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Open weights model

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Released September 2026

Step 5 Preview API Provider Benchmarking & Analysis

Model Comparison

This analysis is intended to support you in choosing the best API provider of Step 5 Preview for your use-case.

Lowest Time per Task

StepFun

14.4 min

Time per Intelligence Index task (minutes)

Total 1 provider

Lowest Cost per Task

StepFun

$2.35

Cost per Intelligence Index task

Total 1 provider

Step 5 Preview is available through StepFun.

Time per Task

Inference time (minutes) per Intelligence Index task · Lower is better

Cost per Task

Weighted average cost (USD) per Intelligence Index task · Lower is better

Pricing

Cost per Intelligence Index Task: Step 5 Preview

Weighted average cost (USD) per Intelligence Index task · Segmented by token type · Lower is better

Weighted average cost per Intelligence Index task. Each evaluation’s cost is calculated from input, cache hit, cache write, reasoning, and answer token prices, divided by task count, and weighted by its Intelligence Index weight.

Pricing: Cache Hit, Input, and Output: Step 5 Preview

Price (USD per M Tokens) · Lower is better

Price per token for cached prompts (previously processed), typically offering a significant discount compared to regular input price, represented as USD per million tokens. The values shown here are the cache hit price; cache write and cache storage are billed separately and vary by provider — see "Cache pricing by provider" for detail.

Output Speed vs. Cost per Task: Step 5 Preview

Output speed: output tokens divided by total request time, including time to first token · Weighted average cost (USD) per Intelligence Index task

Most attractive quadrant

Output tokens, including reasoning tokens, received per second over a request's full duration, from sending the request to receiving the final token. The headline value averages each Performance v3 workload over the past 5 days, then averages the workloads.

Speed

Average of the single-request and multi-turn agentic workloads measured

Time per Intelligence Index Task: Step 5 Preview

Output tokens divided by end-to-end output speed (minutes per Intelligence Index task) · Lower is better

The weighted average time (minutes) per Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index task: output tokens per task divided by output speed, weighted by each benchmark's weight in the Intelligence Index.

Speed and latency metrics average each endpoint's runs over the past 5 days, and the error rate pools them. We run the benchmark every 6 hours, and endpoints of deprecated models every 18 hours.

Latency

Average of the single-request and multi-turn agentic workloads measured

Time to First Answer Token: Step 5 Preview

Seconds until the first answer token after any reasoning · Average of the single-request and multi-turn agentic workloads measured · Lower is better

Time to first answer token received, in seconds, after API request sent. For reasoning models, this includes the 'thinking' time of the model before providing an answer. For models which do not support streaming, this represents time to receive the completion.

Speed and latency metrics average each endpoint's runs over the past 5 days, and the error rate pools them. We run the benchmark every 6 hours, and endpoints of deprecated models every 18 hours.

Reliability

Share of requests the endpoint failed, across all the single-request and multi-turn agentic workloads measured

Endpoint Error Rate: Step 5 Preview

Share of requests the endpoint failed with an error, a rate limit or a timeout · Across all the single-request and multi-turn agentic workloads measured · Lower is better

Share of requests over the past 5 days that the endpoint failed with an error, a rate limit or a timeout. Failures on our side are left out of both counts. Across several workloads, the failures and requests are pooled before dividing.

Speed and latency metrics average each endpoint's runs over the past 5 days, and the error rate pools them. We run the benchmark every 6 hours, and endpoints of deprecated models every 18 hours.

Caching

Cache Hit Rate: Step 5 Preview

Median across multi-turn agentic session runs in the last four weeks, updated Oct 26, 2026 · Higher is better

The share of cacheable input tokens served from the provider's prompt cache, measured during multi-turn agentic sessions. We regularly measure each endpoint and report a representative rate based on recent measurements. Higher values mean more of the input is billed at the cheaper cache-hit price, where the provider offers one, which lowers the effective cost of agentic workloads. For further details, see our methodology page.

Cost per Task vs. Cache Hit Rate: Step 5 Preview

Weighted average cost (USD) per Intelligence Index task · Cache hit rate: median of the last four weeks, updated Oct 26, 2026

Most attractive quadrant

Key Comparison Metrics & API Features



StepFun	$2.35	14.4	24.26	0.0%	1M			Open

Frequently Asked Questions

Common questions about Step 5 Preview providers

Step 5 Preview is available through 1 API provider: StepFun. Each provider offers different performance characteristics and pricing.

Step 5 Preview is currently available through 1 API provider that we benchmark and track.

StepFun is the only Step 5 Preview provider with a measured time per task: 14.4 minutes per Intelligence Index task.

The provider with the lowest time to first answer token for Step 5 Preview is StepFun (24.26s). Lower latency means faster initial response time.

The most affordable provider for Step 5 Preview by blended price is StepFun ($0.54 per 1M tokens). Blended price uses a 7:2:1 cache hit/input/output token ratio.

The provider with the lowest input token pricing for Step 5 Preview is StepFun ($1.00 per 1M input tokens).

The provider with the lowest output token pricing for Step 5 Preview is StepFun ($2.70 per 1M output tokens).

The only provider of Step 5 Preview supports JSON mode for structured output.

The only provider of Step 5 Preview supports function calling (tool use).

When choosing a provider for Step 5 Preview, consider: time per task (how quickly the provider completes an Intelligence Index task), latency (for interactive applications requiring quick first responses), pricing (for cost-sensitive workloads), and API features like JSON mode or function calling.

Yes, provider performance can vary over time due to infrastructure changes, load balancing, and updates. We continuously benchmark all providers and display historical performance trends in the "Over Time" charts.

For information about Step 5 Preview's intelligence, capabilities, modalities, and how it compares to other models, see the model overview page. View model overview

Step 5 Preview API Provider Benchmarking & Analysis

Lowest Time per Task

Lowest Cost per Task

Time per Task

Cost per Task

Pricing

Cost per Intelligence Index Task: Step 5 Preview

Cost per Intelligence Index Task

Pricing: Cache Hit, Input, and Output: Step 5 Preview

Cache Hit

Output Speed vs. Cost per Task: Step 5 Preview

End-to-End Output Speed

Speed

Time per Intelligence Index Task: Step 5 Preview

Time per Intelligence Index Task

Time Period

Latency

Time to First Answer Token: Step 5 Preview

Time to First Answer Token

Time Period

Reliability

Endpoint Error Rate: Step 5 Preview

Endpoint Error Rate

Time Period

Caching

Cache Hit Rate: Step 5 Preview

What Cache Hit Rate Shows

Cost per Task vs. Cache Hit Rate: Step 5 Preview

Cost per Intelligence Index Task

What Cache Hit Rate Shows

Key Comparison Metrics & API Features

Frequently Asked Questions

Where can I access Step 5 Preview?

How many API providers offer Step 5 Preview?

Which provider is fastest for Step 5 Preview?

Which provider has the lowest latency for Step 5 Preview?

Which provider is cheapest for Step 5 Preview?

Which provider has the lowest input price for Step 5 Preview?

Which provider has the lowest output price for Step 5 Preview?

Which Step 5 Preview providers support JSON mode?

Which Step 5 Preview providers support function calling?

How do I choose a provider for Step 5 Preview?

Does provider performance for Step 5 Preview change over time?

What are the overall capabilities of Step 5 Preview?