LongCat-2.5-Preview vs North Small Translate
Too close to call on our weighted score (LongCat-2.5-Preview 52, North Small Translate 50). The right pick depends on what you value most.
Meituan (LongCat)LongCat-2.5-Preview
52/100- ECI—
- Price$0.75 / $2.95
- Context1M
CohereNorth Small Translate
50/100- ECI—
- PriceFree / Free
- Context16K
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Make it a three-way comparison.
Too close to call
It is close. Our weighted score puts them within 2 points (LongCat-2.5-Preview 52/100, North Small Translate 50/100), so choose by what matters most for your work: North Small Translate on price and LongCat-2.5-Preview for long inputs. 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 priceNorth Small TranslateNorth Small Translate Free · LongCat-2.5-Preview $1.30 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
- Longest contextLongCat-2.5-PreviewLongCat-2.5-Preview 1,000,000 · North Small Translate 16,000 tokens
- Widest inputsLongCat-2.5-PreviewLongCat-2.5-Preview: Text, Images · North Small Translate: Text
- Self-hostingNorth Small TranslatePublishes downloadable weights (CC-BY-NC-4.0)
| Measure | Weight | LongCat-2.5-Preview | North Small Translate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price | 50% | 44 | 100 |
| Inputs & features | 30% | 60 | 0 |
| Context window | 20% | 60 | 0 |
| Overall | 100% | 52/100 | 50/100 |
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 | LongCat-2.5-PreviewMeituan (LongCat) | North Small TranslateCohere |
|---|---|---|
| Capability | ||
| Capabilities Index (ECI) | — | — |
| ECI rank | — | — |
| Price per million tokens | ||
| Input | $0.75 | Free (best) |
| Output | $2.95 | Free (best) |
| Cached input | — | — |
| Blended (3:1) | $1.30 | Free (best) |
| Long-context rate | Same rate | Same rate |
| Price source | Median of 1 providers | Official Cohere API |
| Limits | ||
| Context window | 1,000,000 tokens (best) | 16,000 tokens |
| Max output | 131,072 tokens (best) | 16,000 tokens |
| Inputs and features | ||
| Text | Yes | Yes |
| Images | Yes | No |
| PDFs | No | No |
| Audio | No | No |
| Video | No | No |
| Reasoning | Yes | No |
| Tool calling | Yes | No |
| Structured output | No | No |
| Availability | ||
| Weights | Proprietary | OpenCC-BY-NC-4.0 |
| API model ID | — | north-small-translate-09-2026 |
| API providers | 2 (best) | 1 |
| Released | Sep 25, 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.
- LongCat-2.5-Preview$13.40
- North Small TranslateFree
Which should you choose?
Which is better: LongCat-2.5-Preview or North Small Translate?
It is close. Our weighted score puts them within 2 points (LongCat-2.5-Preview 52/100, North Small Translate 50/100), so choose by what matters most for your work: North Small Translate on price and LongCat-2.5-Preview for long inputs. 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, LongCat-2.5-Preview or North Small Translate?
North Small Translate is cheaper at Free input / Free output per million tokens (official Cohere API price). LongCat-2.5-Preview costs $0.75 input / $2.95 output per million tokens (median across 1 API provider). North Small Translate is listed as free.
Which scores higher on benchmarks?
There is no independent benchmark that covers both models yet. LongCat-2.5-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 LongCat-2.5-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?
LongCat-2.5-Preview has the largest context window at 1,000,000 tokens, against 16,000 for North Small Translate. Maximum output per response: LongCat-2.5-Preview up to 131,072, North Small Translate up to 16,000 tokens.
Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?
LongCat-2.5-Preview accepts text and images; North Small Translate accepts text. LongCat-2.5-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; LongCat-2.5-Preview is proprietary.
Which is newer?
LongCat-2.5-Preview is the newest, released Sep 25, 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.
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