GPT-6.1 Terra (Medium) vs Step 5 Preview
Which is better for the money: GPT-6.1 Terra (Medium) by OpenAI or Step 5 Preview by StepFun? Intelligence, total benchmark cost, and end-to-end time from Artificial Analysis & other sources, snapshot 2026-10-27.
Trade-off
Verdict
Depends on your budget
Step 5 Preview scores 2.4 points higher (43.7 vs 41.3) but costs 6.8× as much to run the benchmark ($1190 vs $175; premium vs mid-range cost classes). They are not alternatives at one budget: pick Step 5 Preview when you need intelligence above 41.3, and GPT-6.1 Terra (Medium) when 41.3 is enough.
| Metric | GPT-6.1 Terra (Medium) | Step 5 Preview | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Intelligence (higher is better) | 41.3 | 43.7 | +5.8% Step 5 Preview is 5.8% more intelligent |
| Total AA cost (lower is better) | $175.20 | $1,190.26 | +579.4% Step 5 Preview is 6.8× more expensive |
| End-to-end time (lower is better) | 6.95s | 14.34s | +106.3% Step 5 Preview is 106.3% slower |
| Price per 1M tokens (in / out) | $1.00 / $5.00 | $1.00 / $2.70 | |
| Input modalities | Text, Image | Text, Image |
Step 5 Preview vs GPT-6.1 Terra (Medium): 5.8% more intelligence, 579.4% more cost to run the AA benchmark, and 106.3% slower end-to-end.
Today's Pareto frontier
Against the frontier
- GPT-6.1 Terra (Medium) is on today's frontier: nothing is both smarter and cheaper.
- 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 Terra (Medium)Step 5 PreviewToday's Pareto frontierOpen-weights frontierEvery other model
Matchup
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Accept: text/markdown or ?format=md returns this page as Markdown. JSON: /api/v1/compare/gpt-6-1-terra-medium/step-5 · Markdown: /api/v1/compare/gpt-6-1-terra-medium/step-5?format=md · llms.txt · agent skill