Step 5 Preview API pricing
Official StepFun list price, last checked Oct 29, 2026. Updated Oct 29, 2026.
Step 5 Preview costs $1 per 1M input tokens and $2.70 per 1M output tokens, cached input at $0.10, per StepFun's official pricing page (checked Oct 29, 2026). It's priced in the middle of the pack: number 42 of 77 by blended price ($1.43 per 1M tokens at a 3 to 1 input to output mix). On LMArena's Code Arena it ranks #28 of 50 models we price (relative score 11 out of 100). Cheaper pick: MiMo-V2.6 Flash scores 36 against 11 on the same board at $0.175 blended, 8.1x less.
Step 5 Preview price per million tokens
| Step 5 Preview price per million tokens | USD |
|---|---|
| Input | $1 |
| Cached input | $0.10 |
| Output | $2.70 |
| Blended, 3 parts input to 1 part output | $1.43 |
| Context window | Not listed |
Official note from StepFun: Preview. The input price includes writing new content to the cache.
What Step 5 Preview costs for real work
List-price estimates for a month, no discounts. Our math, not a quote: change the token counts in the plan vs API calculator.
| Workload | Tokens a month | Step 5 Preview | ERNIE 5.0 | DeepSeek V4.1 Flash |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Light: a side project or personal assistant | 2M in, 0.5M out | $3.35 | $3.37 | $1.20 |
| Medium: a small team or one product feature | 20M in, 5M out | $33.50 | $33.70 | $12.00 |
| Heavy: a production app | 200M in, 50M out | $335 | $337 | $120 |
| Medium with 80% of input cached | 20M in (16M cached), 5M out | $19.10 | n/a | $7.30 |
How Step 5 Preview ranks on LMArena
Relative score: 100 is the top model we price on that board. Rank is among the models in our price table, not the full leaderboard.
| Board | Rank | Score /100 |
|---|---|---|
| Coding (Code Arena) | #28 of 50 | 11 |
| Chat (Text Arena) | #32 of 51 | 0 |
| Creative writing (Text Arena creative writing) | #34 of 51 | 0 |
| Roleplay and characters (Text Arena multi-turn) | #38 of 51 | 0 |
| Reasoning and math (Text Arena math) | #28 of 51 | 0 |
| Vision (Vision Arena) | #23 of 33 | 0 |
| Cheap bulk and agents (Agent Arena) | #26 of 34 | 38 |
Closest rivals to Step 5 Preview
The models nearest in price, other makers first. Ranks are on Code Arena, where we have them.
| Model | In / out | Blended | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|
| ERNIE 5.0 | $0.84 / $3.38 | $1.48 | Step 5 Preview wins on price. Compare |
| Gemini 3.8 Flash | $0.75 / $3.75 | $1.50 | Gemini 3.8 Flash for quality, Step 5 Preview for price. Compare |
| Qwen3.6 27B | $0.60 / $3.60 | $1.35 | Qwen3.6 27B wins on price. Compare |
| Qwen3.5 397B-A17B | $0.60 / $3.60 | $1.35 | Qwen3.5 397B-A17B for price, Step 5 Preview for quality. Compare |
Cheaper alternatives to Step 5 Preview
At least 40% cheaper blended, best LMArena score first.
| Model | In / out | Blended | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|
| DeepSeek V4.1 Flash | $0.30 / $1.20 | $0.525 | DeepSeek V4.1 Flash wins on both. Compare |
| MiMo-V2.6 Flash | $0.14 / $0.28 | $0.175 | MiMo-V2.6 Flash wins on both. Compare |
| MiMo-V2.6 Pro | $0.435 / $0.87 | $0.5437 | MiMo-V2.6 Pro wins on both. Compare |
More from StepFun
FAQ
How much does the Step 5 Preview API cost per million tokens?
$1 per 1M input tokens and $2.70 per 1M output tokens, plus $0.10 per 1M for cached input, as of Oct 29, 2026. A typical 3 to 1 input to output mix works out to $1.43 per 1M tokens.
Does Step 5 Preview charge more for long prompts?
StepFun doesn't list a long-prompt surcharge for Step 5 Preview. Its pricing note says: Preview. The input price includes writing new content to the cache.
Is Step 5 Preview cheaper than ERNIE 5.0?
Yes. A medium month (20M input and 5M output tokens) costs $33.50 on Step 5 Preview and $33.70 on ERNIE 5.0 at list price. On Code Arena, Step 5 Preview ranks #28 and ERNIE 5.0 isn't ranked.
How does Step 5 Preview rank on LMArena?
On Code Arena it is #28 of 50 models we price, with a relative score of 11 out of 100. It ranks on 7 of 8 boards we track.
What is a cheaper alternative to Step 5 Preview?
DeepSeek V4.1 Flash costs $0.30 in and $1.20 out per 1M tokens, about 2.7x less blended, and scores 46 on Code Arena against 11 for Step 5 Preview.
Where does this Step 5 Preview price come from?
From StepFun's official pricing page, which we check every day. This page was last checked Oct 29, 2026.