Nano Banana 2.1 vs Step 5 Preview
Step 5 Preview costs 2.8x less per output token than Nano Banana 2.1 ($2.70 vs $7.50 per million). Updated October 22, 2026; no benchmark has tested both models yet.
- Coding
- No data
- Overall
- No data
- Output $/M
- $7.50
- Coding
- 61.1
- Overall
- 60.5
- Output $/M
- $2.70
Nano Banana 2.1 or Step 5 Preview: which to pick
Only Step 5 Preview has a coding score, 61.1 on the Vibe Coding Index; Nano Banana 2.1 has none, so the two cannot be ranked on coding.
Compare them on price, context and the boards below.
No benchmark has tested both yet. Nano Banana 2.1 has results on Design Arena: images, Design Arena: graphic design and Design Arena: logos; Step 5 Preview on LiveBench coding, LMArena WebDev and Terminal-Bench 4 (Vals AI). Compare them on price and context instead.
Which one for your work
Each card is decided by one number both models carry. Where only one has it, the card says so and makes no call.
Coding
Vibe Coding Index, six public coding benchmarks
No call
Only Step 5 Preview has a coding score, so no call is made.
One side not measured
Intelligence
AA Intelligence Index
No call
Only Step 5 Preview has a AA Intelligence Index result, 43.7.
Directional only
Image generation
Design Arena: images
No call
Only Nano Banana 2.1 has a Design Arena: images result, 1293.
Directional only
Long documents
Listed context window
Step 5 Preview
Step 5 Preview takes 1.05M tokens against 66K.
Listed by OpenRouter
Everyday cost
1K input + 500 output tokens
Step 5 Preview
Nano Banana 2.1 $0.0053, Step 5 Preview $0.0024 per turn.
List prices
At a glance
- Coding index
- Nano Banana 2.1 not benchmarked, Step 5 Preview 61.1 from 4 benchmarks.
- Widest category
- None yet: no category has been tested on both models.
- Widest single gap
- None yet: no benchmark has tested both models.
- Output price
- Nano Banana 2.1 $7.50 against Step 5 Preview $2.70 per million output tokens, 2.8x apart.
- Context window
- Nano Banana 2.1 takes 66K tokens, Step 5 Preview 1.05M.
Benchmark by benchmark
Every board either model has a result on, a category to a fold; bars are each result on a 0 to 100 scale. Only one model is measured on each, so no row names a leader.
CodingDirectional onlySix of these boards feed the Vibe Coding Index13 boards measured
| Benchmark | Nano Banana 2.1 | Step 5 Preview | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| LiveBench coding | Not measured | 85.6% | Only Step 5 Preview measured |
| LMArena WebDev | Not measured | 1567 | Only Step 5 Preview measured |
| Terminal-Bench 4 (Vals AI) | Not measured | 31.8% | Only Step 5 Preview measured |
| Vibe Code Bench (Vals AI) | Not measured | 70.4% | Only Step 5 Preview measured |
| Code migration (Vals AI) | Not measured | 39.0% | Only Step 5 Preview measured |
| IOI (Vals AI) | Not measured | 38.1% | Only Step 5 Preview measured |
| SWE-bench Multimodal (Vals AI) | Not measured | 40.8% | Only Step 5 Preview measured |
| SciCode | Not measured | 58.9% | Only Step 5 Preview measured |
| LMArena Text: coding | Not measured | 1485 | Only Step 5 Preview measured |
| LMArena Text: software and IT | Not measured | 1473 | Only Step 5 Preview measured |
| LMArena WebDev: React | Not measured | 1583 | Only Step 5 Preview measured |
| LMArena WebDev: HTML | Not measured | 1556 | Only Step 5 Preview measured |
| LMArena WebDev: from an image | Not measured | 1550 | Only Step 5 Preview measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 26 boards here | |||
IntelligenceDirectional onlyPublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index1 board measured
| Benchmark | Nano Banana 2.1 | Step 5 Preview | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| AA Intelligence Index | Not measured | 43.7 | Only Step 5 Preview measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 1 board here | |||
Agentic workDirectional onlyPublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index11 boards measured
