Ling 3.1 Flash vs Step 5 Preview
Which is better for the money: Ling 3.1 Flash by InclusionAI 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
Step 5 Preview scores 2.6 points higher (43.7 vs 41.1) but costs 1.2× as much to run the benchmark ($1190 vs $1015; both premium class). Pick Step 5 Preview when the extra intelligence is worth the premium, otherwise Ling 3.1 Flash.
| Metric | Ling 3.1 Flash | Step 5 Preview | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Intelligence (higher is better) | 41.1 | 43.7 | +6.3% Step 5 Preview is 6.3% more intelligent |
| Total AA cost (lower is better) | $1,014.56 | $1,190.26 | +17.3% Step 5 Preview is 17.3% more expensive |
| End-to-end time (lower is better) | 13.66s | 12.06s | −11.7% Step 5 Preview is 11.7% faster |
| Price per 1M tokens (in / out) | $0.30 / $0.90 | $1.00 / $2.70 | |
| Input modalities | Text | Text, Image |
Step 5 Preview vs Ling 3.1 Flash: 6.3% more intelligence, 17.3% more cost to run the AA benchmark, and 11.7% faster end-to-end.
Today's Pareto frontier
Against the frontier
- Ling 3.1 Flash is off the frontier: at the same or lower cost, GPT-6.1 Sol (Xhigh) scores 51.00 for $662.
- Step 5 Preview is off the frontier: at the same or lower cost, GPT-6.1 Sol (Max) scores 51.80 for $1082.
Ling 3.1 FlashStep 5 PreviewToday's Pareto frontierOpen-weights frontierEvery other model
Matchup
Compare something else
Agents:
Accept: text/markdown or ?format=md returns this page as Markdown. JSON: /api/v1/compare/ling-3-1-flash/step-5 · Markdown: /api/v1/compare/ling-3-1-flash/step-5?format=md · llms.txt · agent skill