Command A+ vs Step 5 Preview
Cohere · Canada | StepFun · China · Updated June 2026
Quick verdict
Pick Command A+ for cohere's newer, more efficient flagship - runs on just two h100 gpus, unusually lean for a 218b-parameter model or a 218b-total/25b-active moe released with open weights (apache 2.0) on hugging face. Pick Step 5 Preview for sparse moe architecture — 600b total parameters, only 27b active per token — built for long-horizon agentic work across large codebases and documents or 1m-token context window (64k max output) at $1/$2.70 per million tokens, among the cheapest frontier-scale context windows available. Choose Command A+ if you need self-hosting or data privacy; Step 5 Preview if you want a managed API.
Command A+ (Cohere, Canada) and Step 5 Preview (StepFun, China) line up two different AI ecosystems against each other — a comparison that is as much about cost philosophy and openness as raw capability. Command A+ is cohere's newer, leaner flagship - a 218B open-weight MoE tuned for efficiency (just two GPUs to run) and 48-language support. Step 5 Preview is stepFun's September 20, 2026 flagship preview — a 600B-parameter sparse MoE model (27B active) with a 1M-token context window at $1/$2.70 per million tokens, open weights promised for mid-October. They diverge most on price, context window and open vs. closed weights — each quantified below from the models' real specs.
Key differences at a glance
- ▸Cost model: Command A+ ships open weights you can self-host (hardware cost only, no per-token fee), while Step 5 Preview is API-metered at $1/$2.7 per 1M tokens. Your choice depends on whether you want zero marginal cost at the price of running infrastructure.
- ▸Context window: Step 5 Preview holds 3.9× more — 1M tokens (~1,500 pages) vs 256K (unconfirmed) (~384 pages). But effective recall usually fades long before the advertised ceiling, so the bigger number only helps if the model reasons over it.
- ▸Recency: Step 5 Preview is the newer model by about 4 months (released September 20, 2026), usually meaning fresher training data and capabilities.
- ▸Ecosystem: this is a Canada-vs-China matchup — they differ in pricing philosophy, data-residency options, and tooling ecosystems, not only benchmarks.
Side-by-side specs
| Spec | Command A+ | Step 5 Preview |
|---|---|---|
| Provider | Cohere (Canada) | StepFun (China) |
| Released | May 19, 2026 | September 20, 2026 |
| Context window | 256K (unconfirmed) (~384 pages) | 1M tokens (~1,500 pages) |
| Price (in/out) | Open weight (self-host / free) | $1/$2.7 per 1M tokens |
| Open weight? | Yes — self-hostable | No — API only |
| Modalities | text, code | text, image, code |
| SWE-Bench Verified | Not published | Not published |
| MRCR v2 @ 1M | Not published | Not published |
Who wins what
Cohere's newer, more efficient flagship - runs on just two H100 GPUs, unusually lean for a 218B-parameter model
Command A+
Step 5 Preview is comparatively weak here — trails closed frontier models on coding — 67.7% on DeepSWE v1.1 vs GPT-6 Astra's 74.1% and Claude Opus 5's 74.0%
A 218B-total/25B-active MoE released with open weights (Apache 2.0) on Hugging Face
Command A+
Open weights make this possible at all — Step 5 Preview is API-only, so it cannot leave the vendor's servers.
Supports 48 languages, including all official EU languages
Command A+
Cohere's newer, leaner flagship - a 218B open-weight MoE tuned for efficiency (just two GPUs to run) and 48-language support — and its weights are open while Step 5 Preview is API-only.
Sparse MoE architecture — 600B total parameters, only 27B active per token — built for long-horizon agentic work across large codebases and documents
Step 5 Preview
Its 1M tokens window holds about 3.9× more than Command A+'s 256K (unconfirmed) in a single prompt.
1M-token context window (64K max output) at $1/$2.70 per million tokens, among the cheapest frontier-scale context windows available
Step 5 Preview
Command A+ is comparatively weak here — no official context window or per-token price published yet - both are estimated/unavailable
67.7% on DeepSWE v1.1, ahead of open-weight rivals Kimi K3 (67.5%) and GLM-5.3 (66.9%)
Step 5 Preview
StepFun's September 20, 2026 flagship preview — a 600B-parameter sparse MoE model (27B active) with a 1M-token context window at $1/$2.70 per million tokens, open weights promised for mid-October — and it carries the larger 1M tokens context.
Lowest cost at scale
Command A+
Its weights are open, so at volume you pay for your own hardware instead of Step 5 Preview's $1/$2.7 per 1M tokens.
Largest single-prompt input
Step 5 Preview
Its 1M tokens window is about 3.9× larger than Command A+'s 256K (unconfirmed), fitting roughly 1,500 pages in one prompt.
Which should you pick?
A cost-sensitive startup shipping high volume
→ Command A+
At Open weight (self-host / free) it undercuts Step 5 Preview, and on millions of tokens that margin decides the monthly bill.
