Step 5 Preview vs Solar Mini 4
Updated October 21, 2026. 4 benchmarks have a result for both. Coding is ranked on the Vibe Coding Index; every other board is shown as published.
Decision reading
Only Step 5 Preview has a coding score, 61.1 on the Vibe Coding Index; Solar Mini 4 has none, so the two cannot be ranked on coding.
Solar Mini 4 has the edge where output tokens cost 13.5x less.
- Shared results
- 4
- Step 5 Preview only
- 57
- Solar Mini 4 only
- 3
- Like-for-like categories
- 4 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, 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
Step 5 Preview
Step 5 Preview leads, 43.7 against 24.1.
Same board, both measured
Web design
Design Arena: websites
No call
Only Solar Mini 4 has a Design Arena: websites result, 1160.
Directional only
Long documents
Listed context window
Step 5 Preview
Step 5 Preview takes 1.05M tokens against 524K.
Listed by OpenRouter
Everyday cost
1K input + 500 output tokens
Solar Mini 4
Step 5 Preview $0.0024, Solar Mini 4 $0.0001 per turn.
List prices
At a glance
- Coding index
- Step 5 Preview 61.1 from 4 benchmarks, Solar Mini 4 not benchmarked.
- Widest category
- Reasoning, 20.7 points apart on average over 1 shared benchmark.
- Widest single gap
- Humanity's Last Exam (Artificial Analysis run): Step 5 Preview 46.5% against Solar Mini 4 25.8%, 20.7 points apart on a 0 to 100 scale.
- Output price
- Step 5 Preview $2.70 against Solar Mini 4 $0.20 per million output tokens, 13.5x apart.
- Context window
- Step 5 Preview takes 1.05M tokens, Solar Mini 4 524K.
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 | Step 5 Preview | Bars | Solar Mini 4 | Ties |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Coding | 1 | 0 | ||
| Intelligence | 1 | 0 | ||
| Reasoning | 1 | 0 | ||
| General | 1 | 0 | ||
| All shared boards | 4 | 0 |
CodingLike-for-likeSix of these boards feed the Vibe Coding Index10
| Benchmark | Step 5 Preview | Solar Mini 4 | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| LiveBench coding | 85.6% | Not measured | Only Step 5 Preview measured |
| LMArena WebDev | 1567 | Not measured | Only Step 5 Preview measured |
| Terminal-Bench 4 (Vals AI) | 31.8% | Not measured | Only Step 5 Preview measured |
| Vibe Code Bench (Vals AI) | 70.4% | Not measured | Only Step 5 Preview measured |
| Code migration (Vals AI) | 39.0% | Not measured | Only Step 5 Preview measured |
| IOI (Vals AI) | 38.1% | Not measured | Only Step 5 Preview measured |
| SWE-bench Multimodal (Vals AI) | 40.8% | Not measured | Only Step 5 Preview measured |
| SciCode | 58.9% | 47.6% | Step 5 Preview |
| LMArena Text: coding | 1485 | Not measured | Only Step 5 Preview measured |
| LMArena Text: software and IT | 1473 | Not measured | Only Step 5 Preview measured |
| LMArena WebDev: React | 1583 | Not measured | Only Step 5 Preview measured |
| LMArena WebDev: HTML | 1556 | Not measured | Only Step 5 Preview measured |
| LMArena WebDev: from an image | 1550 | Not measured | Only Step 5 Preview measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 25 boards here | |||
IntelligenceLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index10
| Benchmark | Step 5 Preview | Solar Mini 4 | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| AA Intelligence Index | 43.7 | 24.1 | Step 5 Preview |
| Neither model has a result on the other 1 board here | |||
Agentic workDirectional onlyPublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index11 boards, none shared
| Benchmark | Step 5 Preview | Solar Mini 4 | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| LiveBench research | 72.8% | Not measured | Only Step 5 Preview measured |
| LiveBench browser | 24.0% | Not measured | Only Step 5 Preview measured |
| LiveBench long agentic | 27.5% | Not measured | Only Step 5 Preview measured |
| SREBench (Vals AI) | 0.4% | Not measured | Only Step 5 Preview measured |
| Finance Agent (Vals AI) | 50.7% | Not measured | Only Step 5 Preview measured |
| Tax Agent Bench (Vals AI) | 27.3% | Not measured | Only Step 5 Preview measured |
| Legal Research Bench (Vals AI) | 40.4% | Not measured | Only Step 5 Preview measured |
| Excel Modeling Benchmark (Vals AI) | 57.1% | Not measured | Only Step 5 Preview measured |
| BioMysteryBench (Vals AI) | 67.4% | Not measured | Only Step 5 Preview measured |
| Terminal-Bench-Science (Vals AI) | 2.9% | Not measured | Only Step 5 Preview measured |
| Vals Science Index | 29.6% | Not measured | Only Step 5 Preview measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 28 boards here | |||
ReasoningLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index10
| Benchmark | Step 5 Preview | Solar Mini 4 | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| LiveBench reasoning | 83.8% | Not measured | Only Step 5 Preview measured |
| MysteryMechanism (Vals AI) | 18.5% | Not measured | Only Step 5 Preview measured |
| Humanity's Last Exam (Artificial Analysis run) | 46.5% | 25.8% | Step 5 Preview |
| LMArena Text: hard prompts | 1461 | Not measured | Only Step 5 Preview measured |
| LMArena Text: expert | 1485 | Not measured | Only Step 5 Preview measured |
| LMArena Text: hard prompts in English | 1454 | Not measured | Only Step 5 Preview measured |
| LMArena Vision: diagrams | 1308 | Not measured | Only Step 5 Preview measured |
