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Comparison · 2 models · Updated Oct 4, 2026

North Small Translate vs Step 5 Preview

Step 5 Preview comes out ahead, 57 to 50 on our weighted score.

  1. Cohere

    North Small Translate

    Released Sep 9, 2026

    50/100
    • ECI—
    • PriceFree / Free
    • Context16K
    Full specs Remove North Small Translate
  2. Our pick

    StepFun

    Step 5 Preview

    Released Sep 16, 2026

    57/100
    • ECI—
    • Price$1.00 / $2.70
    • Context1M
    Full specs Remove Step 5 Preview

  3. Add a model

    Make it a three-way comparison.

01 — Verdict

Step 5 Preview is our pick

Step 5 Preview is the better all-round choice, scoring 57/100 against North Small Translate (50). It leads on inputs & features and context window. North Small Translate wins 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 priceNorth Small TranslateNorth Small Translate Free · Step 5 Preview $1.43 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
  • Longest contextStep 5 PreviewStep 5 Preview 1,000,000 · North Small Translate 16,000 tokens
  • Widest inputsStep 5 PreviewNorth Small Translate: Text · Step 5 Preview: Text, Images, Video
  • Self-hostingNorth Small TranslatePublishes downloadable weights (CC-BY-NC-4.0)
How the score is built
MeasureWeightNorth Small TranslateStep 5 Preview
Price50%10043
Inputs & features30%080
Context window20%060
Overall100%50/10057/100

Left out because at least one model lacks the data: capability. The remaining weights were rescaled.

02 — Side by side

Every spec in one table

Highlighted cells lead their row. Dashes mean the data is not published.

North Small Translate vs Step 5 Preview specifications side by side
SpecificationNorth Small TranslateCohereStep 5 PreviewStepFun
Capability
Capabilities Index (ECI)——
ECI rank——
Price per million tokens
InputFree (best)$1.00
OutputFree (best)$2.70
Cached input—$0.05
Blended (3:1)Free (best)$1.43
Long-context rateSame rateSame rate
Price sourceOfficial Cohere APIOfficial StepFun (Global) API
Limits
Context window16,000 tokens1,000,000 tokens (best)
Max output16,000 tokens1,000,000 tokens (best)
Inputs and features
TextYesYes
ImagesNoYes
PDFsNoNo
AudioNoNo
VideoNoYes
ReasoningNoYeslow · medium · high
Tool callingNoYes
Structured outputNoYes
Availability
WeightsOpenCC-BY-NC-4.0Proprietary
API model IDnorth-small-translate-09-2026step-5-preview
API providers17 (best)
ReleasedSep 9, 2026Sep 16, 2026
Knowledge cutoff——
03 — Cost

What would a month cost?

Enter your expected volume in millions of tokens. List prices only; caching and batch discounts would lower these.

  • North Small TranslateFree
  • Step 5 Preview$15.40
04 — Questions

Which should you choose?

Which is better: North Small Translate or Step 5 Preview?

Step 5 Preview is the better all-round choice, scoring 57/100 against North Small Translate (50). It leads on inputs & features and context window. North Small Translate wins 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, North Small Translate or Step 5 Preview?

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.

Which scores higher on benchmarks?

There is no independent benchmark that covers both models yet. North Small Translate 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 North Small Translate and Step 5 Preview 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?

Step 5 Preview has the largest context window at 1,000,000 tokens, against 16,000 for North Small Translate. Maximum output per response: North Small Translate up to 16,000, Step 5 Preview up to 1,000,000 tokens.

Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?

North Small Translate accepts text; Step 5 Preview accepts text, images and video. Step 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; Step 5 Preview is proprietary.

Which is newer?

Step 5 Preview is the newest, released Sep 16, 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.

05 — Keep comparing

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