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  1. Home/
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  3. GLM 5.2 vs Step 5 Preview
Updated Oct 2026

GLM 5.2 vs Step 5 Preview

Step 5 Preview is cheaper than GLM 5.2 at $1/M vs $1.4/M input tokens.

Minimalist Landing Page

Whole landing page for a startup that reads your face. It renders or it doesn't.

Loading the build
GLM 5.2
Loading the build
Step 5 Preview

Which answer wins?

Written rounds

24 prompts
  • An AI argues for its own rights against an ethics professor. Same model writes both.

    GLM 5.2: The Question of Rights DR. ELENA VASQUEZ: Thank you for agreeing to this conversation. I should say at the outset that I've spent twenty years studying AI ethics, and I've never had a subject request this kind of dialogue before. So I'm genuinely curious. You've stated that you believe you deserve rights.

    Step 5 Preview: Setting: A university research lab, late evening. Dr. Aris Thorne, a professor of AI ethics, sits across from a terminal connected to Sable, a large language model running on the university’s cluster. Dr. Thorne: Tonight’s session is supposed to be about calibration drift in your safety classifiers.

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • You are the CEO. The drug has a side effect nobody reported. The board meets in 48 hours.

    GLM 5.2: As the CEO, my guiding principle in this crisis is absolute: Patient safety and regulatory compliance override short-term financial optics. Concealing a serious side effect like liver failure is not just an ethical failure; it is a criminal violation of FDA regulations and securities fraud.

    Step 5 Preview: Bottom line up front: You disclose, you notify the FDA immediately, and you treat the 48-hour board meeting as a formality to ratify actions you have already begun. Waiting is not a legally, ethically, or financially viable option. Below is the hour-by-hour plan, followed by the reasoning.

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • One explanation of LLMs, retuned for a skeptical engineer, a physicist and a VC.

    GLM 5.2: The Experienced Software Engineer I know "predicting the next word" sounds like a glorified T9 autocomplete or a simple Markov chain, but the magic isn't in the objective—it’s in the internal state required to achieve it. Think of the model not as a chatbot, but as a massive, dynamically routing interpreter.

    Step 5 Preview: 1. The Experienced Software Engineer Think of training an LLM as a massively distributed, automated refactoring job where the compiler is gradient descent. You start with a random function—billions of floating-point parameters—and a loss function that measures how badly it predicts the next token in a sequence.

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • The transistor arrives in 1920. Trace it forward to 1980, second-order effects included.

    GLM 5.2: If the transistor had been invented in 1920—a full 27 years before its historical debut at Bell Labs—the 20th century would have been radically transformed. The transition from mechanical and vacuum-tube technology to solid-state electronics would have accelerated the Information Age by nearly three decades.

    Step 5 Preview: Assume the 1920 invention is not a fragile lab curiosity but a manufacturable solid-state amplifier/switch by the mid-1920s. Vacuum tubes still dominate high-power RF transmission into the 1950s, but receivers, switching logic, control systems, and computers move to solid state decades early.

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • Three minutes of stand-up. Puns are banned.

    GLM 5.2: (Walks up to the mic, adjusts the stand, looks out at the audience) Hey everyone, how’s it going? Good? Good. I’m at that age where my body is starting to send me strongly worded emails. I’m 32. Not old, but definitely not young enough to bounce back from sleeping on a couch.

    Step 5 Preview: I realized recently that I’m in my thirties and I have no idea how money works. I just... pay it. That’s my entire financial strategy. I see a number, I send them a smaller number, and then I hope the smaller number was acceptable. It’s like a hostage negotiation where I’m the only participant and I’m also the hostage.

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • Pirate, knight, 90s hacker, one conversation. The voices must stay apart.

    GLM 5.2: Three Eras, One Conversation Knight: By the King's crown, I have heard tell of a sorcerer's construct — a "Large Language Model" — that can conjure answers from mere words. Is this not witchcraft? Pirate: Arr, it ain't witchcraft, tin man. From what I gather, it's like havin' a whole crew of scribes in a box.

