AI model comparison

Step 5 Preview vs GLM 5.2

Pricing, context window, benchmarks, and features compared side by side. Or skip the guesswork and send one prompt to both.

Step 5 Preview is StepFun's flagship model for agentic work, built on a sparse Mixture-of-Experts architecture (27B active / 600B total parameters).

Input / 1M: $1
Output / 1M: $2.70
Context: 1.05M

GLM 5.2 is a large-scale reasoning model from Z.ai.

Input / 1M: $0.62
Output / 1M: $2.42
Context: 1.05M

Comparing image generators? Compare image models

At a glance

Quick verdict

How the two models stack up on the things people ask about most.

Lower price

GLM 5.2

1.4x cheaper for a typical chat

Higher intelligence score

Step 5 Preview

43.7 vs 33.7 on Artificial Analysis

Larger context window

Tie

1.05M vs 1.05M tokens

Newer release

Step 5 Preview

Released October 8, 2026

Benchmarks

Benchmark scores

Independent scores from Artificial Analysis. Higher is better.

Intelligence index

Step 5 Preview43.7

GLM 5.233.7

Coding index

Step 5 PreviewNot available

GLM 5.268.8

Agentic index

Step 5 PreviewNot available

GLM 5.238.4

Pricing

Step 5 Preview vs GLM 5.2 API pricing

Per-token API rates. Cheaper option highlighted.

Metric	Step 5 Preview	GLM 5.2
Input tokensPer 1M tokens	$1	$0.62
Output tokensPer 1M tokens	$2.70	$2.42
Cached input (read)Per 1M tokens	$0.10	$0.14
Cache writePer 1M tokens	Not available	Not available

What it costs in practice

Estimated cost per 1,000 requests at standard rates. Coding and long-document figures also show the cost when the input is already cached.

Chat message

2K in, 500 out

Step 5 Preview$3.35

GLM 5.2$2.45

Coding task

30K in, 4K out

Step 5 Preview$40.80$13.80 cached

GLM 5.2$28.28$13.88 cached

Long document summary

150K in, 2K out

Step 5 Preview$155.40$20.40 cached

GLM 5.2$97.84$25.84 cached

Specs

Context window and capabilities

How much each model can read, how much it can write, and what it accepts as input.

Metric	Step 5 Preview	GLM 5.2
Context window	1.05M tokens	1.05M tokens
Max output	64K tokens	944K tokens
Input types	Image, Text, Video	Text
Output types	Text	Text
Reasoning effort levels	High, Medium, Low	Extra high, High, None
Default reasoning effort	Medium	High
Release date	October 8, 2026	June 16, 2026

Features

Supported features

API features available for each model.

Metric	Step 5 Preview	GLM 5.2
Tool calling	Supported	Supported
Structured outputs	Supported	Supported
JSON mode	Supported	Supported
Reasoning	Supported	Supported
Temperature	Supported	Supported
Stop sequences	Supported	Supported
Deterministic seed	Supported	Supported
Verbosity control	Not supported	Not supported

Our take

GLM 5.2 is 1.4x cheaper for a typical chat. Step 5 Preview scores higher on the Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index (43.7 vs 33.7). The right pick depends on your workload, so the quickest way to settle it is to send the same prompt to both and compare.

FAQ

Frequently asked questions

Is Step 5 Preview or GLM 5.2 cheaper?

GLM 5.2 is cheaper for a typical chat (2K input tokens and 500 output tokens). GLM 5.2 costs $0.62 per 1M input tokens and $2.42 per 1M output tokens, while Step 5 Preview costs $1 per 1M input tokens and $2.70 per 1M output tokens.

Which has a bigger context window, Step 5 Preview or GLM 5.2?

Step 5 Preview supports up to 1.05M tokens of context, compared with 1.05M for GLM 5.2.

Is Step 5 Preview smarter than GLM 5.2?

On the Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index, Step 5 Preview scores 43.7 and GLM 5.2 scores 33.7, putting Step 5 Preview ahead. Benchmarks don't capture everything, so the best test is running your own prompts through both.

Can I use Step 5 Preview and GLM 5.2 at the same time?

Yes. Shortcut Chat sends one prompt to multiple models at once, so you can see Step 5 Preview and GLM 5.2 answer side by side and keep the better response.

Why choose? Ask both.

Send one prompt to Step 5 Preview and GLM 5.2 at the same time. Compare the answers side by side and keep the best one.

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