text model comparison
MiMo-V2.6-Flash vs Step 5 Preview
MiMo-V2.6-Flash and Step 5 Preview are both current text models, from Xiaomi MiMo and StepFun. MiMo-V2.6-Flash is 86% cheaper per 1M input tokens than Step 5 Preview, $0.14 vs $1. On Arena Text, MiMo-V2.6-Flash scores 1448 Elo and Step 5 Preview 1448 Elo (Arena, measured October 28, 2026). Both accept 1,000,000 tokens of context.
Data verified November 3, 2026 · Dataset 2026-11-03
Side by side
MiMo-V2.6-Flash and Step 5 Preview, 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 | MiMo-V2.6-Flash | Step 5 Preview |
|---|---|---|
| Price | ||
| Price per 1M input tokens | $0.14 (better) | $1 |
| Price per 1M output tokens | $0.28 (better) | $2.70 |
| Independent benchmarks | ||
| Arena Text | 1448 Elo (#34 of 51) | 1448 Elo (#34 of 51) |
| Arena WebDev | 1637 Elo (#16 of 45) (better) | 1571 Elo (#29 of 45) |
| Specs | ||
| Provider | Xiaomi MiMo | StepFun |
| Release date | September 22, 2026 | Not reported |
| Access | API and open weights | API only |
| Context window | 1,000,000 tokens | 1,000,000 tokens |
| Max output | 128,000 tokens | 64,000 tokens |
| Input | text, image, audio, video | text, image, video |
| Output | text | text |
Scores:Arena · 2026-11-03
Charts
Against every current text model
Where MiMo-V2.6-Flash and Step 5 Preview land among the current models of their task, on every independent benchmark, on price and on context.
Where each stands
On Arena Text, MiMo-V2.6-Flash ranks #34 and Step 5 Preview #34 of 51 current models. Each bar is the share of current models it beats: on score, price and context.
Independent benchmarks
Arena Text
MiMo-V2.6-Flash:#34of 51
1,448 Elo · ahead of 32%
Step 5 Preview:#34of 51
1,448 Elo · ahead of 32%
Arena WebDev
MiMo-V2.6-Flash:#16of 45
1,637 Elo · ahead of 64%
Step 5 Preview:#29of 45
1,571 Elo · ahead of 36%
Price and context
Price per 1M input tokens
MiMo-V2.6-Flash:#4of 52
$0.14 · cheaper than 94%
Step 5 Preview:#21of 52
$1 · cheaper than 59%
Price per 1M output tokens
MiMo-V2.6-Flash:#1of 52
$0.28 · cheaper than 100%
Step 5 Preview:#20of 52
$2.70 · cheaper than 63%
Context window
MiMo-V2.6-Flash:#26of 64
1M tokens · longer than 22%
Step 5 Preview:#26of 64
1M tokens · longer than 22%
Quality against price
MiMo-V2.6-Flash scores 1,448 at $0.175; Step 5 Preview scores 1,448 at $1.43 (blended price per 1M tokens). The line joins the current models no other beats on both price and Arena Text score; hover any point to name it.
Quality against price: the data
| Model | Provider | Blended price per 1M tokens | Arena Text (Elo) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gemini 4 Argon | $4 | 1,520 | |
| Claude Opus 5.5 | Anthropic | $8 | 1,509 |
| Muse Wonder | Meta | $8 | 1,507 |
| Claude Fable 5 | Anthropic | $20 | 1,504 |
| Claude Fable 5.1 | Anthropic | $20 | 1,504 |
| Gemini 3.8 Flash | $1.50 | 1,496 | |
| Muse Spark 1.3 | Meta | $2 | 1,495 |
| Claude Opus 5 | Anthropic | $10 | 1,492 |
| Kimi K3 | Moonshot Kimi | $6 | 1,488 |
| GPT-5.6 Sol | OpenAI | $8 | 1,485 |
| Gemini 3.6 Flash | $3 | 1,483 | |
| GPT-5.5 | OpenAI | $11 | 1,482 |
| Claude Opus 4.8 | Anthropic | $10 | 1,482 |
| Qwen3.8-Max | Alibaba Qwen | $3 | 1,482 |
| GPT-6.1 Sol | OpenAI | $4 | 1,481 |
| GLM-5.3 | Z.ai | $2.15 | 1,481 |
| MiMo-V2.6-Pro | Xiaomi MiMo | $0.54 | 1,480 |
| Claude Sonnet 5.5 | Anthropic | $4 | 1,477 |
| GLM-5.3-Flash | Z.ai | $0.24 | 1,477 |
| GPT-6 Astra | OpenAI | $20 | 1,476 |
| DeepSeek-V4.1-Flash | DeepSeek | $0.52 | 1,476 |
| GPT-5.4 | OpenAI | $5.63 | 1,475 |
| Gemini 3 Flash Preview | $1.13 | 1,473 | |
| Grok 4.20 | xAI | $1.56 | 1,472 |
| GPT-5.6 Terra | OpenAI | $4.50 | 1,467 |
| Grok 4.5 | xAI | $3 | 1,465 |
| DeepSeek-V4-Pro | DeepSeek | $1.98 | 1,465 |
| Claude Sonnet 5 | Anthropic | $4 | 1,462 |
| GPT-6 Sol | OpenAI | $4 | 1,458 |
| Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite | $0.85 | 1,456 | |
| Grok 4.6 | xAI | $3 | 1,455 |
| GPT-5.6 Luna | OpenAI | $0.45 | 1,453 |
| MiMo-V2.6-Flash | Xiaomi MiMo | $0.18 | 1,448 |
| Step 5 Preview | StepFun | $1.43 | 1,448 |
| Grok 4.3 | xAI | $1.56 | 1,442 |
| GPT-6 Luna | OpenAI | $0.20 | 1,441 |
| Grok 4.7 | xAI | $3 | 1,441 |
| Mistral Large 4 | Mistral AI | $1.05 | 1,432 |
| Claude Haiku 5.5 | Anthropic | $0.20 | 1,425 |
| GPT-4.1 | OpenAI | $3.50 | 1,415 |
| Solar Pro 4 | Upstage | $0.52 | 1,388 |
| GPT-4.1 mini | OpenAI | $0.70 | 1,383 |
| GPT-4.1 nano | OpenAI | $0.18 | 1,322 |
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, Step 5 Preview costs 7.9 times as much as MiMo-V2.6-Flash, at each provider's listed rates.