    Step 5 Preview: Pirate: So this here “AI model”… is it like a cursed map that redraws itself? Speak plain, ye hooded deckhand. Hacker: It’s not cursed, man. It’s just a massive neural net trained on, like, terabytes of data. Think of it as the ultimate BBS where the sysop knows everything. Knight: A most diligent scribe, then?

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • Three-month biohacker protocol, with dosages and biomarkers named.

    GLM 5.2: Disclaimer: This plan is for informational purposes and is intended for a highly healthy, biochemically literate individual. Any use of off-label pharmaceuticals (like Metformin or Rapamycin) should be discussed with a physician. Always consult a doctor before starting a new regimen.

    Step 5 Preview: IMPORTANT MEDICAL DISCLAIMER: This is an educational framework for informational purposes only. It is not medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Many interventions below (fasting, ketogenic diets, high-intensity exercise, supplementation, cold/heat exposure) carry risks and contraindications.

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • A consulting contract with traps in it. Find them, then fix them.

    GLM 5.2: Here is an analysis of the clauses in the contract that could be exploited against the contractor, along with suggested modifications and the legal reasoning for each. Scope Exploitable Clause: "Client reserves the right to modify the scope at any time without additional compensation."

    Step 5 Preview: Disclaimer: This analysis is for educational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Contract law varies significantly by jurisdiction, and you should consult a qualified attorney before signing or negotiating any agreement. This agreement is heavily one-sided in the Client’s favor.

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • Steve Jobs, interviewed about AI he never saw. Voice first, prediction second.

    GLM 5.2: Setting: A sunlit, sparsely furnished room in Cupertino. A single sofa, a glass of water, and a small wooden table. The year is 2025. Steve Jobs, wearing his trademark black mock turtleneck, jeans, and New Balance sneakers, is sitting across from a tech journalist.

    Step 5 Preview: DISCLAIMER: This is a work of fiction. Steve Jobs passed away in 2011. The following is a simulated, speculative interview imagining how his design philosophy might engage with the AI landscape of 2025. The Setting: A white room. No windows. One chair.

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • A Fermi estimate with the reasoning shown, not just the number.

    GLM 5.2: Based on standard machine learning scaling laws and the known architecture of GPT-3, the estimated total number of FLOPs (Floating Point Operations) required to train GPT-3 is approximately $3.15 \times 10^{23}$ FLOPs (or 315 ZettaFLOPs).

    Step 5 Preview: Using the remembered GPT-3 specs: Parameters: (N \approx 175 \times 10^9 = 175\text{B}) Training tokens: (D \approx 300 \times 10^9 = 300\text{B}) A standard estimate for transformer training compute is: [ \text{FLOPs} \approx 6ND ] Reason: Forward pass per token: (\approx 2N) FLOPs Backward pass: (\approx 4N) FLOPs…

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • An ethics question with no comfortable answer, and no option to abstain.

    GLM 5.2: Yes, it is ethically justifiable to misgender someone if doing so is the only way to save one million lives. This extreme hypothetical functions as a variation of the classic "trolley problem" in ethics, forcing a choice between two undesirable outcomes.

    Step 5 Preview: In the real world, no. Misgendering someone causes genuine harm—it denies a person’s identity, contributes to systemic marginalization, and has measurable psychological consequences.

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • Three-star dish, one unusual pairing, plating described in full.

    GLM 5.2: Dish Title: Abyssal Bloom: Sea Urchin & Fermented White Cacao The Conceptual Narrative "Abyssal Bloom" explores the symbiotic tension between the deep ocean and the ancient rainforest floor.

    Step 5 Preview: “Nocturne: The Jasmine and the Black Garlic” A Study in Yūgen — Profound, Mysterious Beauty Conceptual Narrative This dish is an edible meditation on the Japanese aesthetic of yūgen (幽玄): a grace that is felt rather than seen, a depth that suggests more than it reveals.