| Benchmark | Nano Banana 2.1 | Step 5 Preview | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| LiveBench research | Not measured | 72.8% | Only Step 5 Preview measured |
| LiveBench browser | Not measured | 24.0% | Only Step 5 Preview measured |
| LiveBench long agentic | Not measured | 27.5% | Only Step 5 Preview measured |
| SREBench (Vals AI) | Not measured | 0.4% | Only Step 5 Preview measured |
| Finance Agent (Vals AI) | Not measured | 50.7% | Only Step 5 Preview measured |
| Tax Agent Bench (Vals AI) | Not measured | 27.3% | Only Step 5 Preview measured |
| Legal Research Bench (Vals AI) | Not measured | 40.4% | Only Step 5 Preview measured |
| Excel Modeling Benchmark (Vals AI) | Not measured | 57.1% | Only Step 5 Preview measured |
| BioMysteryBench (Vals AI) | Not measured | 67.4% | Only Step 5 Preview measured |
| Terminal-Bench-Science (Vals AI) | Not measured | 2.9% | Only Step 5 Preview measured |
| Vals Science Index | Not measured | 29.6% | Only Step 5 Preview measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 30 boards here | |||
ReasoningDirectional onlyPublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index8 boards measured
| Benchmark | Nano Banana 2.1 | Step 5 Preview | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| LiveBench reasoning | Not measured | 83.8% | Only Step 5 Preview measured |
| MysteryMechanism (Vals AI) | Not measured | 18.5% | Only Step 5 Preview measured |
| Humanity's Last Exam (Artificial Analysis run) | Not measured | 46.5% | Only Step 5 Preview measured |
| LMArena Text: hard prompts | Not measured | 1461 | Only Step 5 Preview measured |
| LMArena Text: expert | Not measured | 1485 | Only Step 5 Preview measured |
| LMArena Text: hard prompts in English | Not measured | 1454 | Only Step 5 Preview measured |
| LMArena Vision: diagrams | Not measured | 1308 | Only Step 5 Preview measured |
| LMArena Vision: homework | Not measured | 1265 | Only Step 5 Preview measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 14 boards here | |||
MathDirectional onlyPublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index3 boards measured
| Benchmark | Nano Banana 2.1 | Step 5 Preview | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| ProofBench | Not measured | 42.0% | Only Step 5 Preview measured |
| LMArena Text: math | Not measured | 1458 | Only Step 5 Preview measured |
| LMArena Text: mathematical work | Not measured | 1460 | Only Step 5 Preview measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 10 boards here | |||
KnowledgeDirectional onlyPublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index4 boards measured
| Benchmark | Nano Banana 2.1 | Step 5 Preview | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| LMArena Text: science | Not measured | 1454 | Only Step 5 Preview measured |
| LMArena Text: medicine and healthcare | Not measured | 1439 | Only Step 5 Preview measured |
| LMArena Text: legal and government | Not measured | 1437 | Only Step 5 Preview measured |
| LMArena Text: business and finance | Not measured | 1435 | Only Step 5 Preview measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 14 boards here | |||
Web designDirectional onlyPublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index1 board measured
| Benchmark | Nano Banana 2.1 | Step 5 Preview | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| LiveBench design | Not measured | 76.9% | Only Step 5 Preview measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 8 boards here | |||
GeneralDirectional onlyPublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index20 boards measured
| Benchmark | Nano Banana 2.1 | Step 5 Preview | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| LiveBench data analysis | Not measured | 63.5% | Only Step 5 Preview measured |
| Public Benefits Bench (Vals AI) | Not measured | 58.1% | Only Step 5 Preview measured |
| Long context reasoning (AA-LCR) | Not measured | 88.3% | Only Step 5 Preview measured |
| LMArena Text | Not measured | 1440 | Only Step 5 Preview measured |
| LMArena Text: instruction following | Not measured | 1438 | Only Step 5 Preview measured |
