Ling 3.0 Tiny (free) is free for input tokens while Step 5 Preview costs $1 per 1M tokens.
API cost decision in 10 seconds
New🔥Step 5 Preview vs Ling 3.0 Tiny (free)
Pick Ling 3.0 Tiny (free) for lower cost; pick Step 5 Preview only if the larger context window matters more.
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Data confirmed:
Prices normalized to USD per 1M tokens
Sample workload: 1M input + 500K output
Budget verdict
Pick Ling 3.0 Tiny (free) for lower cost; pick Step 5 Preview only if the larger context window matters more.
On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, Ling 3.0 Tiny (free) is estimated at $0 vs $2.35 for Step 5 Preview, saving $2.35 (100% lower).
Cost-first pickLing 3.0 Tiny (free)
Context-first pickStep 5 Preview
Sample savings$2.35100%
10x traffic gap$23.5
Step 5 Preview has more context, but Ling 3.0 Tiny (free) saves $2.35 on the standard workload. At 10x that traffic, the same price gap is about $23.5. Use the calculator below to replace the sample workload with your own token volume.
Cost sensitivity
Workload Sensitivity
Ling 3.0 Tiny (free) stays cheaper across input-heavy, balanced, and output-heavy sample workloads.
| Workload shape | Token mix | Better pick | Step 5 Preview | Ling 3.0 Tiny (free) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Input-heavy / RAG | 5M input + 500K output | Ling 3.0 Tiny (free) | $6.35 | $0 |
| Balanced workload | 1M input + 1M output | Ling 3.0 Tiny (free) | $3.7 | $0 |
| Output-heavy chatbot | 1M input + 5M output | Ling 3.0 Tiny (free) | $14.5 | $0 |
Ling 3.0 Tiny (free) is free for output tokens while Step 5 Preview costs $2.7 per 1M tokens.
Step 5 Preview has 737.86K more context (3.81x larger).
Ling 3.0 Tiny (free) is free for the standard workload while the other model is estimated at $2.35.
Estimate your workload cost
Your Workload Cost
This estimate uses normalized public API pricing per 1M tokens. It is a planning aid, not a billing quote. Verify provider pricing, limits, and terms before production use.
Quick Decision
Ling 3.0 Tiny (free) has the lower input price; Ling 3.0 Tiny (free) has the lower output price; Step 5 Preview offers the larger context window. For the 1M input plus 500K output sample, Ling 3.0 Tiny (free) is cheaper for the standard workload.
For a 1M input token plus 500K output token workload, the estimated API cost is $2.35 for Step 5 Preview and $0 for Ling 3.0 Tiny (free).
Choose Step 5 Preview when you care most about larger context window.
Choose Ling 3.0 Tiny (free) when you care most about lower input-token price, and lower output-token price.
- On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, Ling 3.0 Tiny (free) is estimated at $0 vs $2.35 for Step 5 Preview, saving $2.35 (100% lower).
- Ling 3.0 Tiny (free) is free for the standard workload while the other model is estimated at $2.35.
- Ling 3.0 Tiny (free) is free for input tokens while Step 5 Preview costs $1 per 1M tokens.
- Ling 3.0 Tiny (free) is free for output tokens while Step 5 Preview costs $2.7 per 1M tokens.
- Step 5 Preview has 737.86K more context (3.81x larger).
| Feature | New🔥Step 5 Preview (StepFun) | Ling 3.0 Tiny (free) (inclusionAI) |
|---|---|---|
| Input Price prompt tokens per 1M | $1 | $0 |
| Completion Price per 1M tokens | $2.7 | $0 |
| Sample Workload Cost 1M input + 500K output | $2.35 | $0 |
| Context Window | 1M | 262.14K |
| Release Date | ||
| Popularity | #2 |
Use-Case Decision Matrix
| Use case | Better pick | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Budget-constrained production | Ling 3.0 Tiny (free) | On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, Ling 3.0 Tiny (free) is estimated at $0 vs $2.35 for Step 5 Preview, saving $2.35 (100% lower). |
| High-volume input processing | Ling 3.0 Tiny (free) | Lower prompt-token price matters most when prompts, retrieved passages, or documents dominate the bill. |
| Long responses and chatbots | Ling 3.0 Tiny (free) | Lower output-token price matters most when assistants generate many completion tokens. |
| RAG or long-document work | Step 5 Preview | A larger context window leaves more room for retrieved passages, conversation history, or source files. |
Related Alternatives
- Step 3.5 Flash can replace Step 5 Preview when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.25.
- Step 3.7 Flash can replace Step 5 Preview when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.77.
- Grok 4.20 Multi-Agent offers 2M context with $2.5 sample workload cost.
- Grok 4.20 offers 2M context with $2.5 sample workload cost.
- Llama 4 Scout offers 1.31M context with $0.47 sample workload cost.
- MiMo-V2.6-Flash offers 1.05M context with $0.28 sample workload cost.
- DeepSeek V4.1 Flash · DeepSeek · #1
- GLM 5.3 Flash · Z.ai · #3
- MiMo-V2.6-Flash · Xiaomi · #4
- Hy4 preview · Tencent · #5
Cheaper alternatives
Review low-cost models sorted by a standard 1M input plus 500K output workload.
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Open inclusionAI modelsStep 5 Preview is StepFun's flagship model for agentic work, built on a sparse Mixture-of-Experts architecture (27B active / 600B total parameters). It performs strongly in software engineering and professional...
Ling 3.0 Tiny is a mixture-of-experts model from InclusionAI, with 1.3B active parameters out of 7.9B total. It is designed for responsive agents, instruction following, and multi-turn conversations, with switchable...