LongCat-2.5-Preview vs Seed 2.1 Turbo vs Step 5 Preview
Too close to call on our weighted score (Seed 2.1 Turbo 57, Step 5 Preview 57, LongCat-2.5-Preview 52). The right pick depends on what you value most.
Meituan (LongCat)LongCat-2.5-Preview
52/100- ECI—
- Price$0.75 / $2.95
- Context1M
ByteDance SeedSeed 2.1 Turbo
57/100- ECI—
- Price$0.445 / $2.23
- Context256K
StepFunStep 5 Preview
57/100- ECI—
- Price$1.00 / $2.70
- Context1M
Too close to call
It is close. Our weighted score puts them within a point (Seed 2.1 Turbo 57/100, Step 5 Preview 57/100, LongCat-2.5-Preview 52/100), so choose by what matters most for your work: Seed 2.1 Turbo on price. 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 priceSeed 2.1 TurboSeed 2.1 Turbo $0.891 · LongCat-2.5-Preview $1.30 · Step 5 Preview $1.43 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
- Longest contextLongCat-2.5-Preview and Step 5 PreviewLongCat-2.5-Preview 1,000,000 · Step 5 Preview 1,000,000 · Seed 2.1 Turbo 256,000 tokens
- Widest inputsSeed 2.1 Turbo and Step 5 PreviewLongCat-2.5-Preview: Text, Images · Seed 2.1 Turbo: Text, Images, Video · Step 5 Preview: Text, Images, Video
- Self-hostingNo open weightsAll three are available only through APIs
| Measure | Weight | LongCat-2.5-Preview | Seed 2.1 Turbo | Step 5 Preview |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price | 50% | 44 | 52 | 43 |
| Inputs & features | 30% | 60 | 80 | 80 |
| Context window | 20% | 60 | 36 | 60 |
| Overall | 100% | 52/100 | 57/100 | 57/100 |
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) | Seed 2.1 TurboByteDance Seed | Step 5 PreviewStepFun |
|---|---|---|---|
| Capability | |||
| Capabilities Index (ECI) | — | — | — |
| ECI rank | — | — | — |
| Price per million tokens | |||
| Input | $0.75 | $0.445 (best) | $1.00 |
| Output | $2.95 | $2.23 (best) | $2.70 |
| Cached input | — | $0.089 | $0.05 (best) |
| Blended (3:1) | $1.30 | $0.891 (best) | $1.43 |
| Long-context rate | Same rate | Same rate | Same rate |
| Price source | Median of 1 providers | Official Volcengine Ark API | Official StepFun (Global) API |
| Limits | |||
| Context window | 1,000,000 tokens (best) | 256,000 tokens | 1,000,000 tokens (best) |
| Max output | 131,072 tokens | 256,000 tokens | 1,000,000 tokens (best) |
| Inputs and features | |||
| Text | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Images | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| PDFs | No | No | No |
| Audio | No | No | No |
| Video | No | Yes | Yes |
| Reasoning | Yes | Yesminimal · low · medium · high · xhigh · max | Yeslow · medium · high |
| Tool calling | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Structured output | No | Yes | Yes |
| Availability | |||
| Weights | Proprietary | Proprietary | Proprietary |
| API model ID | — | doubao-seed-2-1-turbo-260628 | step-5-preview |
| API providers | 2 | 4 | 7 (best) |
| Released | Sep 25, 2026 | Jun 23, 2026 | Sep 16, 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
- Seed 2.1 Turbo$8.91
- Step 5 Preview$15.40
Which should you choose?
Which is better: LongCat-2.5-Preview, Seed 2.1 Turbo or Step 5 Preview?
It is close. Our weighted score puts them within a point (Seed 2.1 Turbo 57/100, Step 5 Preview 57/100, LongCat-2.5-Preview 52/100), so choose by what matters most for your work: Seed 2.1 Turbo on price. 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, Seed 2.1 Turbo or Step 5 Preview?
Seed 2.1 Turbo is cheaper at $0.445 input / $2.23 output per million tokens (official Volcengine Ark API price). LongCat-2.5-Preview costs $0.75 input / $2.95 output per million tokens (median across 1 API provider); Step 5 Preview costs $1.00 input / $2.70 output per million tokens (official StepFun (Global) API price). At a typical mix of three input tokens to one output token, that is $0.891 per million tokens for Seed 2.1 Turbo versus $1.30 for LongCat-2.5-Preview (1.5× as much) and $1.43 for Step 5 Preview (1.6× as much).
Which scores higher on benchmarks?
There is no independent benchmark that covers all three models yet. LongCat-2.5-Preview has not been scored yet, Seed 2.1 Turbo has not been scored yet and Step 5 Preview has not been scored yet.
Which is better for coding?
There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for LongCat-2.5-Preview, Seed 2.1 Turbo and Step 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?
LongCat-2.5-Preview and Step 5 Preview have the largest context windows (1,000,000 and 1,000,000 tokens), against 256,000 for Seed 2.1 Turbo. Maximum output per response: LongCat-2.5-Preview up to 131,072, Seed 2.1 Turbo up to 256,000, Step 5 Preview up to 1,000,000 tokens.
Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?
LongCat-2.5-Preview accepts text and images; Seed 2.1 Turbo accepts text, images and video; Step 5 Preview accepts text, images and video. Seed 2.1 Turbo handles the widest range of inputs.
Are any of these open source?
No. LongCat-2.5-Preview, Seed 2.1 Turbo and Step 5 Preview are proprietary and only available through APIs and apps.
Which is newer?
LongCat-2.5-Preview is the newest, released Sep 25, 2026. Step 5 Preview came out Sep 16, 2026; Seed 2.1 Turbo came out Jun 23, 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.
