Qwen3.8 27B (Low) vs Step 5 Preview
Which is better for the money: Qwen3.8 27B (Low) by Alibaba 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 17.5 points higher (43.7 vs 26.2) but costs 1.1× as much to run the benchmark ($1190 vs $1060; both premium class). Pick Step 5 Preview when the extra intelligence is worth the premium, otherwise Qwen3.8 27B (Low).
| Metric | Qwen3.8 27B (Low) | Step 5 Preview | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Intelligence (higher is better) | 26.2 | 43.7 | +66.8% Step 5 Preview is 66.8% more intelligent |
| Total AA cost (lower is better) | $1,060.08 | $1,190.26 | +12.3% Step 5 Preview is 12.3% more expensive |
| End-to-end time (lower is better) | 54.35s | 12.06s | −77.8% Step 5 Preview is 77.8% faster |
| Price per 1M tokens (in / out) | $0.50 / $3.00 | $1.00 / $2.70 | |
| Input modalities | Text, Image, Video | Text, Image |
Step 5 Preview vs Qwen3.8 27B (Low): 66.8% more intelligence, 12.3% more cost to run the AA benchmark, and 77.8% faster end-to-end.
Today's Pareto frontier
Against the frontier
- Qwen3.8 27B (Low) 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.
Qwen3.8 27B (Low)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/qwen3-8-27b-low/step-5 · Markdown: /api/v1/compare/qwen3-8-27b-low/step-5?format=md · llms.txt · agent skill