GPT-6 Astra (Medium) vs Step 5 Preview
Which is better for the money: GPT-6 Astra (Medium) by OpenAI or Step 5 Preview by StepFun? Intelligence, total benchmark cost, and end-to-end time from Artificial Analysis & other sources, snapshot 2026-10-24.
Trade-off
Verdict
Depends on your budget
GPT-6 Astra (Medium) scores 5.9 points higher (49.6 vs 43.7) but costs 2.0× as much to run the benchmark ($2434 vs $1190; flagship vs premium cost classes). Pick GPT-6 Astra (Medium) when the extra intelligence is worth the premium, otherwise Step 5 Preview.
| Metric | GPT-6 Astra (Medium) | Step 5 Preview | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Intelligence (higher is better) | 49.6 | 43.7 | −11.9% Step 5 Preview is 11.9% less intelligent |
| Total AA cost (lower is better) | $2,434.12 | $1,190.26 | −51.1% Step 5 Preview is 51.1% cheaper |
| End-to-end time (lower is better) | 14.48s | 12.06s | −16.7% Step 5 Preview is 16.7% faster |
| Price per 1M tokens (in / out) | $10.0 / $50.0 | $1.00 / $2.70 | |
| Input modalities | Text, Image | Text, Image |
Step 5 Preview vs GPT-6 Astra (Medium): 11.9% less intelligence, 51.1% less cost to run the AA benchmark, and 16.7% faster end-to-end.
Today's Pareto frontier
Against the frontier
- GPT-6 Astra (Medium) is off the frontier: at the same or lower cost, Claude Opus 5.5 (High, Default Fallback) scores 53.60 for $2172.
- 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 Astra (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-astra-medium/step-5 · Markdown: /api/v1/compare/gpt-6-astra-medium/step-5?format=md · llms.txt · agent skill