Kimi K3 (Max) vs Step 5 Preview
Which is better for the money: Kimi K3 (Max) by Kimi or Step 5 Preview by StepFun? Intelligence, total benchmark cost, and end-to-end time from Artificial Analysis & other sources, snapshot 2026-10-24.
Clear winner
Verdict
Pick Step 5 Preview
Step 5 Preview vs Kimi K3 (Max): 0.2% more intelligence, 67.5% less cost to run the AA benchmark, and 80.9% faster end-to-end.
| Metric | Kimi K3 (Max) | Step 5 Preview | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Intelligence (higher is better) | 43.6 | 43.7 | +0.2% Step 5 Preview is 0.2% more intelligent |
| Total AA cost (lower is better) | $3,658.07 | $1,190.26 | −67.5% Step 5 Preview is 67.5% cheaper |
| End-to-end time (lower is better) | 63.08s | 12.06s | −80.9% Step 5 Preview is 80.9% faster |
| Price per 1M tokens (in / out) | $3.00 / $15.0 | $1.00 / $2.70 | |
| Input modalities | Text, Image | Text, Image |
Today's Pareto frontier
Against the frontier
- Kimi K3 (Max) is off the frontier: at the same or lower cost, Kimi K3.1 Pro scores 55.10 for $3117.
- 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 (Max)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/kimi-k3/step-5 · Markdown: /api/v1/compare/kimi-k3/step-5?format=md · llms.txt · agent skill