Step 5 Preview vs Hy3 preview vs LongCat-2.5-Preview
Too close to call on our weighted score (Step 5 Preview 57, Hy3 preview 56, LongCat-2.5-Preview 52). The right pick depends on what you value most.
StepFunStep 5 Preview
57/100- ECI—
- Price$1.00 / $2.70
- Context1M
TencentHy3 preview
56/100- ECI—
- Price$0.176 / $0.586
- Context256K
Meituan (LongCat)LongCat-2.5-Preview
52/100- ECI—
- Price$0.75 / $2.95
- Context1M
Too close to call
It is close. Our weighted score puts them within 1 points (Step 5 Preview 57/100, Hy3 preview 56/100, LongCat-2.5-Preview 52/100), so choose by what matters most for your work: Hy3 preview 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 priceHy3 previewHy3 preview $0.279 · LongCat-2.5-Preview $1.30 · Step 5 Preview $1.43 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
- Longest contextStep 5 Preview and LongCat-2.5-PreviewStep 5 Preview 1,000,000 · LongCat-2.5-Preview 1,000,000 · Hy3 preview 256,000 tokens
- Widest inputsStep 5 PreviewStep 5 Preview: Text, Images, Video · Hy3 preview: Text · LongCat-2.5-Preview: Text, Images
- Self-hostingHy3 previewPublishes downloadable weights
| Measure | Weight | Step 5 Preview | Hy3 preview | LongCat-2.5-Preview |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price | 50% | 43 | 76 | 44 |
| Inputs & features | 30% | 80 | 35 | 60 |
| Context window | 20% | 60 | 36 | 60 |
| Overall | 100% | 57/100 | 56/100 | 52/100 |
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 | Step 5 PreviewStepFun | Hy3 previewTencent | LongCat-2.5-PreviewMeituan (LongCat) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Capability | |||
| Capabilities Index (ECI) | — | — | — |
| ECI rank | — | — | — |
| Price per million tokens | |||
| Input | $1.00 | $0.176 (best) | $0.75 |
| Output | $2.70 | $0.586 (best) | $2.95 |
| Cached input | $0.05 | — | — |
| Blended (3:1) | $1.43 | $0.279 (best) | $1.30 |
| Long-context rate | Same rate | Same rate | Same rate |
| Price source | Official StepFun (Global) API | Median of 4 providers | Median of 1 providers |
| Limits | |||
| Context window | 1,000,000 tokens (best) | 256,000 tokens | 1,000,000 tokens (best) |
| Max output | 1,000,000 tokens (best) | 64,000 tokens | 131,072 tokens |
| Inputs and features | |||
| Text | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Images | Yes | No | Yes |
| PDFs | No | No | No |
| Audio | No | No | No |
| Video | Yes | No | No |
| Reasoning | Yeslow · medium · high | Yeslow · medium · high | Yes |
| Tool calling | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Structured output | Yes | No | No |
| Availability | |||
| Weights | Proprietary | Open | Proprietary |
| API model ID | step-5-preview | hy3-preview | — |
| API providers | 7 (best) | 5 | 2 |
| Released | Sep 16, 2026 | Apr 20, 2026 | Sep 25, 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.
- Step 5 Preview$15.40
- Hy3 preview$2.93
- LongCat-2.5-Preview$13.40
Which should you choose?
Which is better: Step 5 Preview, Hy3 preview or LongCat-2.5-Preview?
It is close. Our weighted score puts them within 1 points (Step 5 Preview 57/100, Hy3 preview 56/100, LongCat-2.5-Preview 52/100), so choose by what matters most for your work: Hy3 preview 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, Step 5 Preview, Hy3 preview or LongCat-2.5-Preview?
Hy3 preview is cheaper at $0.176 input / $0.586 output per million tokens (median across 4 API providers; free on Tencent TokenHub). 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 $0.279 per million tokens for Hy3 preview versus $1.30 for LongCat-2.5-Preview (4.7× as much) and $1.43 for Step 5 Preview (5.1× as much).
Which scores higher on benchmarks?
There is no independent benchmark that covers all three models yet. Step 5 Preview has not been scored yet, Hy3 preview 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 Step 5 Preview, Hy3 preview and LongCat-2.5-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?
Step 5 Preview and LongCat-2.5-Preview have the largest context windows (1,000,000 and 1,000,000 tokens), against 256,000 for Hy3 preview. Maximum output per response: Step 5 Preview up to 1,000,000, Hy3 preview up to 64,000, LongCat-2.5-Preview up to 131,072 tokens.
Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?
Step 5 Preview accepts text, images and video; Hy3 preview accepts text; LongCat-2.5-Preview accepts text and images. Step 5 Preview handles the widest range of inputs.
Are any of these open source?
Hy3 preview publishes its weights and can be self-hosted; Step 5 Preview and LongCat-2.5-Preview is proprietary.
Which is newer?
LongCat-2.5-Preview is the newest, released Sep 25, 2026. Step 5 Preview came out Sep 16, 2026; Hy3 preview came out Apr 20, 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.
