Beam 1.0 501B A23B vs Ling 3.1 Flash vs LongCat-2.5-Preview
LongCat-2.5-Preview comes out ahead, 60 to 54 and 50 on our weighted score, though Ling 3.1 Flash is 14% cheaper per token.
Reflection AIBeam 1.0 501B A23B
54/100- ECI—
- Price$0.30 / $1.00
- Context1.05M
inclusionAILing 3.1 Flash
50/100- ECI—
- Price$0.30 / $0.90
- Context262K
- Our pick
Meituan (LongCat)LongCat-2.5-Preview
60/100- ECI—
- Price$0.30 / $1.20
- Context1M
LongCat-2.5-Preview is our pick
LongCat-2.5-Preview is the better all-round choice, scoring 60/100 against Beam 1.0 501B A23B (54) and Ling 3.1 Flash (50). It leads on inputs & features. The score weighs price 50%, inputs & features 30%, context window 20%. None of the shared benchmarks cover every model here yet, so capability is left out of this verdict.
- CapabilityNot enough dataNo independent benchmark covers every model here yet
- Lowest priceLing 3.1 FlashLing 3.1 Flash $0.45 · Beam 1.0 501B A23B $0.475 · LongCat-2.5-Preview $0.525 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
- Longest contextBeam 1.0 501B A23BBeam 1.0 501B A23B 1,048,576 · LongCat-2.5-Preview 1,000,000 · Ling 3.1 Flash 262,144 tokens
- Widest inputsLongCat-2.5-PreviewBeam 1.0 501B A23B: Text · Ling 3.1 Flash: Text · LongCat-2.5-Preview: Text, Images
- Self-hostingBeam 1.0 501B A23B and Ling 3.1 FlashPublishes downloadable weights (Apache-2.0)
| Measure | Weight | Beam 1.0 501B A23B | Ling 3.1 Flash | LongCat-2.5-Preview |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price | 50% | 62 | 64 | 60 |
| Inputs & features | 30% | 35 | 35 | 60 |
| Context window | 20% | 61 | 37 | 60 |
| Overall | 100% | 54/100 | 50/100 | 60/100 |
Left out because at least one model lacks the data: capability. The remaining weights were rescaled.
Every spec in one table
Highlighted cells lead their row. Dashes mean the data is not published.
| Specification | Beam 1.0 501B A23BReflection AI | Ling 3.1 FlashinclusionAI | LongCat-2.5-PreviewMeituan (LongCat) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Capability | |||
| Capabilities Index (ECI) | — | — | — |
| ECI rank | — | — | — |
| Price per million tokens | |||
| Input | $0.30 | $0.30 | $0.30 |
| Output | $1.00 | $0.90 (best) | $1.20 |
| Cached input | — | — | $0.006 |
| Blended (3:1) | $0.475 | $0.45 (best) | $0.525 |
| Long-context rate | Same rate | Same rate | Same rate |
| Price source | Median of 7 providers | Median of 5 providers | Official LongCat API |
| Limits | |||
| Context window | 1,048,576 tokens (best) | 262,144 tokens | 1,000,000 tokens |
| Max output | 131,072 tokens (best) | 32,768 tokens | 131,072 tokens (best) |
| Inputs and features | |||
| Text | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Images | No | No | Yes |
| PDFs | No | No | No |
| Audio | No | No | No |
| Video | No | No | No |
| Reasoning | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Tool calling | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Structured output | No | No | No |
| Availability | |||
| Weights | OpenApache-2.0 | Open | Proprietary |
| API model ID | — | — | LongCat-2.5-Preview |
| API providers | 12 (best) | 7 | 4 |
| Released | Oct 5, 2026 | Sep 29, 2026 | Sep 25, 2026 |
| Knowledge cutoff | Jun 30, 2026 | — | — |
What would a month cost?
Enter your expected volume in millions of tokens. List prices only; caching and batch discounts would lower these.
- Beam 1.0 501B A23B$5.00
- Ling 3.1 Flash$4.80
- LongCat-2.5-Preview$5.40
Which should you choose?
Which is better: Beam 1.0 501B A23B, Ling 3.1 Flash or LongCat-2.5-Preview?
LongCat-2.5-Preview is the better all-round choice, scoring 60/100 against Beam 1.0 501B A23B (54) and Ling 3.1 Flash (50). It leads on inputs & features. The score weighs price 50%, inputs & features 30%, context window 20%. None of the shared benchmarks cover every model here yet, so capability is left out of this verdict.
Which is cheaper, Beam 1.0 501B A23B, Ling 3.1 Flash or LongCat-2.5-Preview?
Ling 3.1 Flash is cheaper at $0.30 input / $0.90 output per million tokens (median across 5 API providers). Beam 1.0 501B A23B costs $0.30 input / $1.00 output per million tokens (median across 7 API providers); LongCat-2.5-Preview costs $0.30 input / $1.20 output per million tokens (official LongCat API price). At a typical mix of three input tokens to one output token, that is $0.45 per million tokens for Ling 3.1 Flash versus $0.475 for Beam 1.0 501B A23B (1.1× as much) and $0.525 for LongCat-2.5-Preview (1.2× as much).
Which scores higher on benchmarks?
There is no independent benchmark that covers all three models yet. Beam 1.0 501B A23B has not been scored yet, Ling 3.1 Flash has not been scored yet and LongCat-2.5-Preview has not been scored yet.
Which is better for coding?
There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for Beam 1.0 501B A23B, Ling 3.1 Flash and LongCat-2.5-Preview yet, so there is no like-for-like coding score. Test both on a sample of your own tasks. All three support tool calling for agent workflows.
Which has the bigger context window?
Beam 1.0 501B A23B has the largest context window at 1,048,576 tokens, against 1,000,000 for LongCat-2.5-Preview and 262,144 for Ling 3.1 Flash. Maximum output per response: Beam 1.0 501B A23B up to 131,072, Ling 3.1 Flash up to 32,768, LongCat-2.5-Preview up to 131,072 tokens.
Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?
Beam 1.0 501B A23B accepts text; Ling 3.1 Flash accepts text; LongCat-2.5-Preview accepts text and images. LongCat-2.5-Preview handles the widest range of inputs.
Are any of these open source?
Beam 1.0 501B A23B and Ling 3.1 Flash publishes its weights (Apache-2.0) and can be self-hosted; LongCat-2.5-Preview is proprietary.
Which is newer?
Beam 1.0 501B A23B is the newest, released Oct 5, 2026. Ling 3.1 Flash came out Sep 29, 2026; LongCat-2.5-Preview came out Sep 25, 2026. Knowledge cutoff: Beam 1.0 501B A23B Jun 30, 2026.
How do you decide the winner?
Each model gets a 0–100 score on capability (50%, independent benchmark results); price (25%, blended price per million tokens (3 input : 1 output), log scale); inputs & features (15%, image, PDF, audio and video input, tool calling, structured output and reasoning); context window (10%, maximum tokens per request, log scale). Dimensions missing for any model are dropped and the remaining weights rescaled, so every model is judged on the same evidence. Specs and prices come from public model listings and the labs’ own API pages; capability scores come from independent benchmark runs. Data updated Nov 2, 2026.
