Model comparison
MiniMax-M2 vs Step 5 Preview
Step 5 Preview is the stronger model overall, scoring 43.8 to 36.9 on the Noometry Index. MiniMax-M2 costs 2.7× less per token, which makes it the better buy when Step 5 Preview's lead doesn't matter for your workload.
Last verified . 1 shared benchmarks.
MiniMax
StepFunSummary
- They share 1 benchmark with published results for both. MiniMax-M2 scores higher in 0 categories and Step 5 Preview in 2 categories; 2 gaps are clear of the uncertainty.
- The widest gap is in reasoning, where Step 5 Preview leads 38.0 to 18.6.
- MiniMax-M2 is cheaper at $0.30 / $1.20 per million input/output tokens, against $1 / $2.70 for Step 5 Preview.
- Step 5 Preview accepts more context: 1.02M tokens versus 205K.
- MiniMax-M2 has downloadable open weights; the other is API-only.
Side by side
| MiniMax-M2 | Step 5 Preview | |
|---|---|---|
| Provider | MiniMax | StepFun |
| Noometry Index | 36.9 | 43.8 |
| Released | 2025-10-27 | 2026-09-16 |
| Weights | Open | Proprietary |
| Context window | 205K | 1.02M |
| Max output | 131K | 66K |
| Input $ / M tokens | $0.30 | $1 |
| Output $ / M tokens | $1.20 | $2.70 |
| Results tracked | 21 | 3 |
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Category by category
Coding Step 5 Preview leads
MiniMax-M2: 39.1 (#151), Step 5 Preview: 50.6 (#40)
| Benchmark | MiniMax-M2 | Step 5 Preview |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena WebDev | 1297 | 1569 |
| SWE-bench Verified (bash only) | 61% | — |
| SciCode | — | 58.9% |
| LMArena Coding | 1370 | — |
Agentic & Tool Use Not comparable
MiniMax-M2: 24.9 (#102), Step 5 Preview: —
| Benchmark | MiniMax-M2 | Step 5 Preview |
|---|---|---|
| Terminal-Bench | 30% | — |
| Vending-Bench 2 | 160.6 | — |
Reasoning Step 5 Preview leads
MiniMax-M2: 18.6 (#256), Step 5 Preview: 38.0 (#58)
| Benchmark | MiniMax-M2 | Step 5 Preview |
|---|---|---|
| Kagi LLM Benchmark | 57.8% | — |
| NYT Connections (extended) | 14.8% | — |
| CritPt | — | 20.9% |
| LMArena Hard Prompts | 1357 | — |
Math Not comparable
MiniMax-M2: 34.6 (#158), Step 5 Preview: —
| Benchmark | MiniMax-M2 | Step 5 Preview |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Math | 1350 | — |
Knowledge Not comparable
MiniMax-M2: 36.3 (#160), Step 5 Preview: —
| Benchmark | MiniMax-M2 | Step 5 Preview |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Expert | 1336 | — |
Multilingual Not comparable
MiniMax-M2: 45.6 (#165), Step 5 Preview: —
| Benchmark | MiniMax-M2 | Step 5 Preview |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Non-English | 1314 | — |
| LMArena Chinese | 1367 | — |
| LMArena French | 1336 | — |
| LMArena German | 1366 | — |
| LMArena Russian | 1332 | — |
| LMArena Spanish | 1326 | — |
Instruction Following Not comparable
MiniMax-M2: 70.4 (#160), Step 5 Preview: —
| Benchmark | MiniMax-M2 | Step 5 Preview |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Instruction Following | 1329 | — |
Long Context Not comparable
MiniMax-M2: 40.5 (#148), Step 5 Preview: —
| Benchmark | MiniMax-M2 | Step 5 Preview |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Longer Query | 1332 | — |
Writing & Preference Not comparable
MiniMax-M2: 53.3 (#157), Step 5 Preview: —
| Benchmark | MiniMax-M2 | Step 5 Preview |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Text | 1340 | — |
| LMArena Creative Writing | 1288 | — |
| LMArena Multi-Turn | 1362 | — |
Frequently asked questions
Is MiniMax-M2 better than Step 5 Preview?
Step 5 Preview is the stronger model overall, scoring 43.8 to 36.9 on the Noometry Index. MiniMax-M2 costs 2.7× less per token, which makes it the better buy when Step 5 Preview's lead doesn't matter for your workload.
Which is cheaper, MiniMax-M2 or Step 5 Preview?
MiniMax-M2 is cheaper. It lists at $0.30 per million input tokens and $1.20 per million output tokens; Step 5 Preview lists at $1 and $2.70.
Is MiniMax-M2 or Step 5 Preview better for coding?
Step 5 Preview scores higher on coding benchmarks: 50.6 versus 39.1 in the Noometry coding category.
Which has the bigger context window?
Step 5 Preview does, with 1.02M tokens against 205K.
How many benchmarks do MiniMax-M2 and Step 5 Preview share?
1 benchmark has published results for both models. MiniMax-M2 has 21 scored results on Noometry and Step 5 Preview has 3.