Model comparison
Qwen3.5 27B vs Step 5 Preview
Step 5 Preview is the stronger model overall, scoring 47.9 to 41.9 on the Noometry Index. Qwen3.5 27B costs 1.7× less per token, which makes it the better buy when Step 5 Preview's lead doesn't matter for your workload.
Last verified . 15 shared benchmarks.
Alibaba (Qwen)
StepFunSummary
- They share 15 benchmarks with published results for both. Qwen3.5 27B scores higher in 0 categories and Step 5 Preview in 9 categories; 9 gaps are clear of the uncertainty.
- The widest gap is in coding, where Step 5 Preview leads 51.8 to 38.9.
- Qwen3.5 27B is cheaper at $0.30 / $2.40 per million input/output tokens, against $1 / $2.70 for Step 5 Preview.
- Step 5 Preview accepts more context: 1.02M tokens versus 262K.
- Qwen3.5 27B has downloadable open weights; the other is API-only.
Side by side
| Qwen3.5 27B | Step 5 Preview | |
|---|---|---|
| Provider | Alibaba (Qwen) | StepFun |
| Noometry Index | 41.9 | 47.9 |
| Released | 2026-02-23 | 2026-09-16 |
| Weights | Open | Proprietary |
| Context window | 262K | 1.02M |
| Max output | 66K | 66K |
| Input $ / M tokens | $0.30 | $1 |
| Output $ / M tokens | $2.40 | $2.70 |
| Results tracked | 28 | 18 |
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Category by category
Coding Step 5 Preview leads
Qwen3.5 27B: 38.9 (#168), Step 5 Preview: 51.8 (#36)
| Benchmark | Qwen3.5 27B | Step 5 Preview |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena WebDev | 1358 | 1564 |
| LMArena Coding | 1427 | 1480 |
| SciCode | — | 58.9% |
| WeirdML | 39.5% | — |
| ALE-Bench | 349.45 | — |
Agentic & Tool Use Not comparable
Qwen3.5 27B: —, Step 5 Preview: —
| Benchmark | Qwen3.5 27B | Step 5 Preview |
|---|---|---|
| Vending-Bench 2 | 201.98 | — |
Reasoning Step 5 Preview leads
Qwen3.5 27B: 27.5 (#117), Step 5 Preview: 40.0 (#57)
| Benchmark | Qwen3.5 27B | Step 5 Preview |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Hard Prompts | 1414 | 1465 |
| NYT Connections (extended) | 47.9% | — |
| CritPt | — | 20.9% |
| Thematic Generalization | 45.5% | — |
| DTBench | 82.4% | — |
| LMCA | 34% | — |
Math Step 5 Preview leads
Qwen3.5 27B: 38.8 (#127), Step 5 Preview: 46.1 (#72)
| Benchmark | Qwen3.5 27B | Step 5 Preview |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Math | 1429 | 1470 |
| MathArena Final-Answer Competitions | 56.7% | — |
| ProofBench | — | 42% |
Knowledge Step 5 Preview leads
Qwen3.5 27B: 38.0 (#150), Step 5 Preview: 41.2 (#112)
| Benchmark | Qwen3.5 27B | Step 5 Preview |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Expert | 1428 | 1470 |
| Vectara Hallucination Rate | 12.1% | — |
Multimodal Step 5 Preview leads
Qwen3.5 27B: 39.4 (#59), Step 5 Preview: 41.0 (#41)
| Benchmark | Qwen3.5 27B | Step 5 Preview |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Vision | 1241 | 1267 |
Multilingual Step 5 Preview leads
Qwen3.5 27B: 50.8 (#115), Step 5 Preview: 53.8 (#54)
| Benchmark | Qwen3.5 27B | Step 5 Preview |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Non-English | 1390 | 1432 |
| LMArena Chinese | 1478 | 1519 |
| LMArena Russian | 1390 | 1436 |
| LMArena Spanish | 1407 | 1439 |
| LMArena French | 1410 | — |
| LMArena German | 1393 | — |
| LMArena Japanese | 1345 | — |
| LMArena Korean | 1358 | — |
Instruction Following Step 5 Preview leads
Qwen3.5 27B: 73.5 (#119), Step 5 Preview: 76.0 (#50)
| Benchmark | Qwen3.5 27B | Step 5 Preview |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Instruction Following | 1393 | 1444 |
Long Context Step 5 Preview leads
Qwen3.5 27B: 43.1 (#106), Step 5 Preview: 44.5 (#64)
| Benchmark | Qwen3.5 27B | Step 5 Preview |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Longer Query | 1413 | 1455 |
Writing & Preference Step 5 Preview leads
Qwen3.5 27B: 59.3 (#111), Step 5 Preview: 62.8 (#71)
| Benchmark | Qwen3.5 27B | Step 5 Preview |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Text | 1409 | 1442 |
| LMArena Creative Writing | 1362 | 1410 |
| LMArena Multi-Turn | 1410 | 1447 |
Frequently asked questions
Is Qwen3.5 27B better than Step 5 Preview?
Step 5 Preview is the stronger model overall, scoring 47.9 to 41.9 on the Noometry Index. Qwen3.5 27B costs 1.7× less per token, which makes it the better buy when Step 5 Preview's lead doesn't matter for your workload.
Which is cheaper, Qwen3.5 27B or Step 5 Preview?
Qwen3.5 27B is cheaper. It lists at $0.30 per million input tokens and $2.40 per million output tokens; Step 5 Preview lists at $1 and $2.70.
Is Qwen3.5 27B or Step 5 Preview better for coding?
Step 5 Preview scores higher on coding benchmarks: 51.8 versus 38.9 in the Noometry coding category.
Which has the bigger context window?
Step 5 Preview does, with 1.02M tokens against 262K.
How many benchmarks do Qwen3.5 27B and Step 5 Preview share?
15 benchmarks have published results for both models. Qwen3.5 27B has 28 scored results on Noometry and Step 5 Preview has 18.