Qwen3.7 Max vs Step 5 Preview
Updated October 21, 2026. 14 benchmarks have a result for both. Coding is ranked on the Vibe Coding Index; every other board is shown as published.
Decision reading
Pick Step 5 Preview for coding: it scores 71.4 on the Vibe Coding Index against 45.1 for Qwen3.7 Max.
Qwen3.7 Max is neither cheaper nor larger in context, and leads no benchmark both models were measured on.
- Shared results
- 14
- Qwen3.7 Max only
- 45
- Step 5 Preview only
- 47
- Like-for-like categories
- 6 of 9
Shared results can support a head-to-head reading. Results only one model has describe coverage, not superiority.
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, four public coding benchmarks
Step 5 Preview
Step 5 Preview scores 71.4 against 45.1.
1 and 2 benchmarks behind the scores
Intelligence
AA Intelligence Index
Step 5 Preview
Step 5 Preview leads, 43.7 against 29.5.
Same board, both measured
Agentic work
AA Agentic Index
No call
Only Qwen3.7 Max has a AA Agentic Index result, 22.5.
Directional only
Reasoning
GPQA Diamond
No call
Only Qwen3.7 Max has a GPQA Diamond result, 90.2%.
Directional only
Knowledge
MMLU Pro
No call
Only Qwen3.7 Max has a MMLU Pro result, 89.3%.
Directional only
Web design
Design Arena: websites
No call
Only Qwen3.7 Max has a Design Arena: websites result, 1274.
Directional only
Long documents
Listed context window
Step 5 Preview
Step 5 Preview takes 1.05M tokens against 1M.
Listed by OpenRouter
Everyday cost
1K input + 500 output tokens
Step 5 Preview
Qwen3.7 Max $0.0037, Step 5 Preview $0.0024 per turn.
List prices
Cost per solved task
One SWE-bench Verified task, solved
No call
Only Qwen3.7 Max has the number, $4.69.
Directional only
At a glance
- Coding index
- Qwen3.7 Max 45.1 from 1 benchmark, Step 5 Preview 71.4 from 2 benchmarks.
- Widest category
- Math, 16.0 points apart on average over 1 shared benchmark.
- Widest single gap
- Code migration (Vals AI): Qwen3.7 Max 13.1% against Step 5 Preview 39.0%, 25.9 points apart on a 0 to 100 scale.
- Output price
- Qwen3.7 Max $4.425 against Step 5 Preview $2.70 per million output tokens, 1.6x apart.
- Context window
- Qwen3.7 Max takes 1M tokens, Step 5 Preview 1.05M.
Benchmark by benchmark
First the score: boards each model leads, per category, where both have a result. Then every board, a category to a fold; bars are each result on a 0 to 100 scale, so compare the two in a row, not one row with another.
| Category | Qwen3.7 Max | Bars | Step 5 Preview | Ties |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Coding | 0 | 6 | ||
| Intelligence | 0 | 1 | ||
| Agentic work | 0 | 4 | ||
| Reasoning | 0 | 1 | ||
| Math | 0 | 1 | ||
| General | 0 | 1 | ||
| All shared boards | 0 | 14 |
CodingLike-for-likeFour of these boards feed the Vibe Coding Index06
| Benchmark | Qwen3.7 Max | Step 5 Preview | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| LiveBench coding | Not measured | 85.6% | Only Step 5 Preview measured |
| LMArena WebDev | 1515 | 1567 | Step 5 Preview |
| AA Coding Index | 66.0 | Not measured | Only Qwen3.7 Max measured |
| LiveCodeBench (Vals AI) | 87.1% | Not measured | Only Qwen3.7 Max measured |
| SWE-bench Verified (Vals AI) | 68.8% | Not measured | Only Qwen3.7 Max measured |
| Terminal-Bench 4 (Vals AI) | Not measured | 31.8% | Only Step 5 Preview measured |
| Vibe Code Bench (Vals AI) | 47.7% | 70.4% | Step 5 Preview |
| Code migration (Vals AI) | 13.1% | 39.0% | Step 5 Preview |
| IOI (Vals AI) | Not measured | 38.1% | Only Step 5 Preview measured |
| Terminal-Bench 2.1 (Vals AI) | 61.0% | Not measured | Only Qwen3.7 Max measured |
| SWE-bench Multimodal (Vals AI) | Not measured | 40.8% | Only Step 5 Preview measured |
| SciCode | 49.5% | 58.9% | Step 5 Preview |
