Model comparison
Granite 3.1 2b Instruct vs Step 5 Preview
Step 5 Preview is the stronger model overall, scoring 47.9 to 33.2 on the Noometry Index.
Last verified . 12 shared benchmarks.
StepFunSummary
- They share 12 benchmarks with published results for both. Granite 3.1 2b Instruct scores higher in 0 categories and Step 5 Preview in 8 categories; 8 gaps are clear of the uncertainty.
- The widest gap is in writing & preference, where Step 5 Preview leads 62.8 to 34.1.
- Granite 3.1 2b Instruct has downloadable open weights; the other is API-only.
Side by side
| Granite 3.1 2b Instruct | Step 5 Preview | |
|---|---|---|
| Provider | IBM | StepFun |
| Noometry Index | 33.2 | 47.9 |
| Released | — | 2026-09-16 |
| Weights | Open | Proprietary |
| Context window | — | 1.02M |
| Max output | — | 66K |
| Input $ / M tokens | — | $1 |
| Output $ / M tokens | — | $2.70 |
| Results tracked | 12 | 18 |
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Category by category
Coding Step 5 Preview leads
Granite 3.1 2b Instruct: 33.4 (#257), Step 5 Preview: 51.8 (#36)
| Benchmark | Granite 3.1 2b Instruct | Step 5 Preview |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Coding | 1149 | 1480 |
| LMArena WebDev | — | 1564 |
| SciCode | — | 58.9% |
Reasoning Step 5 Preview leads
Granite 3.1 2b Instruct: 22.0 (#209), Step 5 Preview: 40.0 (#57)
| Benchmark | Granite 3.1 2b Instruct | Step 5 Preview |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Hard Prompts | 1138 | 1465 |
| CritPt | — | 20.9% |
Math Step 5 Preview leads
Granite 3.1 2b Instruct: 33.1 (#206), Step 5 Preview: 46.1 (#72)
| Benchmark | Granite 3.1 2b Instruct | Step 5 Preview |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Math | 1159 | 1470 |
| ProofBench | — | 42% |
Knowledge Step 5 Preview leads
Granite 3.1 2b Instruct: 30.8 (#224), Step 5 Preview: 41.2 (#112)
| Benchmark | Granite 3.1 2b Instruct | Step 5 Preview |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Expert | 1131 | 1470 |
Multimodal Not comparable
Granite 3.1 2b Instruct: —, Step 5 Preview: 41.0 (#41)
| Benchmark | Granite 3.1 2b Instruct | Step 5 Preview |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Vision | — | 1267 |
Multilingual Step 5 Preview leads
Granite 3.1 2b Instruct: 29.1 (#269), Step 5 Preview: 53.8 (#54)
| Benchmark | Granite 3.1 2b Instruct | Step 5 Preview |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Non-English | 1068 | 1432 |
| LMArena Chinese | 1139 | 1519 |
| LMArena Russian | 1063 | 1436 |
| LMArena Spanish | — | 1439 |
Instruction Following Step 5 Preview leads
Granite 3.1 2b Instruct: 57.7 (#264), Step 5 Preview: 76.0 (#50)
| Benchmark | Granite 3.1 2b Instruct | Step 5 Preview |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Instruction Following | 1116 | 1444 |
Long Context Step 5 Preview leads
Granite 3.1 2b Instruct: 35.0 (#244), Step 5 Preview: 44.5 (#64)
| Benchmark | Granite 3.1 2b Instruct | Step 5 Preview |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Longer Query | 1155 | 1455 |
Writing & Preference Step 5 Preview leads
Granite 3.1 2b Instruct: 34.1 (#274), Step 5 Preview: 62.8 (#71)
| Benchmark | Granite 3.1 2b Instruct | Step 5 Preview |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Text | 1127 | 1442 |
| LMArena Creative Writing | 1116 | 1410 |
| LMArena Multi-Turn | 1099 | 1447 |
Frequently asked questions
Is Granite 3.1 2b Instruct better than Step 5 Preview?
Step 5 Preview is the stronger model overall, scoring 47.9 to 33.2 on the Noometry Index.
Is Granite 3.1 2b Instruct or Step 5 Preview better for coding?
Step 5 Preview scores higher on coding benchmarks: 51.8 versus 33.4 in the Noometry coding category.
How many benchmarks do Granite 3.1 2b Instruct and Step 5 Preview share?
12 benchmarks have published results for both models. Granite 3.1 2b Instruct has 12 scored results on Noometry and Step 5 Preview has 18.