# Inkling 2 Small vs Step 5 Preview

> Side-by-side benchmark comparison for Inkling 2 Small and Step 5 Preview across agentic, coding, multimodal, knowledge, reasoning, multilingual, and math tasks.

- Canonical page: https://benchlm.ai/compare/inkling-2-small-vs-step-5-preview
- Last updated: November 7, 2026

- Shared sourced benchmarks: 8
- HTML indexing: indexable
- Ranking lane: BenchAlign v5.8

## Quick Verdict

Inkling 2 Small leads by point estimate. Conditional score ranges do not establish rank confidence. Choose using the category evidence and your own workload tests.

## Summary

- Inkling 2 Small has the higher overall point estimate 59.06 to 56.83. Conditional score ranges do not establish rank confidence.
- The clearest category separation is in multimodal & grounded, where the averages are 86.6 for Inkling 2 Small and 72.3 for Step 5 Preview.
- The biggest single benchmark swing is sweMarathon in Coding, with scores of 38.8% and 72.7%.
- Inkling 2 Small is the cheaper option on output tokens, which matters if you expect large responses or heavy interactive use.

## Model Snapshot

| Property | Inkling 2 Small | Step 5 Preview |
|----------|----------|----------|
| Creator | Thinking Machines Lab | StepFun |
| Type | Proprietary | Open Weight |
| Reasoning | Hybrid | Reasoning |
| Context | 1M | 1M |
| Overall Score | 59.06 | 56.83 |
| Benchmarks Covered | 25 | 24 |
| Pricing (input/output) | $0.30 / $1.00 | $1.00 / $2.70 |

## Category Breakdown

### Agentic

- Winner: Directional only
- Inkling 2 Small public-lane score: 59.9 (Supported · #26/131)
- Step 5 Preview public-lane score: 54.8 (Estimated · #43/131)

| Benchmark | Inkling 2 Small | Step 5 Preview | Winner |
|-----------|-----------|-----------|--------|
| Terminal-Bench 2.1 | 85.1% | 85.0% | Inkling 2 Small |
| BrowseComp | 90.2% | 88.7% | Inkling 2 Small |
| DeepSearchQA | 90.9% | Coming soon | Coming soon |
| MCP Atlas | 85% | 85.6% | Step 5 Preview |
| JobBench | 70.5% | 59.0% | Inkling 2 Small |
| Terminal-Bench 4.0 | Coming soon | 33.30% | Coming soon |
| CyberGym | Coming soon | 84.7% | Coming soon |
| AutomationBench | Coming soon | 44.0% | Coming soon |
| Toolathlon-Verified | Coming soon | 74.1% | Coming soon |
| APEX-Agents | Coming soon | 37.8% | Coming soon |
| DRACO | Coming soon | 83.3% | Coming soon |
| Agents' Last Exam | Coming soon | 29.5% | Coming soon |
| Hermes Index | Coming soon | 32.8% | Coming soon |
| Hermes Bench | Coming soon | 69.2% | Coming soon |

### Coding

- Winner: Directional only
- Inkling 2 Small public-lane score: 59.7 (Supported · #20/157)
- Step 5 Preview public-lane score: 49.2 (Estimated · #48/157)

| Benchmark | Inkling 2 Small | Step 5 Preview | Winner |
|-----------|-----------|-----------|--------|
| SWE-bench Verified | 82.2% | Coming soon | Coming soon |
| SWE Multilingual | 81.2% | Coming soon | Coming soon |
| sweMarathon | 38.8% | 72.7% | Step 5 Preview |
| Terminal-Bench 2.1 | 85.1% | 85.0% | Inkling 2 Small |
| DeepSWE | 72.1% | 67.7% | Inkling 2 Small |
| PostTrainBench v1.2 | 31.9% | Coming soon | Coming soon |
| SciCode | Coming soon | 58.9% | Coming soon |
| ProgramBench | Coming soon | 80.5% | Coming soon |
| MLS-Bench Lite | Coming soon | 40.5% | Coming soon |