| Terminal-Bench Hard (Artificial Analysis run) | 50.8% | Not measured | Only Qwen3.7 Max measured |
| ALE-Bench | 1189.4 | Not measured | Only Qwen3.7 Max 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 | 1514 | 1583 | Step 5 Preview |
| LMArena WebDev: HTML | 1512 | 1556 | Step 5 Preview |
| LMArena WebDev: from an image | Not measured | 1550 | Only Step 5 Preview measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 19 boards here | |||
IntelligenceLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index01
| Benchmark | Qwen3.7 Max | Step 5 Preview | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| AA Intelligence Index | 29.5 | 43.7 | Step 5 Preview |
| Epoch Capabilities Index | 154.0 | Not measured | Only Qwen3.7 Max measured |
Agentic workLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index04
| Benchmark | Qwen3.7 Max | Step 5 Preview | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| AA Agentic Index | 22.5 | Not measured | Only Qwen3.7 Max measured |
| Design Arena: agents building web apps | 1208 | Not measured | Only Qwen3.7 Max measured |
| Design Arena: agents building full-stack apps | 1191 | Not measured | Only Qwen3.7 Max measured |
| Design Arena: agents building mobile apps | 1153 | Not measured | Only Qwen3.7 Max measured |
| Design Arena: agents building Android apps | 1165 | Not measured | Only Qwen3.7 Max measured |
| Design Arena: agents building Godot games | 1187 | Not measured | Only Qwen3.7 Max measured |
| Design Arena: agents building games | 1161 | Not measured | Only Qwen3.7 Max measured |
| Design Arena: HTML slides | 1158 | Not measured | Only Qwen3.7 Max measured |
| Design Arena: PowerPoint slides | 1196 | Not measured | Only Qwen3.7 Max measured |
| 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) | 47.8% | 50.7% | Step 5 Preview |
| Tax Agent Bench (Vals AI) | 15.8% | 27.3% | Step 5 Preview |
| Legal Research Bench (Vals AI) | 25.5% | 40.4% | Step 5 Preview |
| Excel Modeling Benchmark (Vals AI) | 57.0% | 57.1% | Step 5 Preview |
| 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 |
| τ²-Bench Telecom | 94.7% | Not measured | Only Qwen3.7 Max measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 18 boards here | |||
ReasoningLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index01
| Benchmark | Qwen3.7 Max | Step 5 Preview | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| GPQA Diamond | 90.2% | Not measured | Only Qwen3.7 Max measured |
| LiveBench reasoning | Not measured | 83.8% | Only Step 5 Preview measured |
| MysteryMechanism (Vals AI) | Not measured | 18.5% | Only Step 5 Preview measured |
| GPQA Diamond (Artificial Analysis run) | 92.3% | Not measured | Only Qwen3.7 Max measured |
| Humanity's Last Exam (Artificial Analysis run) | 40.5% | 46.5% | Step 5 Preview |
| GPQA Diamond (Epoch AI run) | 90.9% | Not measured | Only Qwen3.7 Max measured |
| SimpleBench | 70.4% | Not measured | Only Qwen3.7 Max measured |
| Chess puzzles | 26.0% | Not measured | Only Qwen3.7 Max measured |
| Mystery game puzzles | 32.0% | Not measured | Only Qwen3.7 Max measured |
| EBR-bench | 9.5% | Not measured | Only Qwen3.7 Max 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 6 boards here | |||
MathLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index01
| Benchmark | Qwen3.7 Max | Step 5 Preview | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| OTIS Mock AIME | 95.6% | Not measured | Only Qwen3.7 Max measured |
| FrontierMath, tiers 1 to 3 | 64.6% | Not measured | Only Qwen3.7 Max measured |
| FrontierMath, tier 4 | 34.1% | Not measured | Only Qwen3.7 Max measured |
| ProofBench | 26.0% | 42.0% | Step 5 Preview |
| 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 7 boards here | |||
KnowledgeDirectional onlyPublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index10 boards, none shared
