GPT-6.1 Sol (Low) vs Step 5 Preview
Which is better for the money: GPT-6.1 Sol (Low) 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 1.6 points higher (43.7 vs 42.1) but costs 4.8× as much to run the benchmark ($1190 vs $250; premium vs mid-range cost classes). They are not alternatives at one budget: pick Step 5 Preview when you need intelligence above 42.1, and GPT-6.1 Sol (Low) when 42.1 is enough.
| Metric | GPT-6.1 Sol (Low) | Step 5 Preview | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Intelligence (higher is better) | 42.1 | 43.7 | +3.8% Step 5 Preview is 3.8% more intelligent |
| Total AA cost (lower is better) | $250.48 | $1,190.26 | +375.2% Step 5 Preview is 4.8× more expensive |
| End-to-end time (lower is better) | 11.66s | 12.01s | +3.0% Step 5 Preview is 3.0% slower |
| Price per 1M tokens (in / out) | $2.00 / $10.0 | $1.00 / $2.70 | |
| Input modalities | Text, Image | Text, Image |
Step 5 Preview vs GPT-6.1 Sol (Low): 3.8% more intelligence, 375.2% more cost to run the AA benchmark, and 3.0% slower end-to-end.
Today's Pareto frontier
Against the frontier
- GPT-6.1 Sol (Low) 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-6.1 Sol (Low)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-6-1-sol-low/step-5 · Markdown: /api/v1/compare/gpt-6-1-sol-low/step-5?format=md · llms.txt · agent skill