Ring-2.6-1T vs Step 5 Preview
Which is better for the money: Ring-2.6-1T 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 27.1 points higher (43.7 vs 16.6) but costs 2.1× as much to run the benchmark ($1190 vs $576; both premium class). Pick Step 5 Preview when the extra intelligence is worth the premium, otherwise Ring-2.6-1T.
| Metric | Ring-2.6-1T | Step 5 Preview | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Intelligence (higher is better) | 16.6 | 43.7 | +163.3% Step 5 Preview is 2.6× more intelligent |
| Total AA cost (lower is better) | $575.60 | $1,190.26 | +106.8% Step 5 Preview is 2.1× more expensive |
| End-to-end time (lower is better) | 24.45s | 12.06s | −50.7% Step 5 Preview is 50.7% faster |
| Price per 1M tokens (in / out) | $0.30 / $2.50 | $1.00 / $2.70 | |
| Input modalities | Text | Text, Image |
Step 5 Preview vs Ring-2.6-1T: 163.3% more intelligence, 106.8% more cost to run the AA benchmark, and 50.7% faster end-to-end.
Today's Pareto frontier
Against the frontier
- Ring-2.6-1T is off the frontier: at the same or lower cost, GPT-6.1 Sol (High) scores 50.20 for $521.
- Step 5 Preview is off the frontier: at the same or lower cost, GPT-6.1 Sol (Max) scores 51.80 for $1082.
Ring-2.6-1TStep 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/ring-2-6-1t/step-5 · Markdown: /api/v1/compare/ring-2-6-1t/step-5?format=md · llms.txt · agent skill