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Comparison · 3 models · Updated Oct 4, 2026

Ornith 1.0 31B vs Step 5 Preview vs Seed 2.1 Pro

Step 5 Preview comes out ahead, 72 to 62 and 51 on our weighted score, and it is the cheaper option too.

  1. DeepReinforce

    Ornith 1.0 31B

    Released Jun 25, 2026

    51/100
    • ECI—
    • Price—
    • Context262K
  2. Our pick

    StepFun

    Step 5 Preview

    Released Sep 16, 2026

    72/100
    • ECI—
    • Price$1.00 / $2.70
    • Context1M
  3. ByteDance Seed

    Seed 2.1 Pro

    Released Jun 23, 2026

    62/100
    • ECI—
    • Price$0.891 / $4.45
    • Context256K
01 — Verdict

Step 5 Preview is our pick

Step 5 Preview is the better all-round choice, scoring 72/100 against Seed 2.1 Pro (62) and Ornith 1.0 31B (51). It leads on context window. 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 priceStep 5 PreviewStep 5 Preview $1.43 · Seed 2.1 Pro $1.78 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend) · Ornith 1.0 31B unpriced
  • Longest contextStep 5 PreviewStep 5 Preview 1,000,000 · Ornith 1.0 31B 262,144 · Seed 2.1 Pro 256,000 tokens
  • Widest inputsStep 5 Preview and Seed 2.1 ProOrnith 1.0 31B: Text, Images · Step 5 Preview: Text, Images, Video · Seed 2.1 Pro: Text, Images, Video
  • Self-hostingOrnith 1.0 31BPublishes downloadable weights (MIT)
How the score is built
MeasureWeightOrnith 1.0 31BStep 5 PreviewSeed 2.1 Pro
Inputs & features60%608080
Context window40%376036
Overall100%51/10072/10062/100

Left out because at least one model lacks the data: capability and price. 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.

Ornith 1.0 31B vs Step 5 Preview vs Seed 2.1 Pro specifications side by side
SpecificationOrnith 1.0 31BDeepReinforceStep 5 PreviewStepFunSeed 2.1 ProByteDance Seed
Capability
Capabilities Index (ECI)———
ECI rank———
Price per million tokens
Input—$1.00$0.891 (best)
Output—$2.70 (best)$4.45
Cached input—$0.05 (best)$0.178
Blended (3:1)—$1.43 (best)$1.78
Long-context rate—Same rateSame rate
Price source—Official StepFun (Global) APIOfficial Volcengine Ark API
Limits
Context window262,144 tokens1,000,000 tokens (best)256,000 tokens
Max output—1,000,000 tokens (best)256,000 tokens
Inputs and features
TextYesYesYes
ImagesYesYesYes
PDFsNoNoNo
AudioNoNoNo
VideoNoYesYes
ReasoningYesYeslow · medium · highYesminimal · low · medium · high · xhigh · max
Tool callingYesYesYes
Structured outputNoYesYes
Availability
WeightsOpenMITProprietaryProprietary
API model ID—step-5-previewdoubao-seed-2-1-pro-260628
API providers—7 (best)2
ReleasedJun 25, 2026Sep 16, 2026Jun 23, 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.

  • Ornith 1.0 31B—
  • Step 5 Preview$15.40
  • Seed 2.1 Pro$17.81
04 — Questions

Which should you choose?

Which is better: Ornith 1.0 31B, Step 5 Preview or Seed 2.1 Pro?

Step 5 Preview is the better all-round choice, scoring 72/100 against Seed 2.1 Pro (62) and Ornith 1.0 31B (51). It leads on context window. 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, Ornith 1.0 31B, Step 5 Preview or Seed 2.1 Pro?

Step 5 Preview is cheaper at $1.00 input / $2.70 output per million tokens (official StepFun (Global) API price). Seed 2.1 Pro costs $0.891 input / $4.45 output per million tokens (official Volcengine Ark API price). At a typical mix of three input tokens to one output token, that is $1.43 per million tokens for Step 5 Preview versus $1.78 for Seed 2.1 Pro (1.2× as much). Ornith 1.0 31B has no published per-token price.

Which scores higher on benchmarks?

There is no independent benchmark that covers all three models yet. Ornith 1.0 31B has not been scored yet, Step 5 Preview has not been scored yet and Seed 2.1 Pro has not been scored yet.

Which is better for coding?

There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for Ornith 1.0 31B, Step 5 Preview and Seed 2.1 Pro 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?

Step 5 Preview has the largest context window at 1,000,000 tokens, against 262,144 for Ornith 1.0 31B and 256,000 for Seed 2.1 Pro. Maximum output per response: Step 5 Preview up to 1,000,000, Seed 2.1 Pro up to 256,000 tokens.

Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?

Ornith 1.0 31B accepts text and images; Step 5 Preview accepts text, images and video; Seed 2.1 Pro accepts text, images and video. Step 5 Preview handles the widest range of inputs.

Are any of these open source?

Ornith 1.0 31B publishes its weights (MIT) and can be self-hosted; Step 5 Preview and Seed 2.1 Pro is proprietary.

Which is newer?

Step 5 Preview is the newest, released Sep 16, 2026. Ornith 1.0 31B came out Jun 25, 2026; Seed 2.1 Pro 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.