Someone analysing very long documents or codebases
→ Step 5 Preview
Larger 1M tokens window fits more in one prompt.
A team with data-privacy or self-hosting needs
→ Command A+
Open weights let you run it on your own hardware; Step 5 Preview is API-only.
Anyone whose priority is cohere's newer, more efficient flagship - runs on just two h100 gpus, unusually lean for a 218b-parameter model
→ Command A+
It is specifically built for that.
Anyone whose priority is sparse moe architecture — 600b total parameters, only 27b active per token — built for long-horizon agentic work across large codebases and documents
→ Step 5 Preview
That is its strongest area.
An enterprise with regional data-residency rules
→ Step 5 Preview or Command A+
Origin (Canada vs China) affects where data is processed and which compliance regime applies — check the provider's terms for your region.
Command A+: where it fits
Cohere's newer, leaner flagship - a 218B open-weight MoE tuned for efficiency (just two GPUs to run) and 48-language support. Released May 19, 2026 by Cohere, it is built for cohere's newer, more efficient flagship - runs on just two H100 GPUs, unusually lean for a 218B-parameter model, a 218B-total/25B-active MoE released with open weights (Apache 2.0) on Hugging Face, supports 48 languages, including all official EU languages, and positioned by Cohere as its 'most efficient and performant model to date'.
Its trade-offs are real: no official context window or per-token price published yet - both are estimated/unavailable, newer release with less independent benchmark verification than established flagships, and enterprise/multilingual focus rather than topping general reasoning leaderboards. As an open-weight model, its running cost is your own hardware rather than a per-token fee.
Step 5 Preview: where it fits
StepFun's September 20, 2026 flagship preview — a 600B-parameter sparse MoE model (27B active) with a 1M-token context window at $1/$2.70 per million tokens, open weights promised for mid-October. Released September 20, 2026 by StepFun, it is built for sparse MoE architecture — 600B total parameters, only 27B active per token — built for long-horizon agentic work across large codebases and documents, 1M-token context window (64K max output) at $1/$2.70 per million tokens, among the cheapest frontier-scale context windows available, 67.7% on DeepSWE v1.1, ahead of open-weight rivals Kimi K3 (67.5%) and GLM-5.3 (66.9%), and scores 44 on the Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index, ranking 27th of 653 models tracked.
Its trade-offs: trails closed frontier models on coding — 67.7% on DeepSWE v1.1 vs GPT-6 Astra's 74.1% and Claude Opus 5's 74.0%, open weights were promised for October 15, 2026 but hadn't shipped as of this writing — API-only for now despite the open-weight roadmap, a 'Preview' release, not StepFun's finished flagship — positioning and pricing may change once weights ship, and stepCodeBench and DeepSWE figures are StepFun's own reported numbers, not yet independently reproduced at scale. At $1 in / $2.7 out per million tokens, it sits in the budget price band.
The bottom line for this matchup
The defining split here is open vs. closed. Command A+ gives you weights you control — self-host it, fine-tune it, keep data in-house, pay only for hardware. Step 5 Preview gives you a managed, always-updated API with no infrastructure to run. Teams with GPUs, privacy requirements, or huge volume often favour the open model; teams that want zero ops and the latest capabilities favour the closed one. Capability is close enough that this operational question, not the benchmark, usually decides it.
Want both Command A+ and Step 5 Preview without two subscriptions? LumiChats gives you these plus 40+ models under one ₹69/day pass (about $1/day) — draft with one, cross-check with the other.
See pricingFrequently asked questions
Is Command A+ or Step 5 Preview better for coding?
Public SWE-Bench figures are not available for either model, so the honest test is your own repository — run an identical real bug through both. By design, Command A+ leans toward cohere's newer, more efficient flagship - runs on just two h100 gpus, unusually lean for a 218b-parameter model while Step 5 Preview leans toward sparse moe architecture — 600b total parameters, only 27b active per token — built for long-horizon agentic work across large codebases and documents, and that positioning usually predicts which feels better on your codebase.
Which is cheaper, Command A+ or Step 5 Preview?
Command A+ is open-weight, so self-hosting means no per-token fee (you pay for hardware instead), while Step 5 Preview is API-metered at $1/$2.7 per 1M tokens. For most teams without GPUs, the API model is cheaper to start; at very high volume, self-hosting can win.
Which has the bigger context window?
Step 5 Preview — 1M tokens vs 256K (unconfirmed), about 3.9× larger. Useful only if the model actually reasons over the full window, which not all do.
Can I use both Command A+ and Step 5 Preview together?
Yes — a multi-model platform like LumiChats gives you Command A+, Step 5 Preview and 40+ others under one ₹69/day pass (about $1/day), so you can draft with one and cross-check with the other instead of buying two subscriptions.
Which is newer, Command A+ or Step 5 Preview?
Step 5 Preview — released September 20, 2026, about 4 months after Command A+.
Related comparisons
Specifications and benchmarks reflect publicly reported figures as of June 2026 and may change as providers release updates. Always verify on your own workload.