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Comparison · 2 models · Updated Oct 4, 2026

Sakana Namazu vs LongCat-2.5-Preview

Too close to call on our weighted score (LongCat-2.5-Preview 52, Sakana Namazu 51). The right pick depends on what you value most.

  1. Sakana AI

    Sakana Namazu

    Released Aug 3, 2026

    51/100
    • ECI—
    • Price$0.95 / $4.00
    • Context262K
  2. Meituan (LongCat)

    LongCat-2.5-Preview

    Released Sep 25, 2026

    52/100
    • ECI—
    • Price$0.75 / $2.95
    • Context1M
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01 — Verdict

Too close to call

It is close. Our weighted score puts them within 1 points (LongCat-2.5-Preview 52/100, Sakana Namazu 51/100), so choose by what matters most for your work: LongCat-2.5-Preview 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 priceLongCat-2.5-PreviewLongCat-2.5-Preview $1.30 · Sakana Namazu $1.71 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
  • Longest contextLongCat-2.5-PreviewLongCat-2.5-Preview 1,000,000 · Sakana Namazu 262,144 tokens
  • Widest inputsSakana NamazuSakana Namazu: Text, Images, PDFs · LongCat-2.5-Preview: Text, Images
  • Self-hostingNo open weightsBoth are available only through APIs
How the score is built
MeasureWeightSakana NamazuLongCat-2.5-Preview
Price50%3944
Inputs & features30%8060
Context window20%3760
Overall100%51/10052/100

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.

Sakana Namazu vs LongCat-2.5-Preview specifications side by side
SpecificationSakana NamazuSakana AILongCat-2.5-PreviewMeituan (LongCat)
Capability
Capabilities Index (ECI)——
ECI rank——
Price per million tokens
Input$0.95$0.75 (best)
Output$4.00$2.95 (best)
Cached input$0.15—
Blended (3:1)$1.71$1.30 (best)
Long-context rateSame rateSame rate
Price sourceOfficial Sakana AI APIMedian of 1 providers
Limits
Context window262,144 tokens1,000,000 tokens (best)
Max output65,536 tokens131,072 tokens (best)
Inputs and features
TextYesYes
ImagesYesYes
PDFsYesNo
AudioNoNo
VideoNoNo
ReasoningYesYes
Tool callingYesYes
Structured outputYesNo
Availability
WeightsProprietaryProprietary
API model IDsakana-namazu—
API providers5 (best)2
ReleasedAug 3, 2026Sep 25, 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.

  • Sakana Namazu$17.50
  • LongCat-2.5-Preview$13.40
04 — Questions

Which should you choose?

Which is better: Sakana Namazu or LongCat-2.5-Preview?

It is close. Our weighted score puts them within 1 points (LongCat-2.5-Preview 52/100, Sakana Namazu 51/100), so choose by what matters most for your work: LongCat-2.5-Preview 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, Sakana Namazu or LongCat-2.5-Preview?

LongCat-2.5-Preview is cheaper at $0.75 input / $2.95 output per million tokens (median across 1 API provider). Sakana Namazu costs $0.95 input / $4.00 output per million tokens (official Sakana AI API price). At a typical mix of three input tokens to one output token, that is $1.30 per million tokens for LongCat-2.5-Preview versus $1.71 for Sakana Namazu (1.3× as much).

Which scores higher on benchmarks?

There is no independent benchmark that covers both models yet. Sakana Namazu has not been scored yet and LongCat-2.5-Preview has not been scored yet.

Which is better for coding?

There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for Sakana Namazu and LongCat-2.5-Preview yet, so there is no like-for-like coding score. Test both on a sample of your own tasks. Both support tool calling for agent workflows.

Which has the bigger context window?

LongCat-2.5-Preview has the largest context window at 1,000,000 tokens, against 262,144 for Sakana Namazu. Maximum output per response: Sakana Namazu up to 65,536, LongCat-2.5-Preview up to 131,072 tokens.

Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?

Sakana Namazu accepts text, images and PDFs; LongCat-2.5-Preview accepts text and images. Sakana Namazu handles the widest range of inputs.

Are any of these open source?

No. Sakana Namazu and LongCat-2.5-Preview are proprietary and only available through APIs and apps.

Which is newer?

LongCat-2.5-Preview is the newest, released Sep 25, 2026. Sakana Namazu came out Aug 3, 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.