Solar Mini 4 vs Step 5 Preview
Which is better for the money: Solar Mini 4 by Upstage 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 19.6 points higher (43.7 vs 24.1) but costs 2.4× as much to run the benchmark ($1190 vs $502; both premium class). Pick Step 5 Preview when the extra intelligence is worth the premium, otherwise Solar Mini 4.
| Metric | Solar Mini 4 | Step 5 Preview | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Intelligence (higher is better) | 24.1 | 43.7 | +81.3% Step 5 Preview is 81.3% more intelligent |
| Total AA cost (lower is better) | $502.02 | $1,190.26 | +137.1% Step 5 Preview is 2.4× more expensive |
| End-to-end time (lower is better) | 27.46s | 12.06s | −56.1% Step 5 Preview is 56.1% faster |
| Price per 1M tokens (in / out) | $0.10 / $0.40 | $1.00 / $2.70 | |
| Input modalities | Text | Text, Image |
Step 5 Preview vs Solar Mini 4: 81.3% more intelligence, 137.1% more cost to run the AA benchmark, and 56.1% faster end-to-end.
Today's Pareto frontier
Against the frontier
- Solar Mini 4 is off the frontier: at the same or lower cost, GPT-6.1 Sol (Medium) scores 47.80 for $361.
- Step 5 Preview is off the frontier: at the same or lower cost, GPT-6.1 Sol (Max) scores 51.80 for $1082.
Solar Mini 4Step 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/solar-mini4/step-5 · Markdown: /api/v1/compare/solar-mini4/step-5?format=md · llms.txt · agent skill