Kimi K2.8 Preview vs Step 5 Preview vs North Small Translate
Step 5 Preview comes out ahead, 72 to 66 and 0 on our weighted score.
Moonshot AIKimi K2.8 Preview
66/100- ECI—
- Price—
- Context1.05M
- Our pick
StepFunStep 5 Preview
72/100- ECI—
- Price$1.00 / $2.70
- Context1M
CohereNorth Small Translate
0/100- ECI—
- PriceFree / Free
- Context16K
Step 5 Preview is our pick
Step 5 Preview is the better all-round choice, scoring 72/100 against Kimi K2.8 Preview (66) and North Small Translate (0). It leads on inputs & features. The score weighs inputs & features 60%, context window 40%. 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 priceNorth Small TranslateNorth Small Translate Free · Step 5 Preview $1.43 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend) · Kimi K2.8 Preview unpriced
- Longest contextKimi K2.8 PreviewKimi K2.8 Preview 1,048,576 · Step 5 Preview 1,000,000 · North Small Translate 16,000 tokens
- Widest inputsKimi K2.8 Preview and Step 5 PreviewKimi K2.8 Preview: Text, Images, Video · Step 5 Preview: Text, Images, Video · North Small Translate: Text
- Self-hostingNorth Small TranslatePublishes downloadable weights (CC-BY-NC-4.0)
| Measure | Weight | Kimi K2.8 Preview | Step 5 Preview | North Small Translate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Inputs & features | 60% | 70 | 80 | 0 |
| Context window | 40% | 61 | 60 | 0 |
| Overall | 100% | 66/100 | 72/100 | 0/100 |
Left out because at least one model lacks the data: capability and price. The remaining weights were rescaled.
Every spec in one table
Highlighted cells lead their row. Dashes mean the data is not published.
| Specification | Kimi K2.8 PreviewMoonshot AI | Step 5 PreviewStepFun | North Small TranslateCohere |
|---|---|---|---|
| Capability | |||
| Capabilities Index (ECI) | — | — | — |
| ECI rank | — | — | — |
| Price per million tokens | |||
| Input | — | $1.00 | Free (best) |
| Output | — | $2.70 | Free (best) |
| Cached input | — | $0.05 | — |
| Blended (3:1) | — | $1.43 | Free (best) |
| Long-context rate | — | Same rate | Same rate |
| Price source | — | Official StepFun (Global) API | Official Cohere API |
| Limits | |||
| Context window | 1,048,576 tokens (best) | 1,000,000 tokens | 16,000 tokens |
| Max output | — | 1,000,000 tokens (best) | 16,000 tokens |
| Inputs and features | |||
| Text | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Images | Yes | Yes | No |
| PDFs | No | No | No |
| Audio | No | No | No |
| Video | Yes | Yes | No |
| Reasoning | Yes | Yeslow · medium · high | No |
| Tool calling | Yes | Yes | No |
| Structured output | No | Yes | No |
| Availability | |||
| Weights | Proprietary | Proprietary | OpenCC-BY-NC-4.0 |
| API model ID | — | step-5-preview | north-small-translate-09-2026 |
| API providers | — | 7 (best) | 1 |
| Released | Sep 11, 2026 | Sep 16, 2026 | Sep 9, 2026 |
| Knowledge cutoff | — | — | — |
What would a month cost?
Enter your expected volume in millions of tokens. List prices only; caching and batch discounts would lower these.
- Kimi K2.8 Preview—
- Step 5 Preview$15.40
- North Small TranslateFree
Which should you choose?
Which is better: Kimi K2.8 Preview, Step 5 Preview or North Small Translate?
Step 5 Preview is the better all-round choice, scoring 72/100 against Kimi K2.8 Preview (66) and North Small Translate (0). It leads on inputs & features. The score weighs inputs & features 60%, context window 40%. None of the shared benchmarks cover every model here yet, so capability is left out of this verdict.
Which is cheaper, Kimi K2.8 Preview, Step 5 Preview or North Small Translate?
North Small Translate is cheaper at Free input / Free output per million tokens (official Cohere API price). Step 5 Preview costs $1.00 input / $2.70 output per million tokens (official StepFun (Global) API price). North Small Translate is listed as free. Kimi K2.8 Preview has no published per-token price.
Which scores higher on benchmarks?
There is no independent benchmark that covers all three models yet. Kimi K2.8 Preview has not been scored yet, Step 5 Preview has not been scored yet and North Small Translate has not been scored yet.
Which is better for coding?
There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for Kimi K2.8 Preview, Step 5 Preview and North Small Translate yet, so there is no like-for-like coding score. Test both on a sample of your own tasks. Note that North Small Translate does not support tool calling, which most coding agents need.
Which has the bigger context window?
Kimi K2.8 Preview has the largest context window at 1,048,576 tokens, against 1,000,000 for Step 5 Preview and 16,000 for North Small Translate. Maximum output per response: Step 5 Preview up to 1,000,000, North Small Translate up to 16,000 tokens.
Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?
Kimi K2.8 Preview accepts text, images and video; Step 5 Preview accepts text, images and video; North Small Translate accepts text. Kimi K2.8 Preview handles the widest range of inputs.
Are any of these open source?
North Small Translate publishes its weights (CC-BY-NC-4.0) and can be self-hosted; Kimi K2.8 Preview and Step 5 Preview is proprietary.
Which is newer?
Step 5 Preview is the newest, released Sep 16, 2026. Kimi K2.8 Preview came out Sep 11, 2026; North Small Translate came out Sep 9, 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 Oct 4, 2026.
