text model comparison
ERNIE 5.5 Flash Preview vs LongCat-2.5
ERNIE 5.5 Flash Preview and LongCat-2.5 are both current text models, from Baidu and Meituan. ERNIE 5.5 Flash Preview is 7% cheaper per 1M input tokens than LongCat-2.5, $0.28 vs $0.30. Both accept about 1.05M tokens of context (1,000,000 and 1,048,576).
- Lower price per 1M input tokens
- ERNIE 5.5 Flash Preview$0.28 against $0.30
- Longer context window
- LongCat-2.51.05M tokens against 1M tokens
- Newer release
- ERNIE 5.5 Flash PreviewNov 11, 2026 against Nov 2, 2026
Data verified November 11, 2026 · Dataset 2026-11-11
Side by side
ERNIE 5.5 Flash Preview and LongCat-2.5, line by line
Prices in effect today, compared at the same tier wherever both list one. The better value in each row is highlighted.
| Fact | ERNIE 5.5 Flash Preview | LongCat-2.5 |
|---|---|---|
| Price | ||
| Price per 1M input tokens | $0.28 (better) | $0.30 |
| Price per 1M output tokens | $1.13 (better) | $1.20 |
| Specs | ||
| Provider | Baidu | Meituan |
| Release date | November 11, 2026 | November 2, 2026 |
| Access | API only | API and open weights |
| Context window | 1,000,000 tokens | 1,048,576 tokens |
| Max output | 1,000,000 tokens | 262,144 tokens |
| Input | text | text, image, video |
| Output | text | text |
Charts
Against every current text model
Where ERNIE 5.5 Flash Preview and LongCat-2.5 land among the current models of their task, on every independent benchmark, on price and on context.
Where each stands
No independent benchmark has scored either model yet, so the tiles rank their prices among the current models of their task.
Price and context
Price per 1M input tokens
ERNIE 5.5 Flash Preview:#12of 57
$0.28 · cheaper than 80%
LongCat-2.5:#13of 57
$0.30 · cheaper than 71%
Price per 1M output tokens
ERNIE 5.5 Flash Preview:#12of 57
$1.13 · cheaper than 80%
LongCat-2.5:#13of 57
$1.20 · cheaper than 73%
Context window
ERNIE 5.5 Flash Preview:#29of 67
1M tokens · longer than 24%
LongCat-2.5:#12of 67
1.05M tokens · longer than 64%
Cost
What each costs
Example workloads at each provider's listed rates, then every other rate either one lists. The cheaper figure in each row is highlighted.
The same work, priced
For 10M input and 2M output tokens, LongCat-2.5 costs 1.1 times as much as ERNIE 5.5 Flash Preview, at each provider's listed rates.
10M input and 2M output tokens
LongCat-2.5 costs 1.1× as much
- ERNIE 5.5 Flash Preview
- $5.06
- LongCat-2.5
- $5.40
The same, with 9M of the input tokens cached
ERNIE 5.5 Flash Preview costs 1.0× as much
- ERNIE 5.5 Flash Preview
- $2.79
- LongCat-2.5
- $2.75
| Workload or rate | ERNIE 5.5 Flash Preview | LongCat-2.5 |
|---|---|---|
| Example workloads | ||
| 10M input and 2M output tokens | $5.06 (better) | $5.40 |
| The same, with 9M of the input tokens cached | $2.79 | $2.75 (better) |
| Other listed rates | ||
| 1M input tokens, cached | $0.028 | $0.006 (better) |
Your own bill will differ. These figures use list prices and example workloads. The AI Model Cost Audit reviews your real usage, shortlists models that score as well for each task for less, and estimates the savings.
