# Step 5 Preview vs SWE-2 Flash

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

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

- Shared sourced benchmarks: 4
- HTML indexing: indexable
- Ranking lane: BenchAlign v5.8

## Quick Verdict

Step 5 Preview leads by point estimate. Conditional score ranges do not establish rank confidence. Choose using the category evidence and your own workload tests.

## Summary

- Step 5 Preview has the higher overall point estimate 56.81 to 0. Conditional score ranges do not establish rank confidence.
- The biggest single benchmark swing is Terminal-Bench 4.0 in Agentic, with scores of 33.30% and 20.00%.
- SWE-2 Flash is the cheaper option on output tokens, which matters if you expect large responses or heavy interactive use.

## Model Snapshot

| Property | Step 5 Preview | SWE-2 Flash |
|----------|----------|----------|
| Creator | StepFun | Cognition |
| Type | Open Weight | Proprietary |
| Reasoning | Reasoning | Reasoning |
| Context | 1M | 1M |
| Overall Score | 56.81 | null |
| Benchmarks Covered | 24 | 7 |
| Pricing (input/output) | $1.00 / $2.70 | Pricing unavailable / Pricing unavailable |

## Category Breakdown

### Agentic

- Winner: Not comparable
- Step 5 Preview public-lane score: 55.3 (Estimated · #42/135)
- SWE-2 Flash public-lane score: Coming soon

| Benchmark | Step 5 Preview | SWE-2 Flash | Winner |
|-----------|-----------|-----------|--------|
| Terminal-Bench 2.1 | 85.0% | 89.2% | SWE-2 Flash |
| Terminal-Bench 4.0 | 33.30% | 20.00% | Step 5 Preview |
| CyberGym | 84.7% | Coming soon | Coming soon |
| AutomationBench | 44.0% | Coming soon | Coming soon |
| Toolathlon-Verified | 74.1% | Coming soon | Coming soon |
| MCP Atlas | 85.6% | Coming soon | Coming soon |
| JobBench | 59.0% | Coming soon | Coming soon |
| APEX-Agents | 37.8% | Coming soon | Coming soon |
| DRACO | 83.3% | Coming soon | Coming soon |
| BrowseComp | 88.7% | Coming soon | Coming soon |
| Agents' Last Exam | 29.5% | Coming soon | Coming soon |
| Hermes Index | 32.8% | Coming soon | Coming soon |
| Hermes Bench | 69.2% | Coming soon | Coming soon |

### Coding

- Winner: Not comparable
- Step 5 Preview public-lane score: 48.8 (Estimated · #47/156)
- SWE-2 Flash public-lane score: Coming soon

| Benchmark | Step 5 Preview | SWE-2 Flash | Winner |
|-----------|-----------|-----------|--------|
| DeepSWE | 67.7% | 60.1% | Step 5 Preview |
| Terminal-Bench 2.1 | 85.0% | 89.2% | SWE-2 Flash |
| SciCode | 58.9% | Coming soon | Coming soon |
| ProgramBench | 80.5% | Coming soon | Coming soon |
| sweMarathon | 72.7% | Coming soon | Coming soon |
| MLS-Bench Lite | 40.5% | Coming soon | Coming soon |
| FrontierCode 1.1 Main | Coming soon | 45.5% | Coming soon |
| SWE-Atlas Codebase QnA | Coming soon | 50.0% | Coming soon |
| FrontierCode 2.0 | Coming soon | 24.0% | Coming soon |

### Reasoning

- Winner: Not comparable
- Step 5 Preview public-lane score: 82.5 (Unranked · 2 rankable rows)
- SWE-2 Flash public-lane score: Coming soon

| Benchmark | Step 5 Preview | SWE-2 Flash | Winner |
|-----------|-----------|-----------|--------|
| CritPt | 20.9% | Coming soon | Coming soon |

### Multimodal & Grounded

- Winner: Not comparable
- Step 5 Preview public-lane score: 73.3 (#32/58)
- SWE-2 Flash public-lane score: Coming soon

| Benchmark | Step 5 Preview | SWE-2 Flash | Winner |
|-----------|-----------|-----------|--------|
| OfficeQA Pro | 60.3% | Coming soon | Coming soon |
| MMMU-Pro | 76% | Coming soon | Coming soon |

### Knowledge

- Winner: Not comparable
- Step 5 Preview public-lane score: 61 (Supported · #44/177)
- SWE-2 Flash public-lane score: Coming soon

| Benchmark | Step 5 Preview | SWE-2 Flash | Winner |
|-----------|-----------|-----------|--------|
| GPQA-D | 93.5% | Coming soon | Coming soon |
| HLE | 46.5% | Coming soon | Coming soon |

## FAQ

### Which is better overall, Step 5 Preview or SWE-2 Flash?

Step 5 Preview has the higher overall point estimate. Conditional score ranges do not establish rank confidence.

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

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

### How many benchmarks does SWE-2 Flash cover on BenchLM?

SWE-2 Flash currently has 7 sourced benchmark scores on BenchLM.

## Related Comparisons

- [Step 5 Preview vs SWE-1.7](/compare/step-5-preview-vs-swe-1-7)
- [SWE-2 Flash vs SWE-1.7](/compare/swe-1-7-vs-swe-2-flash)
- [Step 5 Preview vs SWE-2](/compare/step-5-preview-vs-swe-2)
- [SWE-2 Flash vs SWE-2](/compare/swe-2-vs-swe-2-flash)

## Explore More

- [Step 5 Preview profile](/models/step-5-preview)
- [SWE-2 Flash profile](/models/swe-2-flash)
- [Compare Pricing](/llm-pricing)
- [Alternative Finder](/tools/alternative-finder)
- [LLM Selector](/tools/llm-selector)
- [Overall Rankings](/best/overall)