Grok 4.5 (High) vs Step 5 Preview
Which is better for the money: Grok 4.5 (High) by SpaceXAI or Step 5 Preview by StepFun? Intelligence, total benchmark cost, and end-to-end time from Artificial Analysis & other sources, snapshot 2026-10-24.
Clear winner
Verdict
Pick Step 5 Preview
Step 5 Preview vs Grok 4.5 (High): 12.6% more intelligence, 4.3% less cost to run the AA benchmark, and 35.9% faster end-to-end.
| Metric | Grok 4.5 (High) | Step 5 Preview | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Intelligence (higher is better) | 38.8 | 43.7 | +12.6% Step 5 Preview is 12.6% more intelligent |
| Total AA cost (lower is better) | $1,243.85 | $1,190.26 | −4.3% Step 5 Preview is 4.3% cheaper |
| End-to-end time (lower is better) | 18.82s | 12.06s | −35.9% Step 5 Preview is 35.9% faster |
| Price per 1M tokens (in / out) | $2.00 / $6.00 | $1.00 / $2.70 | |
| Input modalities | Text, Image | Text, Image |
Today's Pareto frontier
Against the frontier
- Grok 4.5 (High) is off the frontier: at the same or lower cost, GPT-6.1 Sol (Max) scores 51.80 for $1082.
- Step 5 Preview is off the frontier: at the same or lower cost, GPT-6.1 Sol (Max) scores 51.80 for $1082.
Grok 4.5 (High)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/grok-4-5/step-5 · Markdown: /api/v1/compare/grok-4-5/step-5?format=md · llms.txt · agent skill