# DeepSeek-V3.2-Speciale vs Step 5 Preview

> Step 5 Preview is the stronger model overall, scoring 47.9 to 39.7 on the Noometry Index. DeepSeek-V3.2-Speciale costs 1.7× less per token, which makes it the better buy when Step 5 Preview's lead doesn't matter for your workload.

- Canonical page: https://noometry.com/compare/deepseek-v3-2-speciale-vs-step-5-preview
- Last updated: 2026-10-10
- Shared benchmarks: 0

## Summary

- The widest gap is in writing & preference, where Step 5 Preview leads 62.8 to 46.0.
- DeepSeek-V3.2-Speciale is cheaper at $0.58 / $1.68 per million input/output tokens, against $1 / $2.70 for Step 5 Preview.
- Step 5 Preview accepts more context: 1.02M tokens versus 128K.
- DeepSeek-V3.2-Speciale has downloadable open weights; the other is API-only.

## Snapshot

| | DeepSeek-V3.2-Speciale | Step 5 Preview |
|---|---|---|
| Provider | DeepSeek | StepFun |
| Noometry Index | 39.7 | 47.9 |
| Rank | 162 | 58 |
| Context | 128K | 1.02M |
| Input $/M | $0.58 | $1 |
| Output $/M | $1.68 | $2.70 |
| Weights | Open | Proprietary |

## Coding

- DeepSeek-V3.2-Speciale: 40.4 (#140)
- Step 5 Preview: 51.8 (#36)

| Benchmark | DeepSeek-V3.2-Speciale | Step 5 Preview |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena WebDev | — | 1564 |
| SciCode | — | 58.9% |
| WeirdML | 46.7% | — |
| LMArena Coding | — | 1480 |

## Reasoning

- DeepSeek-V3.2-Speciale: 32.9 (#73)
- Step 5 Preview: 40.0 (#57)

| Benchmark | DeepSeek-V3.2-Speciale | Step 5 Preview |
|---|---|---|
| SimpleBench | 52.6% | — |
| CritPt | — | 20.9% |
| LMArena Hard Prompts | — | 1465 |

## Math

- DeepSeek-V3.2-Speciale: —
- Step 5 Preview: 46.1 (#72)

| Benchmark | DeepSeek-V3.2-Speciale | Step 5 Preview |
|---|---|---|
| ProofBench | — | 42% |
| LMArena Math | — | 1470 |

## Knowledge

- DeepSeek-V3.2-Speciale: —
- Step 5 Preview: 41.2 (#112)

| Benchmark | DeepSeek-V3.2-Speciale | Step 5 Preview |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Expert | — | 1470 |

## Multimodal

- DeepSeek-V3.2-Speciale: —
- Step 5 Preview: 41.0 (#41)

| Benchmark | DeepSeek-V3.2-Speciale | Step 5 Preview |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Vision | — | 1267 |

## Multilingual

- DeepSeek-V3.2-Speciale: —
- Step 5 Preview: 53.8 (#54)

| Benchmark | DeepSeek-V3.2-Speciale | Step 5 Preview |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Non-English | — | 1432 |
| LMArena Chinese | — | 1519 |
| LMArena Russian | — | 1436 |
| LMArena Spanish | — | 1439 |

## Instruction Following

- DeepSeek-V3.2-Speciale: —
- Step 5 Preview: 76.0 (#50)

| Benchmark | DeepSeek-V3.2-Speciale | Step 5 Preview |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Instruction Following | — | 1444 |

## Long Context

- DeepSeek-V3.2-Speciale: —
- Step 5 Preview: 44.5 (#64)

| Benchmark | DeepSeek-V3.2-Speciale | Step 5 Preview |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Longer Query | — | 1455 |

## Writing & Preference

- DeepSeek-V3.2-Speciale: 46.0 (#222)
- Step 5 Preview: 62.8 (#71)

| Benchmark | DeepSeek-V3.2-Speciale | Step 5 Preview |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Text | — | 1442 |
| LMArena Creative Writing | — | 1410 |
| EQ-Bench Creative Writing | 1276 | — |
| LMArena Multi-Turn | — | 1447 |

## FAQ

### Is DeepSeek-V3.2-Speciale better than Step 5 Preview?

Step 5 Preview is the stronger model overall, scoring 47.9 to 39.7 on the Noometry Index. DeepSeek-V3.2-Speciale 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, DeepSeek-V3.2-Speciale or Step 5 Preview?

DeepSeek-V3.2-Speciale is cheaper. It lists at $0.58 per million input tokens and $1.68 per million output tokens; Step 5 Preview lists at $1 and $2.70.

### Is DeepSeek-V3.2-Speciale or Step 5 Preview better for coding?

Step 5 Preview scores higher on coding benchmarks: 51.8 versus 40.4 in the Noometry coding category.

### Which has the bigger context window?

Step 5 Preview does, with 1.02M tokens against 128K.

### How many benchmarks do DeepSeek-V3.2-Speciale and Step 5 Preview share?

0 benchmarks have published results for both models. DeepSeek-V3.2-Speciale has 3 scored results on Noometry and Step 5 Preview has 18.