Reflection vs Stepfun

Reflection lists 1 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.

At a glance

ReflectionStepfun
Models listed14
Models with published pricing14
Typical price (median, 3:1 blend per 1M)$1.50$0.44
Cheapest paid modelReflection: Beam 1.0 501B A23B ($1.50)StepFun: Step 3.5 Flash ($0.15)
Longest contextReflection: Beam 1.0 501B A23B (1.0M)StepFun: Step 5 Preview (1.0M)
Free models01
Newest modelReflection: Beam 1.0 501B A23B (2026-10-16)StepFun: Step 5 Preview (2026-10-08)
Price changes in the last 90 days00

What each costs for real workloads

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)ReflectionStepfun
Customer-support chatbot
50,000 conversations — each a 6-turn conversation
$135 with Reflection: Beam 1.0 501B A23B$13.50 with StepFun: Step 3.5 Flash
RAG search over documents
20,000 questions — each a question answered from ~8 retrieved passages
$150 with Reflection: Beam 1.0 501B A23B$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
$156 with Reflection: Beam 1.0 501B A23B$15.60 with StepFun: Step 3.5 Flash
Batch summarisation
10,000 documents — each a 6,000-word report summarised to a page
$98.00 with Reflection: Beam 1.0 501B A23B$9.80 with StepFun: Step 3.5 Flash
Long-document analysis
500 documents — each a 150-page contract or codebase read in one pass
$53.00 with Reflection: Beam 1.0 501B A23B$5.30 with StepFun: Step 3.5 Flash

Cheapest model for each capability

You needReflectionStepfun
Any modelReflection: Beam 1.0 501B A23B ($1.50)StepFun: Step 3.5 Flash ($0.15)
With tool callingReflection: Beam 1.0 501B A23B ($1.50)StepFun: Step 3.5 Flash ($0.15)
With image inputnone listedStepFun: Step 3.7 Flash ($0.44)
With reasoning modeReflection: Beam 1.0 501B A23B ($1.50)StepFun: Step 3.5 Flash ($0.15)
128K+ contextReflection: Beam 1.0 501B A23B ($1.50)StepFun: Step 3.5 Flash ($0.15)
1M+ contextReflection: Beam 1.0 501B A23B ($1.50)StepFun: Step 5 Preview ($1.43)

Line-up by type and price tier

Model typeReflectionStepfun
text+image+video->text02
text->text12
Price per 1M (3:1 blend)ReflectionStepfun
Free01
Under $0.5002
$0.50 – $311
$3 – $1000
$10 and up00

Frequently asked questions

How does Reflection cost compare with Stepfun cost?

Stepfun is cheaper on a typical model: a median of $0.44 per 1M tokens (3:1 input/output) against $1.50 for Reflection. The cheapest paid models are Reflection: Beam 1.0 501B A23B at $1.50 and StepFun: Step 3.5 Flash at $0.15.

Is Reflection better than Stepfun?

It depends on the job: Stepfun offers the broader line-up (1 models vs 4), Stepfun the lower typical price. The workload table above shows which wins for chat, RAG, agents, batch jobs and long documents.

Which has more models, Reflection or Stepfun?

Stepfun: Reflection lists 1 models and Stepfun lists 4.

Which provider has the longest context window?

It is a tie: Reflection's longest is Reflection: Beam 1.0 501B A23B at 1.0M tokens; Stepfun's is StepFun: Step 5 Preview at 1.0M.

Do Reflection or Stepfun offer free models?

Reflection: none. Stepfun: 1 free model (e.g. StepFun: Step 3.5 Flash (free)).

Which provider has models that can read images?

Reflection: 0 of 1 models accept images. Stepfun: 2 of 4.

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