# MiniMax M1 vs Step 5 Preview

> Step 5 Preview is the stronger model overall, scoring 47.9 to 40.3 on the Noometry Index.

- Canonical page: https://noometry.com/compare/minimax-m1-vs-step-5-preview
- Last updated: 2026-10-11
- Shared benchmarks: 13

## Summary

- They share 13 benchmarks with published results for both. MiniMax M1 scores higher in 0 categories and Step 5 Preview in 8 categories; 8 gaps are clear of the uncertainty.
- The widest gap is in reasoning, where Step 5 Preview leads 40.0 to 26.9.
- MiniMax M1 is cheaper at $0.55 / $2.20 per million input/output tokens, against $1 / $2.70 for Step 5 Preview.
- Step 5 Preview accepts more context: 1.02M tokens versus 1M.
- MiniMax M1 has downloadable open weights; the other is API-only.

## Snapshot

| | MiniMax M1 | Step 5 Preview |
|---|---|---|
| Provider | MiniMax | StepFun |
| Noometry Index | 40.3 | 47.9 |
| Rank | 150 | 58 |
| Context | 1M | 1.02M |
| Input $/M | $0.55 | $1 |
| Output $/M | $2.20 | $2.70 |
| Weights | Open | Proprietary |

## Coding

- MiniMax M1: 39.9 (#153)
- Step 5 Preview: 51.8 (#36)

| Benchmark | MiniMax M1 | Step 5 Preview |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Coding | 1359 | 1480 |
| LMArena WebDev | — | 1564 |
| SciCode | — | 58.9% |

## Reasoning

- MiniMax M1: 26.9 (#126)
- Step 5 Preview: 40.0 (#57)

| Benchmark | MiniMax M1 | Step 5 Preview |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Hard Prompts | 1339 | 1465 |
| CritPt | — | 20.9% |

## Math

- MiniMax M1: 37.5 (#151)
- Step 5 Preview: 46.1 (#72)

| Benchmark | MiniMax M1 | Step 5 Preview |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Math | 1361 | 1470 |
| ProofBench | — | 42% |

## Knowledge

- MiniMax M1: 36.4 (#170)
- Step 5 Preview: 41.2 (#112)

| Benchmark | MiniMax M1 | Step 5 Preview |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Expert | 1317 | 1470 |

## Multimodal

- MiniMax M1: —
- Step 5 Preview: 41.0 (#41)

| Benchmark | MiniMax M1 | Step 5 Preview |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Vision | — | 1267 |

## Multilingual

- MiniMax M1: 45.8 (#163)
- Step 5 Preview: 53.8 (#54)

| Benchmark | MiniMax M1 | Step 5 Preview |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Non-English | 1319 | 1432 |
| LMArena Chinese | 1360 | 1519 |
| LMArena Russian | 1329 | 1436 |
| LMArena Spanish | 1353 | 1439 |
| LMArena French | 1370 | — |
| LMArena German | 1350 | — |
| LMArena Japanese | 1217 | — |
| LMArena Korean | 1266 | — |

## Instruction Following

- MiniMax M1: 69.3 (#174)
- Step 5 Preview: 76.0 (#50)

| Benchmark | MiniMax M1 | Step 5 Preview |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Instruction Following | 1312 | 1444 |

## Long Context

- MiniMax M1: 41.4 (#141)
- Step 5 Preview: 44.5 (#64)

| Benchmark | MiniMax M1 | Step 5 Preview |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Longer Query | 1326 | 1455 |
| Fiction.LiveBench | 69.4% | — |

## Writing & Preference

- MiniMax M1: 53.1 (#161)
- Step 5 Preview: 62.8 (#71)

| Benchmark | MiniMax M1 | Step 5 Preview |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Text | 1343 | 1442 |
| LMArena Creative Writing | 1298 | 1410 |
| LMArena Multi-Turn | 1335 | 1447 |

## FAQ

### Is MiniMax M1 better than Step 5 Preview?

Step 5 Preview is the stronger model overall, scoring 47.9 to 40.3 on the Noometry Index.

### Which is cheaper, MiniMax M1 or Step 5 Preview?

MiniMax M1 is cheaper. It lists at $0.55 per million input tokens and $2.20 per million output tokens; Step 5 Preview lists at $1 and $2.70.

### Is MiniMax M1 or Step 5 Preview better for coding?

Step 5 Preview scores higher on coding benchmarks: 51.8 versus 39.9 in the Noometry coding category.

### Which has the bigger context window?

Step 5 Preview does, with 1.02M tokens against 1M.

### How many benchmarks do MiniMax M1 and Step 5 Preview share?

13 benchmarks have published results for both models. MiniMax M1 has 18 scored results on Noometry and Step 5 Preview has 18.