Kimi K3.1 Pro vs Step 5 Preview
Which is better for the money: Kimi K3.1 Pro by Kimi 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
Kimi K3.1 Pro scores 11.4 points higher (55.1 vs 43.7) but costs 2.6× as much to run the benchmark ($3117 vs $1190; flagship vs premium cost classes). Pick Kimi K3.1 Pro when the extra intelligence is worth the premium, otherwise Step 5 Preview.
| Metric | Kimi K3.1 Pro | Step 5 Preview | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Intelligence (higher is better) | 55.1 | 43.7 | −20.7% Step 5 Preview is 20.7% less intelligent |
| Total AA cost (lower is better) | $3,117.31 | $1,190.26 | −61.8% Step 5 Preview is 61.8% cheaper |
| End-to-end time (lower is better) | 44.78s | 12.01s | −73.2% Step 5 Preview is 73.2% faster |
| Price per 1M tokens (in / out) | $2.00 / $10.0 | $1.00 / $2.70 | |
| Input modalities | Text, Image | Text, Image |
Step 5 Preview vs Kimi K3.1 Pro: 20.7% less intelligence, 61.8% less cost to run the AA benchmark, and 73.2% faster end-to-end.
Today's Pareto frontier
Against the frontier
- Kimi K3.1 Pro 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.
Kimi K3.1 ProStep 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/kimi-k3-1-pro/step-5 · Markdown: /api/v1/compare/kimi-k3-1-pro/step-5?format=md · llms.txt · agent skill