Moondream lists 2 models and Stepfun 4. Stepfun is cheaper on a typical model ($0.44 per 1M tokens median). Below: line-up, price tiers, the cheapest model for each capability, and what each costs for five real workloads.
| Moondream | Stepfun | |
|---|---|---|
| Models listed | 2 | 4 |
| Models with published pricing | 2 | 4 |
| Typical price (median, 3:1 blend per 1M) | $0.85 | $0.44 |
| Cheapest paid model | Moondream: Moondream 3 Preview ($0.85) | StepFun: Step 3.5 Flash ($0.15) |
| Longest context | Moondream: Moondream 3 Preview (32K) | StepFun: Step 5 Preview (1.0M) |
| Free models | 0 | 1 |
| Newest model | Moondream: Moondream 3 Preview (2026-10-15) | StepFun: Step 5 Preview (2026-10-08) |
| Price changes in the last 90 days | 0 | 0 |
For each workload: the cheapest model from each provider that can actually do it (fits the context window; tool calling required for the agent), and its monthly cost at list price.
| Workload (per month) | Moondream | Stepfun |
|---|---|---|
| Customer-support chatbot 50,000 conversations — each a 6-turn conversation | $72.50 with Moondream: Moondream 3 Preview | $13.50 with StepFun: Step 3.5 Flash |
| RAG search over documents 20,000 questions — each a question answered from ~8 retrieved passages | $61.00 with Moondream: Moondream 3 Preview | $15.00 with StepFun: Step 3.5 Flash |
| Coding / tool-using agent 2,000 tasks — each a multi-step task with tool calls and file context | no suitable model | $15.60 with StepFun: Step 3.5 Flash |
| Batch summarisation 10,000 documents — each a 6,000-word report summarised to a page | $39.00 with Moondream: Moondream 3 Preview | $9.80 with StepFun: Step 3.5 Flash |
| Long-document analysis 500 documents — each a 150-page contract or codebase read in one pass | no suitable model | $5.30 with StepFun: Step 3.5 Flash |
| You need | Moondream | Stepfun |
|---|---|---|
| Any model | Moondream: Moondream 3 Preview ($0.85) | StepFun: Step 3.5 Flash ($0.15) |
| With tool calling | none listed | StepFun: Step 3.5 Flash ($0.15) |
| With image input | Moondream: Moondream 3 Preview ($0.85) | StepFun: Step 3.7 Flash ($0.44) |
| With reasoning mode | Moondream: Moondream 3 Preview ($0.85) | StepFun: Step 3.5 Flash ($0.15) |
| 128K+ context | none listed | StepFun: Step 3.5 Flash ($0.15) |
| 1M+ context | none listed | StepFun: Step 5 Preview ($1.43) |
| Model type | Moondream | Stepfun |
|---|---|---|
| text+image+video->text | 0 | 2 |
| text+image->text | 2 | 0 |
| text->text | 0 | 2 |
| Price per 1M (3:1 blend) | Moondream | Stepfun |
|---|---|---|
| Free | 0 | 1 |
| Under $0.50 | 0 | 2 |
| $0.50 – $3 | 2 | 1 |
| $3 – $10 | 0 | 0 |
| $10 and up | 0 | 0 |
Stepfun is cheaper on a typical model: a median of $0.44 per 1M tokens (3:1 input/output) against $0.85 for Moondream. The cheapest paid models are Moondream: Moondream 3 Preview at $0.85 and StepFun: Step 3.5 Flash at $0.15.
It depends on the job: Stepfun offers the broader line-up (2 models vs 4), Stepfun the lower typical price, Stepfun the longest context (1.0M tokens). The workload table above shows which wins for chat, RAG, agents, batch jobs and long documents.
Stepfun: Moondream lists 2 models and Stepfun lists 4.
Stepfun: Moondream's longest is Moondream: Moondream 3 Preview at 32K tokens; Stepfun's is StepFun: Step 5 Preview at 1.0M.
Moondream: none. Stepfun: 1 free model (e.g. StepFun: Step 3.5 Flash (free)).
Moondream: 2 of 2 models accept images. Stepfun: 2 of 4.