 Pro is faster in interactive use: ~65 tok/s with 0.5s TTFT versus ~60 tok/s with 0.7s TTFT (about 1.1× the throughput). For conversational UIs where perceived responsiveness drives retention, that edge is a real product factor even when raw reasoning is lower.
Context: window vs usable recall
Nominal windows are 2M for Gemini 3.1 Pro and 256K for Doubao Seed 2.1 Pro. Crucially, the larger nominal window does not win on usable recall: Gemini 3.1 Pro advertises 2M but Doubao Seed 2.1 Pro scores higher on effective-context (93 vs 92), i.e. it actually retains more of what it was given.
Price & total cost
Doubao Seed 2.1 Pro is the cheaper API at $0.83/$4.17 versus Gemini 3.1 Pro at $2/$12 per 1M input/output tokens — list input is about 2.4× lower.
Chinese vs English
English: Gemini 3.1 Pro 90 vs Doubao Seed 2.1 Pro 72. Chinese: 75 vs 95. For Chinese-language production, Doubao Seed 2.1 Pro is the stronger pick. Note that non-Chinese models generally require overseas network access for their APIs.
Tool use & ecosystem
Function-calling score: Gemini 3.1 Pro 78 vs Doubao Seed 2.1 Pro 85, so Doubao Seed 2.1 Pro has the edge on structured tool use. Fine-tuning is available from Gemini 3.1 Pro and Doubao Seed 2.1 Pro. Factor in existing SDK/plugin familiarity — switching cost often outweighs a few-point tool-use gap.
Cost worked example — same workload, real token math
Assume a production workload of 100M input + 30M output tokens per month, with 90% of input tokens served from cache. Figures use public list prices.
| Scenario · per month | Gemini 3.1 Pro | Doubao Seed 2.1 Pro | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| List priceno cache applied | $560100M in × $2 + 30M out × $12 | $208100M in × $0.83 + 30M out × $4.17 | 2.69×gap |
| With caching90% of inputs cache-hit | $560no published cache discount | $208no published cache discount | 2.69×gap |
Illustrative model; your input/output mix and cache-hit ratio change the result. Prices are list rates before any enterprise agreement.