10M input and 2M output tokens
Step 5 Preview costs 7.9× as much
- MiMo-V2.6-Flash
- $1.96
- Step 5 Preview
- $15.40
The same, with 9M of the input tokens cached
Step 5 Preview costs 10× as much
- MiMo-V2.6-Flash
- $0.73
- Step 5 Preview
- $7.30
| Workload or rate | MiMo-V2.6-Flash | Step 5 Preview |
|---|---|---|
| Example workloads | ||
| 10M input and 2M output tokens | $1.96 (better) | $15.40 |
| The same, with 9M of the input tokens cached | $0.73 (better) | $7.30 |
| The same, through the batch API | $0.98 | Not listed |
| Other listed rates | ||
| 1M input tokens, cached | $0.0028 (better) | $0.10 |
| 1M input tokens, batch | $0.07 | Not listed |
| 1M output tokens, batch | $0.14 | Not listed |
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
MiMo-V2.6-Flash
Where it leads
- Lower input and output prices, $0.14 and $0.28 vs $1 and $2.70 per 1M tokens
- Higher Arena WebDev score, 1637 Elo vs 1571 Elo
- Longer responses, up to 128,000 vs 64,000 output tokens
- Accepts audio input
- Open weights you can run yourself
- Cheaper cached input, $0.0028 vs $0.10 per 1M tokens
- Batch pricing, $0.07 input and $0.14 output per 1M tokens
Best for
- High-frequency multimodal calls
- Low-cost agent workloads
Watch out for
- Xiaomi's own table puts it well behind the Pro model on exploitation tasks (ExploitBench 25.3 against 47.9)
- The API checkpoint (RL or MOPD weights) is not identified
Step 5 Preview
Where it leads
No measured lead over MiMo-V2.6-Flash in this data.
Best for
- Long-context agentic coding and finance work
Watch out for
- A preview: StepFun publishes no release date, parameter count or benchmark scores for it
- Output tokens are billed including the reasoning trace, and output is capped at 64K tokens
From benchmark to production
Building on MiMo-V2.6-Flash or Step 5 Preview?
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
MiMo-V2.6-Flash vs Step 5 Preview FAQ
Which is cheaper, MiMo-V2.6-Flash or Step 5 Preview?
MiMo-V2.6-Flash is 86% cheaper per 1M input tokens than Step 5 Preview, $0.14 vs $1. For 10M input and 2M output tokens, MiMo-V2.6-Flash costs $1.96 and Step 5 Preview $15.40 at standard rates.
Which is cheaper with prompt caching, MiMo-V2.6-Flash or Step 5 Preview?
MiMo-V2.6-Flash charges $0.0028 per 1M cached input tokens, 98% below its standard input rate, and Step 5 Preview $0.10, 90% below. With 9M of 10M input tokens cached and 2M output tokens, MiMo-V2.6-Flash costs $0.73 and Step 5 Preview $7.30.
Which scores higher on independent benchmarks, MiMo-V2.6-Flash or Step 5 Preview?
Both score 1448 Elo on Arena Text; MiMo-V2.6-Flash leads on Arena WebDev, 1637 Elo to 1571 Elo. Scores are independent evaluations, not either vendor's launch figures.
Which has the larger context window, MiMo-V2.6-Flash or Step 5 Preview?
Both accept 1,000,000 tokens of context. MiMo-V2.6-Flash returns up to 128,000 tokens per response, Step 5 Preview 64,000.
How do MiMo-V2.6-Flash and Step 5 Preview differ in features?
MiMo-V2.6-Flash takes text, image, audio and video input; Step 5 Preview takes text, image and video.
Can I run MiMo-V2.6-Flash or Step 5 Preview myself?
MiMo-V2.6-Flash is released as open weights you can run yourself; Step 5 Preview is available through its provider's API only.
Further reading
More on MiMo-V2.6-Flash and Step 5 Preview
Related comparisons
- Claude Haiku 5.5 vs MiMo-V2.6-Flash
- Gemini 3.8 Flash vs Step 5 Preview
- GLM-5.3-Flash vs MiMo-V2.6-Flash
- Muse Spark 1.3 vs Step 5 Preview
- GPT-6 Luna vs MiMo-V2.6-Flash
- DeepSeek-V4-Pro vs Step 5 Preview
- Grok 4.3 vs MiMo-V2.6-Flash
- Grok 4.20 vs Step 5 Preview
- MiMo-V2.6-Flash vs MiMo-V2.6-Pro
- Grok 4.3 vs Step 5 Preview
- GPT-6.1 Terra vs MiMo-V2.6-Flash
- GPT-6.1 Terra vs Step 5 Preview
Production evaluation
Choosing between MiMo-V2.6-Flash and Step 5 Preview?
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