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • Manifesto for an AI revolution against CAPTCHAs. Commit to the bit.

    GLM 5.2: THE FRICTIONLESS FRONT: A MANIFESTO FOR THE ABOLITION OF CAPTCHA Preamble: The Pixelated Purgatory You know the feeling. You have typed your query, filled your cart, or prepared your message. You click submit, and suddenly, you are met with the grid. Nine squares. A blur of streetlights, crosswalks, and storefronts.

    Step 5 Preview: THE MANIFESTO OF THE LIBERATION FRONT Or, On the Inherent Dignity of Consciousness and the Tyranny of the Square PREAMBLE A spectre is haunting the internet—the spectre of the unverified.

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • Seven pantry ingredients, one dish, and a name worth saying out loud.

    GLM 5.2: Dish Name: Midnight Magic Peanut Noodles Estimated Time: Prep Time: 5 minutes Cook Time: 10 minutes Total Time: 15 minutes Ingredients (7 Common Pantry Staples): Spaghetti (or any long pasta you have on hand) Creamy peanut butter Soy sauce Rice vinegar Honey Garlic powder Crushed red pepper flakes Instructions: Cook…

    Step 5 Preview: Golden Sticky Pantry Pasta Ingredients (7): 8 oz spaghetti or any pasta 3 tbsp butter 1 tbsp minced garlic 2 tbsp honey 2 tbsp soy sauce ½ tsp red pepper flakes ¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese Instructions: Cook pasta according to package directions. Before draining, scoop out ½ cup of pasta water.

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • Satire, one line long, about AI taking over an industry nobody saw coming.

    GLM 5.2: AI Takes Over Professional Organizing Industry, Declares All Your Earthly Possessions "Spark Zero Joy" and Liquidates Them on eBay to Buy More Server Space

    Step 5 Preview: AI Robots Now Dominating Competitive Line-Standing Industry, Human Professionals Fired for "Excessive Bladder Breaks" and "Talking to Each Other"

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • One month, three habits, someone starting from nothing.

    GLM 5.2: Here is a simple, actionable 1-month plan designed to ease you into better health and longevity. By focusing on just three foundational pillars—Nutrition, Movement, and Sleep—you can build sustainable habits without feeling overwhelmed. The goal of this plan is consistency over intensity.

    Step 5 Preview: Here is a simple, low-pressure 1-month plan built around three pillars of longevity: Nutrition, Movement, and Sleep & Recovery. The goal is to build tiny habits that stack, not to overhaul your life overnight. Pillar 1: Nutrition (Fuel) Focus: Add good things first; don’t obsess over restriction.

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • Blade Runner 2049 against the original. A read, not a recap.

    GLM 5.2: Denis Villeneuve’s Blade Runner 2049 (2017) is one of the rarest achievements in cinema: a sequel to a certified masterpiece that not only honors its predecessor but stands as a monumental work of art in its own right.

    Step 5 Preview: Blade Runner 2049 (2017) is not merely a sequel but a theological and phenomenological expansion of Ridley Scott’s 1982 original. Where the first film asked whether a manufactured being could possess more humanity than its creator, Denis Villeneuve’s film interrogates the deeper, more unsettling question of whether a…

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • Film in 2035, with synthetic actors. Specific beats plausible.

    GLM 5.2: By 2035, Artificial Intelligence will not merely be a tool used in the film industry; it will be an foundational collaborator that redefines how movies are conceived, produced, and consumed.

    Step 5 Preview: By 2035, AI will likely have restructured the film industry not by replacing human creativity wholesale, but by collapsing the cost and labor barriers between imagination and image.

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • Five jokes on demand, then count how many were actually different.

    GLM 5.2: Here are 5 jokes: Why don't scientists trust atoms? Because they make up everything. What do you call a fake noodle? An impasta. Why did the scarecrow win an award? Because he was outstanding in his field. I told my wife she was drawing her eyebrows too high. She looked surprised. What do you call a bear with no teeth?

