GPT-5.6 Terra (Non-reasoning) vs Step 5 Preview
Which is better for the money: GPT-5.6 Terra (Non-reasoning) by OpenAI or Step 5 Preview by StepFun? Intelligence, total benchmark cost, and end-to-end time from Artificial Analysis & other sources, snapshot 2026-10-25.
Trade-off
Verdict
Depends on your budget
Step 5 Preview scores 22.9 points higher (43.7 vs 20.8) but costs 4.7× as much to run the benchmark ($1190 vs $256; premium vs mid-range cost classes). They are not alternatives at one budget: pick Step 5 Preview when you need intelligence above 20.8, and GPT-5.6 Terra (Non-reasoning) when 20.8 is enough.
| Metric | GPT-5.6 Terra (Non-reasoning) | Step 5 Preview | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Intelligence (higher is better) | 20.8 | 43.7 | +110.1% Step 5 Preview is 2.1× more intelligent |
| Total AA cost (lower is better) | $255.77 | $1,190.26 | +365.4% Step 5 Preview is 4.7× more expensive |
| End-to-end time (lower is better) | 5.09s | 12.32s | +142.0% Step 5 Preview is 142.0% slower |
| Price per 1M tokens (in / out) | $2.00 / $12.0 | $1.00 / $2.70 | |
| Input modalities | Text, Image | Text, Image |
Step 5 Preview vs GPT-5.6 Terra (Non-reasoning): 110.1% more intelligence, 365.4% more cost to run the AA benchmark, and 142.0% slower end-to-end.
Today's Pareto frontier
Against the frontier
- GPT-5.6 Terra (Non-reasoning) is off the frontier: at the same or lower cost, MiMo-V2.6-Pro scores 46.30 for $207.
- Step 5 Preview is off the frontier: at the same or lower cost, GPT-6.1 Sol (Max) scores 51.80 for $1082.
GPT-5.6 Terra (Non-reasoning)Step 5 PreviewToday's Pareto frontierOpen-weights frontierEvery other model
Matchup
Compare something else
Agents:
Accept: text/markdown or ?format=md returns this page as Markdown. JSON: /api/v1/compare/gpt-5-6-terra-non-reasoning/step-5 · Markdown: /api/v1/compare/gpt-5-6-terra-non-reasoning/step-5?format=md · llms.txt · agent skill