| Benchmark | Qwen3.7 Max | Step 5 Preview | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| MMLU Pro | 89.3% | Not measured | Only Qwen3.7 Max measured |
| LegalBench (Vals AI) | 84.9% | Not measured | Only Qwen3.7 Max measured |
| CorpFin (Vals AI) | 63.7% | Not measured | Only Qwen3.7 Max measured |
| TaxEval (Vals AI) | 75.3% | Not measured | Only Qwen3.7 Max measured |
| MedCode (Vals AI) | 38.8% | Not measured | Only Qwen3.7 Max measured |
| SimpleQA Verified | 55.8% | Not measured | Only Qwen3.7 Max measured |
| 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 7 boards here | |||
Web designDirectional onlyPublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index9 boards, none shared
| Benchmark | Qwen3.7 Max | Step 5 Preview | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| Design Arena: websites | 1274 | Not measured | Only Qwen3.7 Max measured |
| Design Arena: UI components | 1269 | Not measured | Only Qwen3.7 Max measured |
| Design Arena: game dev | 1265 | Not measured | Only Qwen3.7 Max measured |
| Design Arena: data viz | 1275 | Not measured | Only Qwen3.7 Max measured |
| Design Arena: 3D | 1266 | Not measured | Only Qwen3.7 Max measured |
| Design Arena: all code categories | 1275 | Not measured | Only Qwen3.7 Max measured |
| Design Arena: SVG | 1216 | Not measured | Only Qwen3.7 Max measured |
| Design Arena: ASCII art | 1211 | Not measured | Only Qwen3.7 Max measured |
| LiveBench design | Not measured | 76.9% | Only Step 5 Preview measured |
GeneralLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index01
| Benchmark | Qwen3.7 Max | 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 |
| MedScribe (Vals AI) | 79.4% | Not measured | Only Qwen3.7 Max measured |
| IFBench | 80.5% | Not measured | Only Qwen3.7 Max measured |
| Long context reasoning (AA-LCR) | 79.0% | 88.3% | Step 5 Preview |
| DTBench | 92.3% | Not measured | Only Qwen3.7 Max measured |
| LMCA | 44.0% | Not measured | Only Qwen3.7 Max 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 22 boards here | |||
Image generationNot comparablePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index0 boards, none shared
| Benchmark | Qwen3.7 Max | Step 5 Preview | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| Neither model has a result on 5 boards here | |||
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 | Qwen3.7 Max | StepFun Step 5 Preview |
|---|---|---|
| Maker | Qwen | StepFun |
| Weights | No public weights listed | Open weights |
| Released | May 21, 2026 | October 8, 2026 |
| Context window | 1M | 1.05M |
| Input $/Mtok | $1.475 | $1.00 |
| Output $/Mtok | $4.425 | $2.70 |
| Coding index | 45.1 | 71.4 |
| Independent measurements behind it | 1 | 2 |
| Cost per solved task | $4.69 | Not computable |
| Source | OpenRouter listing | OpenRouter listing |
Questions
Is Qwen3.7 Max better than Step 5 Preview for coding?
Pick Step 5 Preview for coding: it scores 71.4 on the Vibe Coding Index against 45.1 for Qwen3.7 Max. Qwen3.7 Max is neither cheaper nor larger in context, and leads no benchmark both models were measured on.
Which is cheaper, Qwen3.7 Max or Step 5 Preview?
Qwen3.7 Max costs $1.475 per million input tokens and $4.425 per million output tokens; Step 5 Preview costs $1.00 and $2.70. Cost per solved task is known for Qwen3.7 Max only.
Which has the bigger context window, Qwen3.7 Max or Step 5 Preview?
Step 5 Preview, with 1.05M tokens against 1M.
How many benchmarks is the Qwen3.7 Max vs Step 5 Preview comparison based on?
14 benchmarks have a result for both models as of October 21, 2026. Qwen3.7 Max's coding index rests on 1 independent benchmark and Step 5 Preview's on 2. Where only one model has a result, the page says so instead of naming a winner.