Muse Wonder 1.0 vs Step 5 Preview
Meta · US | StepFun · China · Updated June 2026
Quick verdict
Pick Muse Wonder 1.0 for meta superintelligence labs' first frontier-class reasoning model — a new line distinct from the agentic-coding-focused muse spark family or artificial analysis intelligence index score of 52 (a gated 'wonder full' subscription variant scores 56, tied with claude sonnet 5.5, behind only opus 5.5 at 58). 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.
Muse Wonder 1.0 (Meta, 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. Muse Wonder 1.0 is meta Superintelligence Labs' October 12, 2026 debut frontier model — distinct from Muse Spark, scoring 52 on the independent Artificial Analysis Index with a 1M-token, four-modality context window. 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 4× cheaper on input ($1/$2.7 per 1M tokens vs $4/$20 per 1M tokens) — meaningful once you are processing millions of tokens a month.
- ▸Context window: 1M tokens vs 1M tokens — within a few percent of each other, so treat this as a tie and test on your own long inputs, since usable recall varies by model.
- ▸Recency: Muse Wonder 1.0 is the newer model by about 22 days (released October 12, 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 | Muse Wonder 1.0 | Step 5 Preview |
|---|---|---|
| Provider | Meta (US) | StepFun (China) |
| Released | October 12, 2026 | September 20, 2026 |
| Context window | 1M tokens (~1,573 pages) | 1M tokens (~1,500 pages) |
| Price (in/out) | $4/$20 per 1M tokens | $1/$2.7 per 1M tokens |
| Open weight? | No — API only | No — API only |
| Modalities | text, image, video, audio | text, image, code |
| SWE-Bench Verified | Not published | Not published |
| MRCR v2 @ 1M | Not published | Not published |
Who wins what
Meta Superintelligence Labs' first frontier-class reasoning model — a new line distinct from the agentic-coding-focused Muse Spark family
Muse Wonder 1.0
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%
Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index score of 52 (a gated 'Wonder Full' subscription variant scores 56, tied with Claude Sonnet 5.5, behind only Opus 5.5 at 58)
Muse Wonder 1.0
Meta Superintelligence Labs' October 12, 2026 debut frontier model — distinct from Muse Spark, scoring 52 on the independent Artificial Analysis Index with a 1M-token, four-modality context window — and it is the newer of the two.
78.8% on DeepSWE v1.1 long-horizon coding, ahead of both Claude Opus 5.5 (74.2%) and GPT-6 Astra (74.1%)
Muse Wonder 1.0
Muse Wonder 1.0 lists 78.8% on DeepSWE v1.1 long-horizon coding, ahead of both Claude Opus 5.5 (74.2%) and GPT-6 Astra (74.1%) 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
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 runs cheaper at $1/$2.7 per 1M tokens.
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 Muse Wonder 1.0 ($4/$20 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
Step 5 Preview lists 67.7% on DeepSWE v1.1, ahead of open-weight rivals Kimi K3 (67.5%) and GLM-5.3 (66.9%) among its strengths; Muse Wonder 1.0 does not.
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.
Which should you pick?
A cost-sensitive startup shipping high volume
→ Step 5 Preview
At $1/$2.7 per 1M tokens it undercuts Muse Wonder 1.0, and on millions of tokens that margin decides the monthly bill.
Someone analysing very long documents or codebases
→ Muse Wonder 1.0
Larger 1M tokens window fits more in one prompt.
Anyone whose priority is meta superintelligence labs' first frontier-class reasoning model — a new line distinct from the agentic-coding-focused muse spark family
→ Muse Wonder 1.0
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
→ Muse Wonder 1.0 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.
Muse Wonder 1.0: where it fits
Meta Superintelligence Labs' October 12, 2026 debut frontier model — distinct from Muse Spark, scoring 52 on the independent Artificial Analysis Index with a 1M-token, four-modality context window. Released October 12, 2026 by Meta, it is built for meta Superintelligence Labs' first frontier-class reasoning model — a new line distinct from the agentic-coding-focused Muse Spark family, artificial Analysis Intelligence Index score of 52 (a gated 'Wonder Full' subscription variant scores 56, tied with Claude Sonnet 5.5, behind only Opus 5.5 at 58), 78.8% on DeepSWE v1.1 long-horizon coding, ahead of both Claude Opus 5.5 (74.2%) and GPT-6 Astra (74.1%), and accepts text, image, video, audio, and PDF input against a 1,048,576-token context window.
Its trade-offs are real: the stronger 'Wonder Full' variant is gated behind $50/$200-per-month Muse Code subscriptions, with no public API or independently verifiable pricing, meta's full safety report had not been published as of launch, first release in a brand-new model family — no track record yet next to Meta's more established Muse Spark line, and benchmark comparisons against Opus 5.5 and GPT-6 Astra are Meta's own self-reported figures. At $4 in / $20 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." Muse Wonder 1.0 (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 Muse Wonder 1.0 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 Muse Wonder 1.0 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, Muse Wonder 1.0 leans toward meta superintelligence labs' first frontier-class reasoning model — a new line distinct from the agentic-coding-focused muse spark family 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, Muse Wonder 1.0 or Step 5 Preview?
Step 5 Preview is cheaper — $4/$20 per 1M tokens vs $1/$2.7 per 1M tokens, roughly 4× apart on input.
Which has the bigger context window?
Effectively neither — 1M tokens vs 1M tokens is a difference of a few percent. Remember advertised ≠ usable: recall typically degrades before the ceiling.
Can I use both Muse Wonder 1.0 and Step 5 Preview together?
Yes — a multi-model platform like LumiChats gives you Muse Wonder 1.0, 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, Muse Wonder 1.0 or Step 5 Preview?
Muse Wonder 1.0 — released October 12, 2026, about 22 days after Step 5 Preview.
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.