Grok 4.6 vs Step 5 Preview
xAI · US | StepFun · China · Updated June 2026
Quick verdict
Pick Grok 4.6 for frontier-tier intelligence at a value price - artificial analysis intelligence index 61, tying gpt-5.6 sol or ranked #2 on artificial analysis's independent gdpval agentic test, behind only claude opus 5. 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. On a tight budget at scale, Step 5 Preview is the value pick.
Grok 4.6 (xAI, US) 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. Grok 4.6 is xAI's Grok 4.6 - frontier-level intelligence (AA Index 61, tying GPT-5.6 Sol) at a fraction of flagship pricing, and already in Cursor and Copilot. 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 and context window — each quantified below from the models' real specs.
Key differences at a glance
- ▸Price: Step 5 Preview is about 2× cheaper on input ($1/$2.7 per 1M tokens vs $2/$6 per 1M tokens) — meaningful once you are processing millions of tokens a month.
- ▸Context window: Step 5 Preview holds 2× more — 1M tokens (~1,500 pages) vs 500K (~750 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 39 days (released September 20, 2026), usually meaning fresher training data and capabilities.
- ▸Ecosystem: this is a US-vs-China matchup — they differ in pricing philosophy, data-residency options, and tooling ecosystems, not only benchmarks.
Side-by-side specs
| Spec | Grok 4.6 | Step 5 Preview |
|---|---|---|
| Provider | xAI (US) | StepFun (China) |
| Released | August 12, 2026 | September 20, 2026 |
| Context window | 500K (~750 pages) | 1M tokens (~1,500 pages) |
| Price (in/out) | $2/$6 per 1M tokens | $1/$2.7 per 1M tokens |
| Open weight? | No — API only | No — API only |
| Modalities | text, image, code | text, image, code |
| SWE-Bench Verified | Not published | Not published |
| MRCR v2 @ 1M | Not published | Not published |
Who wins what
Frontier-tier intelligence at a value price - Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index 61, tying GPT-5.6 Sol
Grok 4.6
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%
Ranked #2 on Artificial Analysis's independent GDPval agentic test, behind only Claude Opus 5
Grok 4.6
Grok 4.6 lists ranked #2 on Artificial Analysis's independent GDPval agentic test, behind only Claude Opus 5 among its strengths; Step 5 Preview does not.
$2/$6 per million tokens - a fraction of Claude Opus 5 or GPT-5.6 Sol
Grok 4.6
Grok 4.6 lists $2/$6 per million tokens - a fraction of Claude Opus 5 or GPT-5.6 Sol among its strengths; Step 5 Preview does not.
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 2× more than Grok 4.6's 500K 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
At $1/$2.7 per 1M tokens it undercuts Grok 4.6 ($2/$6 per 1M tokens), and that gap compounds at volume.
67.7% on DeepSWE v1.1, ahead of open-weight rivals Kimi K3 (67.5%) and GLM-5.3 (66.9%)
Step 5 Preview
Grok 4.6 is comparatively weak here — coding gains (DeepSWE 65.9, APEX-Agents 57.5) are xAI's own numbers, not independently reproduced
Lowest cost at scale
Step 5 Preview
At $1/$2.7 per 1M tokens, it is the cheaper of the two — the gap dominates the bill on high-volume workloads.
Largest single-prompt input
Step 5 Preview
Its 1M tokens window is about 2× larger than Grok 4.6's 500K, fitting roughly 1,500 pages in one prompt.
Which should you pick?
A cost-sensitive startup shipping high volume
→ Step 5 Preview
At $1/$2.7 per 1M tokens it undercuts Grok 4.6, 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.
Anyone whose priority is frontier-tier intelligence at a value price - artificial analysis intelligence index 61, tying gpt-5.6 sol
→ Grok 4.6
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
→ Grok 4.6 or Step 5 Preview
Origin (US vs China) affects where data is processed and which compliance regime applies — check the provider's terms for your region.
Grok 4.6: where it fits
XAI's Grok 4.6 - frontier-level intelligence (AA Index 61, tying GPT-5.6 Sol) at a fraction of flagship pricing, and already in Cursor and Copilot. Released August 12, 2026 by xAI, it is built for frontier-tier intelligence at a value price - Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index 61, tying GPT-5.6 Sol, ranked #2 on Artificial Analysis's independent GDPval agentic test, behind only Claude Opus 5, $2/$6 per million tokens - a fraction of Claude Opus 5 or GPT-5.6 Sol, and 500K-token context; available same-day in Cursor and (two days later) GitHub Copilot.
Its trade-offs are real: coding gains (DeepSWE 65.9, APEX-Agents 57.5) are xAI's own numbers, not independently reproduced, parameter count is undisclosed, text and image input only - not a full multimodal model, and fast-moving target: xAI says Grok 4.7 is only weeks away. At $2 in / $6 out per million tokens, it sits in the mid price band.
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
This is less "which is smarter" and more "which ecosystem fits." Grok 4.6 (US) and Step 5 Preview (China) differ on pricing philosophy, data-residency, and tooling as much as on raw scores. Step 5 Preview is the cheaper option, which matters at volume. The pragmatic move is to run one real task through both and judge the outputs against your own constraints — including where your data is allowed to be processed.
Want both Grok 4.6 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 Grok 4.6 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, Grok 4.6 leans toward frontier-tier intelligence at a value price - artificial analysis intelligence index 61, tying gpt-5.6 sol 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, Grok 4.6 or Step 5 Preview?
Step 5 Preview is cheaper — $2/$6 per 1M tokens vs $1/$2.7 per 1M tokens, roughly 2× apart on input.
Which has the bigger context window?
Step 5 Preview — 1M tokens vs 500K, about 2× larger. Useful only if the model actually reasons over the full window, which not all do.
Can I use both Grok 4.6 and Step 5 Preview together?
Yes — a multi-model platform like LumiChats gives you Grok 4.6, 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, Grok 4.6 or Step 5 Preview?
Step 5 Preview — released September 20, 2026, about 39 days after Grok 4.6.
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.