| LMArena Vision: homework | 1265 | Not measured | Only Step 5 Preview measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 13 boards here | |||
MathDirectional onlyPublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index3 boards, none shared
| Benchmark | Step 5 Preview | Solar Mini 4 | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| ProofBench | 42.0% | Not measured | Only Step 5 Preview measured |
| LMArena Text: math | 1458 | Not measured | Only Step 5 Preview measured |
| LMArena Text: mathematical work | 1460 | Not measured | 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, none shared
| Benchmark | Step 5 Preview | Solar Mini 4 | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| LMArena Text: science | 1454 | Not measured | Only Step 5 Preview measured |
| LMArena Text: medicine and healthcare | 1439 | Not measured | Only Step 5 Preview measured |
| LMArena Text: legal and government | 1437 | Not measured | Only Step 5 Preview measured |
| LMArena Text: business and finance | 1435 | Not measured | Only Step 5 Preview measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 13 boards here | |||
Web designDirectional onlyPublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index4 boards, none shared
| Benchmark | Step 5 Preview | Solar Mini 4 | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| Design Arena: websites | Not measured | 1160 | Only Solar Mini 4 measured |
| Design Arena: game dev | Not measured | 1113 | Only Solar Mini 4 measured |
| Design Arena: all code categories | Not measured | 1153 | Only Solar Mini 4 measured |
| LiveBench design | 76.9% | Not measured | Only Step 5 Preview measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 5 boards here | |||
GeneralLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index10
| Benchmark | Step 5 Preview | Solar Mini 4 | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| LiveBench data analysis | 63.5% | Not measured | Only Step 5 Preview measured |
| Public Benefits Bench (Vals AI) | 58.1% | Not measured | Only Step 5 Preview measured |
| Long context reasoning (AA-LCR) | 88.3% | 83.3% | Step 5 Preview |
| LMArena Text | 1440 | Not measured | Only Step 5 Preview measured |
| LMArena Text: instruction following | 1438 | Not measured | Only Step 5 Preview measured |
| LMArena Text: creative writing | 1409 | Not measured | Only Step 5 Preview measured |
| LMArena Vision | 1265 | Not measured | Only Step 5 Preview measured |
| LMArena Text: English | 1447 | Not measured | Only Step 5 Preview measured |
| LMArena Text: non-English | 1428 | Not measured | Only Step 5 Preview measured |
| LMArena Text: Chinese | 1500 | Not measured | Only Step 5 Preview measured |
| LMArena Text: Japanese | 1383 | Not measured | Only Step 5 Preview measured |
| LMArena Text: French | 1438 | Not measured | Only Step 5 Preview measured |
| LMArena Text: Spanish | 1441 | Not measured | Only Step 5 Preview measured |
| LMArena Text: Russian | 1433 | Not measured | Only Step 5 Preview measured |
| LMArena Text: multi-turn | 1437 | Not measured | Only Step 5 Preview measured |
| LMArena Text: longer queries | 1449 | Not measured | Only Step 5 Preview measured |
| LMArena Text: writing and language | 1425 | Not measured | Only Step 5 Preview measured |
| LMArena Text: entertainment and media | 1412 | Not measured | Only Step 5 Preview measured |
| LMArena Vision: English | 1290 | Not measured | Only Step 5 Preview measured |
| LMArena Vision: reading text | 1282 | Not measured | Only Step 5 Preview measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 26 boards here | |||
Image generationNot comparablePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index0 boards, none shared
| Benchmark | Step 5 Preview | Solar Mini 4 | 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
Solar Mini 4 costs less
Repository review
50K input + 3K output tokens
Solar Mini 4 costs less
Agent loop
200K input + 10K output tokens
Solar Mini 4 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 | StepFun Step 5 Preview | Upstage Solar Mini 4 |
|---|---|---|
| Maker | StepFun | Upstage |
| Weights | Open weights | No public weights listed |
| Released | October 8, 2026 | September 23, 2026 |
| Context window | 1.05M | 524K |
| Input $/Mtok | $1.00 | $0.05 |
| Output $/Mtok | $2.70 | $0.20 |
| Coding index | 61.1 | Not benchmarked |
| Independent measurements behind it | 4 | 0 |
| Cost per solved task | Not computable | Not computable |
| Source | OpenRouter listing | OpenRouter listing |
Questions
Is Step 5 Preview better than Solar Mini 4 for coding?
Only Step 5 Preview has a coding score, 61.1 on the Vibe Coding Index; Solar Mini 4 has none, so the two cannot be ranked on coding. Solar Mini 4 has the edge where output tokens cost 13.5x less.
Which is cheaper, Step 5 Preview or Solar Mini 4?
Step 5 Preview costs $1.00 per million input tokens and $2.70 per million output tokens; Solar Mini 4 costs $0.05 and $0.20. Cost per solved task is known for neither of them.
Which has the bigger context window, Step 5 Preview or Solar Mini 4?
Step 5 Preview, with 1.05M tokens against 524K.
How many benchmarks is the Step 5 Preview vs Solar Mini 4 comparison based on?
4 benchmarks have a result for both models as of October 21, 2026. Step 5 Preview's coding index rests on 4 independent benchmarks and Solar Mini 4's on 0. Where only one model has a result, the page says so instead of naming a winner.