### Reasoning

- Winner: Not comparable
- Inkling 2 Small public-lane score: 86.1 (Unranked · 2 rankable rows)
- Step 5 Preview public-lane score: 80.8 (Unranked · 2 rankable rows)

| Benchmark | Inkling 2 Small | Step 5 Preview | Winner |
|-----------|-----------|-----------|--------|
| LongBench v2 | 70.6% | Coming soon | Coming soon |
| CritPt | Coming soon | 20.9% | Coming soon |

### Multimodal & Grounded

- Winner: Directional only
- Inkling 2 Small public-lane score: 86.6 (#12/59)
- Step 5 Preview public-lane score: 72.3 (#34/59)

| Benchmark | Inkling 2 Small | Step 5 Preview | Winner |
|-----------|-----------|-----------|--------|
| CharXiv | 87.7% | Coming soon | Coming soon |
| CharXiv w/o tools | 85.6% | Coming soon | Coming soon |
| Chartography (no tools) | 36.7% | Coming soon | Coming soon |
| Chartography (tools) | 80.4% | Coming soon | Coming soon |
| BabyVision | 68.6% | Coming soon | Coming soon |
| BabyVision w/ Python | 93.7% | Coming soon | Coming soon |
| ScreenSpot Pro | 83.8% | Coming soon | Coming soon |
| PerceptionBench | 64.7% | Coming soon | Coming soon |
| MathVision | 92.8% | Coming soon | Coming soon |
| OfficeQA Pro | Coming soon | 60.3% | Coming soon |
| MMMU-Pro | Coming soon | 76% | Coming soon |

### Knowledge

- Winner: Directional only
- Inkling 2 Small public-lane score: 60.4 (Estimated · #46/178)
- Step 5 Preview public-lane score: 61 (Supported · #44/178)

| Benchmark | Inkling 2 Small | Step 5 Preview | Winner |
|-----------|-----------|-----------|--------|
| GPQA | 93% | Coming soon | Coming soon |
| GPQA-D | 93.0% | 93.5% | Step 5 Preview |
| HLE | Coming soon | 46.5% | Coming soon |

### Mathematics

- Winner: Not comparable
- Inkling 2 Small public-lane score: 85.9 (Unranked · 2 rankable rows)
- Step 5 Preview public-lane score: Coming soon

| Benchmark | Inkling 2 Small | Step 5 Preview | Winner |
|-----------|-----------|-----------|--------|
| HMMT Feb 2026 | 95.8% | Coming soon | Coming soon |
| Apex | 63.5% | Coming soon | Coming soon |

## FAQ

### Which is better overall, Inkling 2 Small or Step 5 Preview?

Inkling 2 Small has the higher overall point estimate. Conditional score ranges do not establish rank confidence.

### Where is the biggest gap between Inkling 2 Small and Step 5 Preview?

The widest category gap is in multimodal & grounded, where the averages are 86.6 for Inkling 2 Small and 72.3 for Step 5 Preview.

### How many benchmarks does Inkling 2 Small cover on BenchLM?

Inkling 2 Small currently has 25 sourced benchmark scores on BenchLM.

### How many benchmarks does Step 5 Preview cover on BenchLM?

Step 5 Preview currently has 24 sourced benchmark scores on BenchLM.

## Related Comparisons

- [Inkling 2 Small vs Inkling-Small](/compare/inkling-2-small-vs-inkling-small)
- [Step 5 Preview vs Inkling-Small](/compare/inkling-small-vs-step-5-preview)
- [Inkling 2 Small vs Inkling](/compare/inkling-vs-inkling-2-small)
- [Step 5 Preview vs Inkling](/compare/inkling-vs-step-5-preview)

## Explore More

- [Inkling 2 Small profile](/models/inkling-2-small)
- [Step 5 Preview profile](/models/step-5-preview)
- [Compare Pricing](/llm-pricing)
- [Alternative Finder](/tools/alternative-finder)
- [LLM Selector](/tools/llm-selector)
- [Overall Rankings](/best/overall)