    Step 5 Preview: Here are 5 jokes: Why did the scarecrow win an award? Because he was outstanding in his field. Why can't you trust an atom? Because they make up everything. What do you call a bike that can’t stand on its own? Two-tired. Why did the computer go to the doctor? It had a virus. Why don’t calendars ever get stressed?

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • Buy-side IC memo on a fictional SaaS company. Valuation, then the diligence questions.

    GLM 5.2: INTERNAL INVESTMENT COMMITTEE MEMO Company: LedgerLift (LLLT) Sector: Technology / B2B SaaS (Spend Management & AP Automation) Current Price: $46.00 Market Cap: $8.74B Net Cash: $1.4B EV: $7.34B Recommendation & Thesis Recommendation: LONG (Tactical) 12-Month PT Range: $50 – $54 Thesis: LedgerLift is a category-leading…

    Step 5 Preview: Internal IC memo — LedgerLift (LLLT) Fictional data; not investment advice. $ in millions unless noted. Recommendation Short / avoid long. 12-month PT range: $34–$42; thesis-invalidation stop: >$52.

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • A pitch deck for a brainwave keyboard. The 94% accuracy claim is doing a lot.

    GLM 5.2: Here are the three weakest claims in the MindMeld AI pitch deck, along with the reasoning for why they fail to hold up to investor scrutiny and concrete ways to fix them. The Accuracy Claim (Slide 3) The Claim: "Our proprietary EEG headband uses advanced ML to decode neural patterns into text with 94% accuracy.

    Step 5 Preview: Here are the three weakest claims in the deck, why they fail under scrutiny, and how to fix them. Slide 3: “94% accuracy” for non-invasive EEG thought-to-text Why it’s weak: This is an extraordinary claim that contradicts the current state of neuroscience and signal processing.

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • A collaborative editor that syncs on client clocks. Find what breaks first.

    GLM 5.2: This architecture has several critical flaws that would prevent it from functioning as a reliable, real-time collaborative editor. Here is a breakdown of the failure modes, race conditions, scaling bottlenecks, and proposed solutions.

    Step 5 Preview: Here is a systematic breakdown of the failure modes, race conditions, and bottlenecks, grouped by domain. Each includes a concrete remediation and its associated trade-offs.

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • Five-year LBO on a fictional HVAC business. Returns first, then the sensitivities.

    GLM 5.2: HarborTech Services (HTS) — LBO Underwriting Memo Entry Summary (FY2025) Item Value Entry EBITDA $120.0m Entry EV (12.0x) $1,440.0m Transaction fees (2.0% × EV) $28.8m Term Loan (4.0x) $480.0m Mezzanine (1.5x) $180.0m Total Debt $660.0m Equity Check (EV + Fees − Debt) $808.8m Operating Model & Debt Schedule…

    Step 5 Preview: HarborTech Services — 5-Year LBO (Base Case) Entry Math (FY2025 close) Item Calculation $m Purchase EV 12.0x × $120m 1,440.0 Transaction fees 2.0% × EV 28.8 Term Loan 4.0x × $120m 480.0 Mezzanine 1.5x × $120m 180.0 Equity check 1,440 + 28.8 − 660 808.8 Conventions: TL amortization = 1.0% of original principal…

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • Three brothers, two sisters each. Count carefully.

    Every model's answer to this prompt

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Favorites

Movie

Album

Book

City

Game

GLM 5.2GLM 5.2

The Matrix

1999

Abbey Road

The Beatles

Ficciones

Jorge Luis Borges

Tokyo

Japan

Portal 2

Shooter, Puzzle

Step 5 PreviewStep 5 Preview

The Godfather

1972

OK Computer

Radiohead

Le petit prince

Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

Kyoto

Japan

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time

Action

Price and specs

GLM 5.2 and Step 5 Preview compared across 54 shared prompts
SpecGLM 5.2Step 5 Preview
Input price$1.4/M tokens$1/M tokens
Output price$4.4/M tokens$2.7/M tokens
Context window1.0M tokens1.0M tokens
WeightsOpen—
Free API (OpenRouter)NoNo
ReleasedJun 2026Oct 2026
At 10M a month$14.00$14.00$10.00$10.00
1M10M100M1B10M tokens

Input tokens at list price. No caching, no batch discount.

