Model comparison
GLM-5.1 vs Step 5 Preview
GLM-5.1 and Step 5 Preview score almost the same on the Noometry Index (47.8 vs 47.9), so choose on price, context window or the category you care about most.
Last verified . 17 shared benchmarks.
StepFunSummary
- They share 17 benchmarks with published results for both. GLM-5.1 scores higher in 6 categories and Step 5 Preview in 2 categories; 5 gaps are clear of the uncertainty.
- The widest gap is in knowledge, where GLM-5.1 leads 54.9 to 41.2.
- The biggest single-benchmark swing is ProofBench: 22.2% for GLM-5.1 and 42% for Step 5 Preview.
- Step 5 Preview is cheaper at $1 / $2.70 per million input/output tokens, against $1.40 / $4.40 for GLM-5.1.
- Step 5 Preview accepts more context: 1.02M tokens versus 200K.
- GLM-5.1 has downloadable open weights; the other is API-only.
Side by side
| GLM-5.1 | Step 5 Preview | |
|---|---|---|
| Provider | Z.ai (Zhipu) | StepFun |
| Noometry Index | 47.8 | 47.9 |
| Released | 2026-04-07 | 2026-09-16 |
| Weights | Open | Proprietary |
| Context window | 200K | 1.02M |
| Max output | 131K | 66K |
| Input $ / M tokens | $1.40 | $1 |
| Output $ / M tokens | $4.40 | $2.70 |
| Results tracked | 41 | 18 |
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Category by category
Coding Step 5 Preview leads
GLM-5.1: 48.7 (#55), Step 5 Preview: 51.8 (#36)
| Benchmark | GLM-5.1 | Step 5 Preview |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena WebDev | 1508 | 1564 |
| SciCode | 43.8% | 58.9% |
| LMArena Coding | 1485 | 1480 |
| SWE-bench Verified | 74.2% | — |
| WeirdML | 57.1% | — |
| ALE-Bench | 887.1 | — |
Agentic & Tool Use Not comparable
GLM-5.1: 24.9 (#113), Step 5 Preview: —
| Benchmark | GLM-5.1 | Step 5 Preview |
|---|---|---|
| APEX-Agents | 40.9% | — |
| ExploitBench | 18.1% | — |
| GBAEval | 0% | — |
| Vending-Bench 2 | 5,634 | — |
Reasoning Too close to call
GLM-5.1: 39.1 (#60), Step 5 Preview: 40.0 (#57)
| Benchmark | GLM-5.1 | Step 5 Preview |
|---|---|---|
| CritPt | 4.6% | 20.9% |
| LMArena Hard Prompts | 1472 | 1465 |
| SimpleBench | 55.1% | — |
| NYT Connections (extended) | 77.7% | — |
| Chess Puzzles | 19% | — |
| Thematic Generalization | 69.8% | — |
| Epoch Capabilities Index | 149.84 | — |
Math GLM-5.1 leads
GLM-5.1: 49.7 (#60), Step 5 Preview: 46.1 (#72)
| Benchmark | GLM-5.1 | Step 5 Preview |
|---|---|---|
| ProofBench | 22.2% | 42% |
| LMArena Math | 1473 | 1470 |
| FrontierMath (Tiers 1-3) | 36.8% | — |
| MathArena Final-Answer Competitions | 67.1% | — |
| OTIS Mock AIME 2024-2025 | 93.3% | — |
| FrontierMath (Feb 2025 set) | 33.4% | — |
| FrontierMath Tier 4 (v1) | 12.5% | — |
Knowledge GLM-5.1 leads
GLM-5.1: 54.9 (#50), Step 5 Preview: 41.2 (#112)
| Benchmark | GLM-5.1 | Step 5 Preview |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Expert | 1476 | 1470 |
| GPQA Diamond | 89.9% | — |
| SimpleQA Verified | 34% | — |
Multimodal Not comparable
GLM-5.1: —, Step 5 Preview: 41.0 (#41)
| Benchmark | GLM-5.1 | Step 5 Preview |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Vision | — | 1267 |
Multilingual GLM-5.1 leads
GLM-5.1: 55.0 (#36), Step 5 Preview: 53.8 (#54)
| Benchmark | GLM-5.1 | Step 5 Preview |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Non-English | 1447 | 1432 |
| LMArena Chinese | 1515 | 1519 |
| LMArena Russian | 1454 | 1436 |
| LMArena Spanish | 1469 | 1439 |
| LMArena French | 1474 | — |
| LMArena German | 1465 | — |
| LMArena Japanese | 1434 | — |
| LMArena Korean | 1418 | — |
Instruction Following Too close to call
GLM-5.1: 76.3 (#42), Step 5 Preview: 76.0 (#50)
| Benchmark | GLM-5.1 | Step 5 Preview |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Instruction Following | 1451 | 1444 |
Long Context Too close to call
GLM-5.1: 44.9 (#53), Step 5 Preview: 44.5 (#64)
| Benchmark | GLM-5.1 | Step 5 Preview |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Longer Query | 1466 | 1455 |
Writing & Preference GLM-5.1 leads
GLM-5.1: 66.9 (#31), Step 5 Preview: 62.8 (#71)
| Benchmark | GLM-5.1 | Step 5 Preview |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Text | 1461 | 1442 |
| LMArena Creative Writing | 1453 | 1410 |
| LMArena Multi-Turn | 1472 | 1447 |
| EQ-Bench Creative Writing | 1592 | — |
Frequently asked questions
Is GLM-5.1 better than Step 5 Preview?
GLM-5.1 and Step 5 Preview score almost the same on the Noometry Index (47.8 vs 47.9), so choose on price, context window or the category you care about most.
Which is cheaper, GLM-5.1 or Step 5 Preview?
Step 5 Preview is cheaper. It lists at $1 per million input tokens and $2.70 per million output tokens; GLM-5.1 lists at $1.40 and $4.40.
Is GLM-5.1 or Step 5 Preview better for coding?
Step 5 Preview scores higher on coding benchmarks: 51.8 versus 48.7 in the Noometry coding category.
Which has the bigger context window?
Step 5 Preview does, with 1.02M tokens against 200K.
How many benchmarks do GLM-5.1 and Step 5 Preview share?
17 benchmarks have published results for both models. GLM-5.1 has 41 scored results on Noometry and Step 5 Preview has 18.