Ornith 1.0 35B 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.
DeepReinforce
Ornith 1.0 35B
51/100- ECI—
- Price—
- Context262K
- Our pick
StepFunStep 5 Preview
72/100- ECI—
- Price$1.00 / $2.70
- Context1M
ByteDance SeedSeed 2.1 Pro
62/100- ECI—
- Price$0.891 / $4.45
- Context256K
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 35B (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 35B unpriced
- Longest contextStep 5 PreviewStep 5 Preview 1,000,000 · Ornith 1.0 35B 262,144 · Seed 2.1 Pro 256,000 tokens
- Widest inputsStep 5 Preview and Seed 2.1 ProOrnith 1.0 35B: Text, Images · Step 5 Preview: Text, Images, Video · Seed 2.1 Pro: Text, Images, Video
- Self-hostingOrnith 1.0 35BPublishes downloadable weights (MIT)
| Measure | Weight | Ornith 1.0 35B | Step 5 Preview | Seed 2.1 Pro |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Inputs & features | 60% | 60 | 80 | 80 |
| Context window | 40% | 37 | 60 | 36 |
| Overall | 100% | 51/100 | 72/100 | 62/100 |
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 | Ornith 1.0 35BDeepReinforce | Step 5 PreviewStepFun | Seed 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 rate | Same rate |
| Price source | — | Official StepFun (Global) API | Official Volcengine Ark API |
| Limits | |||
| Context window | 262,144 tokens | 1,000,000 tokens (best) | 256,000 tokens |
| Max output | — | 1,000,000 tokens (best) | 256,000 tokens |
| 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 | Yeslow · medium · high | Yesminimal · low · medium · high · xhigh · max |
| Tool calling | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Structured output | No | Yes | Yes |
| Availability | |||
| Weights | OpenMIT | Proprietary | Proprietary |
| API model ID | — | step-5-preview | doubao-seed-2-1-pro-260628 |
| API providers | 1 | 7 (best) | 2 |
| Released | Jun 25, 2026 | Sep 16, 2026 | Jun 23, 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.
- Ornith 1.0 35B—
- Step 5 Preview$15.40
- Seed 2.1 Pro$17.81
Which should you choose?
Which is better: Ornith 1.0 35B, 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 35B (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 35B, 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 35B 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 35B 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 35B, 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 35B 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 35B 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 35B 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 35B 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.
