Llama 4 Scout vs Step 5 Preview
Which is better for the money: Llama 4 Scout by Meta 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 37.2 points higher (43.7 vs 6.5) but costs 16× as much to run the benchmark ($1190 vs $73.6; premium vs mid-range cost classes). They are not alternatives at one budget: pick Step 5 Preview when you need intelligence above 6.5, and Llama 4 Scout when 6.5 is enough.
| Metric | Llama 4 Scout | Step 5 Preview | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Intelligence (higher is better) | 6.5 | 43.7 | +572.3% Step 5 Preview is 6.7× more intelligent |
| Total AA cost (lower is better) | $73.56 | $1,190.26 | +1518.1% Step 5 Preview is 16× more expensive |
| End-to-end time (lower is better) | 5.16s | 12.06s | +133.7% Step 5 Preview is 133.7% slower |
| Price per 1M tokens (in / out) | $0.18 / $0.66 | $1.00 / $2.70 | |
| Input modalities | Text, Image | Text, Image |
Step 5 Preview vs Llama 4 Scout: 572.3% more intelligence, 1518.1% more cost to run the AA benchmark, and 133.7% slower end-to-end.
Today's Pareto frontier
Against the frontier
- Llama 4 Scout is off the frontier: at the same or lower cost, GPT-6 Luna (Xhigh) scores 34.60 for $66.8.
- Step 5 Preview is off the frontier: at the same or lower cost, GPT-6.1 Sol (Max) scores 51.80 for $1082.
Llama 4 ScoutStep 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/llama-4-scout/step-5 · Markdown: /api/v1/compare/llama-4-scout/step-5?format=md · llms.txt · agent skill