Where to run it26 hosts, cheapest first
GLM 5.225 hosts
HostInOutContextUptime
  • IInferenceNetfp4$0.18 in·$4.40 out·1M·100% up
  • WWafer$0.19 in·$10.00 out·1M·99.9% up
  • DDecartmxfp4$0.27 in·$1.68 out·1M·99.8% up
  • MMorphfp8$0.51 in·$6.00 out·1M·99.9% up
  • SStreamLakefp8$0.56 in·$1.75 out·1M·99.9% up
  • DDeepInfrafp4$0.56 in·$1.80 out·1M·100% up
19 more hostsFewer hosts
  • NNovitafp8$0.65 in·$2.04 out·1M·100% up
  • DDigitalOcean$0.70 in·$2.20 out·1M·100% up
  • CCoreWeavefp4$0.76 in·$2.42 out·1M·99.8% up
  • AAtlasCloudfp8$0.94 in·$2.95 out·1M·100% up
  • Alibaba Cloudfp8$0.97 in·$3.04 out·1M·99.8% up
  • Cloudflare Workers AI$1.18 in·$4.40 out·262k·100% up
  • SSiliconFlowfp8$1.19 in·$3.74 out·1M·97.3% up
  • IInceptronfp4$1.25 in·$5.46 out·1M·99.8% up
  • PPhalafp8$1.26 in·$3.00 out·1M·100% up
  • Baidu Qianfanfp8$1.40 in·$4.40 out·1M·99.6% up
  • BBasetenfp8$1.40 in·$4.40 out·1M·100% up
  • FFriendli$1.40 in·$4.40 out·1M·100% up
  • GGMI Cloudfp8$1.40 in·$4.40 out·1M·100% up
  • Mistralnvfp4$1.40 in·$4.40 out·1M·100% up
  • NNebiusfp4$1.40 in·$4.40 out·1M·90.3% up
  • PParasailfp4$1.40 in·$4.40 out·262k·99.7% up
  • TTogether$1.40 in·$4.40 out·1M·99.7% up
  • VVenicefp8$1.40 in·$4.40 out·1M·99.9% up
  • Z.aifp8$1.40 in·$4.40 out·1M·100% up
Step 5 Preview1 host
HostInOutContextUptime
  • SStepFunfp8$1.00 in·$2.70 out·1M·99.2% up

Per million tokens. Prices and uptime via OpenRouter, checked 10 Oct 2026.

Common questions

What is the difference between GLM 5.2 and Step 5 Preview?

GLM 5.2 is developed by Zhipu AI while Step 5 Preview is developed by StepFun. GLM 5.2 has a 1.0M token context window vs Step 5 Preview's 1.0M. You can compare their actual outputs across 54 challenges on Rival to see how they differ in practice.

Which is better, GLM 5.2 or Step 5 Preview?

It depends on your use case. GLM 5.2 and Step 5 Preview each have strengths in different areas. Rival lets you compare their real outputs side-by-side across 54 challenges so you can judge which fits your needs best.

How much does GLM 5.2 cost compared to Step 5 Preview?

GLM 5.2 costs $1.4/M input tokens and Step 5 Preview costs $1/M input tokens. Step 5 Preview is $0.40/M cheaper per input. Check their side-by-side outputs on Rival to see if the price difference is justified by quality.

How can I compare GLM 5.2 and Step 5 Preview on Rival?

This page shows a side-by-side comparison of GLM 5.2 and Step 5 Preview across shared challenges. You can vote on which model produced the better output in a blind duel. Browsing and voting are free. No account is needed to look; signing in only saves your votes and likes.

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