Launch price $100, regular price $150
Verdict
When to choose each
ERNIE 5.5 Flash Preview
Where it leads
- Lower input and output prices, $0.28 and $1.13 vs $0.30 and $1.20 per 1M tokens
- Longer responses, up to 1,000,000 vs 262,144 output tokens
Best for
- Low-cost agents for spreadsheets, office documents and tool calls over MCP, where text input is enough
- Long-horizon coding and game or 3D scene building inside an agent harness, at a Flash-tier price
Watch out for
- A preview, served only through Baidu Qianfan: Baidu says the weights will be open-sourced under Apache 2.0 soon, but they are not out yet
- Text only: it cannot read images, and in Baidu tests that needed vision a tool running Claude Opus 5.5 described the screen for it
- In Baidu's own table it trails Hy4 on APEX-Agents 1.1 (64.2% against 75.0%) and DeepSeek-V4.1-Flash on DeepSWE v1.1 (71.2% against 77.0%), and stays far behind GPT-6.1 Sol and Claude Opus 5.5 on Terminal-Bench-Science 0.1 (21.0% against 57.0% and 63.3%)
- Epoch AI and Arena have not scored it yet
LongCat-2.5
Where it leads
- Accepts image and video input
- Open weights you can run yourself
- Cheaper cached input, $0.006 vs $0.028 per 1M tokens
Best for
- Coding agents working through whole projects in Claude Code, Codex or similar harnesses, on the API or self-hosted
- Visual coding and design work that mixes screenshots or screen recordings with code
Watch out for
- The recorded rates are a limited-time discount: Meituan publishes no list price and no end date
- No independent benchmark has scored it yet, and Meituan calls the scores it measured in-house for its own table indicative only
From benchmark to production
Building on ERNIE 5.5 Flash Preview or LongCat-2.5?
Public scores rarely hold on your own data. We test both models on your real tasks, then build the agent or pipeline around the one that wins.
AI Model Cost AuditLaunch price $100, regular price $150What the audit includes
FAQ
ERNIE 5.5 Flash Preview vs LongCat-2.5 FAQ
Which is cheaper, ERNIE 5.5 Flash Preview or LongCat-2.5?
ERNIE 5.5 Flash Preview is 7% cheaper per 1M input tokens than LongCat-2.5, $0.28 vs $0.30. For 10M input and 2M output tokens, ERNIE 5.5 Flash Preview costs $5.06 and LongCat-2.5 $5.40 at standard rates.
Which is cheaper with prompt caching, ERNIE 5.5 Flash Preview or LongCat-2.5?
ERNIE 5.5 Flash Preview charges $0.028 per 1M cached input tokens, 90% below its standard input rate, and LongCat-2.5 $0.006, 98% below. With 9M of 10M input tokens cached and 2M output tokens, ERNIE 5.5 Flash Preview costs $2.79 and LongCat-2.5 $2.75.
Which has the larger context window, ERNIE 5.5 Flash Preview or LongCat-2.5?
Both accept about 1.05M tokens of context (1,000,000 and 1,048,576). ERNIE 5.5 Flash Preview returns up to 1,000,000 tokens per response, LongCat-2.5 262,144.
How do ERNIE 5.5 Flash Preview and LongCat-2.5 differ in features?
ERNIE 5.5 Flash Preview takes text input; LongCat-2.5 takes text, image and video.
Can I run ERNIE 5.5 Flash Preview or LongCat-2.5 myself?
LongCat-2.5 is released as open weights you can run yourself; ERNIE 5.5 Flash Preview is available through its provider's API only.
Further reading
More on ERNIE 5.5 Flash Preview and LongCat-2.5
Articles on ERNIE 5.5 Flash Preview and LongCat-2.5
- LongCat-2.5 vs Claude Opus 5: Read the Benchmarks FirstNovember 4, 2026
Related comparisons
- DeepSeek-V4.1-Flash vs ERNIE 5.5 Flash Preview
- Inkling 2 Small vs LongCat-2.5
- ERNIE 5.5 Flash Preview vs Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite
- Claude Opus 5.5 vs LongCat-2.5
- ERNIE 5.5 Flash Preview vs GLM-5.3
- Claude Opus 5 vs LongCat-2.5
- ERNIE 5.5 Flash Preview vs GLM-5.3-Flash
- DeepSeek-V4.1-Flash vs LongCat-2.5
- ERNIE 5.5 Flash Preview vs Hy4
- Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite vs LongCat-2.5
- ERNIE 5.5 Flash Preview vs Inkling 2 Small
- Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite vs LongCat-2.5
Production evaluation
Choosing between ERNIE 5.5 Flash Preview and LongCat-2.5?
Public benchmarks narrow the shortlist. We run both on your own tasks, data and cost limits, then build the routing and review controls to run the winner in production.
- A head-to-head evaluation on your real workload
- Routing between models by cost and difficulty