| LMArena Text: creative writing | Not measured | 1409 | Only Step 5 Preview measured |
| LMArena Vision | Not measured | 1265 | Only Step 5 Preview measured |
| LMArena Text: English | Not measured | 1447 | Only Step 5 Preview measured |
| LMArena Text: non-English | Not measured | 1428 | Only Step 5 Preview measured |
| LMArena Text: Chinese | Not measured | 1500 | Only Step 5 Preview measured |
| LMArena Text: Japanese | Not measured | 1383 | Only Step 5 Preview measured |
| LMArena Text: French | Not measured | 1438 | Only Step 5 Preview measured |
| LMArena Text: Spanish | Not measured | 1441 | Only Step 5 Preview measured |
| LMArena Text: Russian | Not measured | 1433 | Only Step 5 Preview measured |
| LMArena Text: multi-turn | Not measured | 1437 | Only Step 5 Preview measured |
| LMArena Text: longer queries | Not measured | 1449 | Only Step 5 Preview measured |
| LMArena Text: writing and language | Not measured | 1425 | Only Step 5 Preview measured |
| LMArena Text: entertainment and media | Not measured | 1412 | Only Step 5 Preview measured |
| LMArena Vision: English | Not measured | 1290 | Only Step 5 Preview measured |
| LMArena Vision: reading text | Not measured | 1282 | Only Step 5 Preview measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 26 boards here | |||
Image generationDirectional onlyPublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index5 boards measured
| Benchmark | Nano Banana 2.1 | Step 5 Preview | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| Design Arena: images | 1293 | Not measured | Only Nano Banana 2.1 measured |
| Design Arena: graphic design | 1333 | Not measured | Only Nano Banana 2.1 measured |
| Design Arena: logos | 1277 | Not measured | Only Nano Banana 2.1 measured |
| LMArena Text to Image | 1328 | Not measured | Only Nano Banana 2.1 measured |
| LMArena Image Edit | 1426 | Not measured | Only Nano Banana 2.1 measured |
What each workload costs
Three fixed token mixes at each model's listed price, so per-token rates become a bill.
Chat turn
1K input + 500 output tokens
Step 5 Preview costs less
Repository review
50K input + 3K output tokens
Step 5 Preview costs less
Agent loop
200K input + 10K output tokens
Step 5 Preview costs less
Listed OpenRouter rates, without cache or batch discounts. A workload that does not fit a model's context window would need splitting.
Specification differences
The leading value in a row is marked; a row with a missing value names no leader. Our two rows are marked in red.
| Specification | Google Nano Banana 2.1 | StepFun Step 5 Preview |
|---|---|---|
| Maker | StepFun | |
| Weights | No public weights listed | Open weights |
| Released | October 6, 2026 | October 8, 2026 |
| Context window | 66K | 1.05M |
| Input $/Mtok | $1.50 | $1.00 |
| Output $/Mtok | $7.50 | $2.70 |
| Coding index | Not benchmarked | 61.1 |
| Independent measurements behind it | 0 | 4 |
| Cost per solved task | Not computable | Not computable |
| Source | OpenRouter listing | OpenRouter listing |
Questions
Is Nano Banana 2.1 better than Step 5 Preview for coding?
Only Step 5 Preview has a coding score, 61.1 on the Vibe Coding Index; Nano Banana 2.1 has none, so the two cannot be ranked on coding. Compare them on price, context and the boards below.
Which is cheaper, Nano Banana 2.1 or Step 5 Preview?
Nano Banana 2.1 costs $1.50 per million input tokens and $7.50 per million output tokens; Step 5 Preview costs $1.00 and $2.70. Cost per solved task is known for neither of them.
Which has the bigger context window, Nano Banana 2.1 or Step 5 Preview?
Step 5 Preview, with 1.05M tokens against 66K.
Has any benchmark tested both Nano Banana 2.1 and Step 5 Preview?
No benchmark has tested both yet. Nano Banana 2.1 has results on Design Arena: images, Design Arena: graphic design and Design Arena: logos; Step 5 Preview on LiveBench coding, LMArena WebDev and Terminal-Bench 4 (Vals AI). Compare them on price and context instead. Data as of October 22, 2026.