# SambaCloud vs StepFun API

> SambaCloud scores 66.4 (B) to StepFun's 44.4 (E) for llm inference. Prices, MCP, x402, uptime and agent notes side by side.

- Canonical: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/sambanova-vs-stepfun-api
- Markdown: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/sambanova-vs-stepfun-api.md (~2,650 tokens)
- Slim: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/sambanova-vs-stepfun-api.min.md (~680 tokens, same facts, less prose, for token-sensitive contexts)
- JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/sambanova-vs-stepfun-api.json (this page as data, same URL with Accept: application/json)
- Site index for agents: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms.txt (full text: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms-full.txt)
- API: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/index.json
- Updated: 2026-10-12

SambaCloud scores 66.4 (B) on agent readiness against StepFun API's 44.4 (E), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories. Both do llm inference.

- SambaCloud: grade B, 66.4/100, rank #297 of 965. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/sambanova.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/sambanova.json
- StepFun API: grade E, 44.4/100, rank #889 of 965. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/stepfun-api.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/stepfun-api.json
- Best model APIs and inference for AI agents: https://www.anchorterminal.com/best/inference/index.md
- All 153 models comparisons: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/inference/index.md

## Which one, for what

### SambaCloud (B)

Good for: Agents that want open-weight models behind an OpenAI or Anthropic client with a free start and prices an agent can read from the API.

Ahead on:
- Reliability, 85 against 28
- Schema & documentation, 81 against 53
- Security & auth, 58 against 41
- Payments & pricing, 40 against 20
- Maintenance & community, 77 against 50
- Transparency & trust, 63 against 58

Also in its favour:
- Free to start without a card

Watch for: Production models get a notice of two to three weeks, and 13 model ids were removed between 9 March and 9 June 2026

### StepFun API (E)

Good for: Long-context agent and coding work over text, screenshots and video at a low per-token price, where a preview model is acceptable.

Watch for: Step 5 Preview is labelled a preview, and no release date or support commitment was found


## Score by category

| Category | Weight | SambaCloud | StepFun API | Edge |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 85 | 28 | SambaCloud +57 |
| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 81 | 53 | SambaCloud +28 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 67 | 68 | StepFun API +1 |
| Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 58 | 41 | SambaCloud +17 |
| Payments & pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 40 | 20 | SambaCloud +20 |
| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Maintenance & community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 77 | 50 | SambaCloud +27 |
| Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 63 | 58 | SambaCloud +5 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | -2 | 0 | |
| **Total** | | **66.4 · B** | **44.4 · E** | |

## Facts side by side

| Fact | SambaCloud | StepFun API |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kind | Model API | Model API |
| Vendor | SambaNova Systems, Inc. | StepFun |
| Hosted endpoint | `https://api.sambanova.ai/v1` | `https://api.stepfun.ai/v1` |
| Transports | HTTP | HTTP |
| Auth | API key | API key |
| Pricing | Freemium | Pay per use |
| x402 | no | no |
| Licence | Proprietary service under the SambaCloud Terms of Service. The SDKs and the OpenAPI document are Apache-2.0 | Closed service under the StepFun Open Platform Terms of Service (STEPFUN TECHNOLOGY (HK) LIMITED, Hong Kong law). |
| Read-only variant documented | no | no |
| llms.txt | yes | yes |
| Last release | 2026-09-17 | none |
| Terms last updated | no date given |  |
| Privacy policy last updated | 2023-05-27 |  |
| Customer content may train models | not found in the text |  |
| Terms restrict automated access | not found in the text |  |
| Terms restrict benchmarking | yes |  |
| Terms or service can change without notice | not found in the text |  |
| Arbitration or class-action waiver | not found in the text |  |
| Popularity | 2 stars, 76 npm/wk, 6.1k PyPI/wk | none |

## Verdicts

**SambaCloud.** Per-token prices and the model list are readable without a key at `/v1/models`, and a free tier needs no card. Production models get two to three weeks' notice before removal, 13 model ids left between March and June 2026, and the docs disagree with the live catalogue on MiniMax-M2.7.

**StepFun API.** StepFun's API serves Step 5 Preview with a 1M-token context, video input, strict JSON Schema output and published per-token prices, documented in Markdown with an llms.txt. The model is a preview with no release date found, there's no free allowance or SLA, and the terms and privacy policy leave room to train on customer data.

## Before you call either

### SambaCloud

1. Call `GET https://api.sambanova.ai/v1/models` at start-up and use only ids it returns. The docs name models the endpoint no longer lists
2. Read `x-ratelimit-remaining-requests` and `x-ratelimit-remaining-requests-day` on every response. The free tier allows 20 requests a day per model
3. Treat 429 `queue_full` and 503 `maintenance` as retryable after a delay, and 410 `model_deprecated` as a signal to change model
4. Validate JSON output yourself. Schema enforcement is best effort and `strict: true` changes nothing
5. Check `max_completion_tokens` per model. DeepSeek-V3.1 caps output at 7,168 tokens and Llama 3.3 70B at 3,072

### StepFun API

1. Set `max_tokens` yourself. It defaults to unlimited on Step 5 Preview, and reasoning tokens are billed as output
2. Use `response_format` with `type: json_schema` and `strict: true` when the shape matters. JSON Mode alone isn't schema-checked
3. Back off and retry on 429, 500, 503 and 504. The docs give no Retry-After header or backoff schedule
4. Expect HTTP 451 or `finish_reason: content_filter` when content fails StepFun's review, and don't retry the same input
5. Use api.stepfun.ai for the international platform. api.stepfun.com is the China platform with yuan pricing

## Questions

### Which is better for AI agents, SambaCloud or StepFun API?

SambaCloud scores 66.4 (B) on agent readiness against StepFun API's 44.4 (E), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories.

### Do SambaCloud and StepFun API need an API key?

Both need an API key.

### Can an agent call SambaCloud and StepFun API without installing anything?

Yes. SambaCloud has a hosted endpoint at https://api.sambanova.ai/v1 and StepFun API at https://api.stepfun.ai/v1.


## For agents

- This comparison as JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/sambanova-vs-stepfun-api.json, and with the fewest tokens: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/sambanova-vs-stepfun-api.min.md
- Over MCP at https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp (no key): `compare_tools {"a": "sambanova", "b": "stepfun-api"}`. From a terminal: `anchor compare sambanova stepfun-api`
- Each listing in full: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/sambanova.json and https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/stepfun-api.json

## Other comparisons with SambaCloud or StepFun API

- [Claude API vs SambaCloud](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/anthropic-api-vs-sambanova.md)
- [Claude API vs StepFun API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/anthropic-api-vs-stepfun-api.md)
- [Antseed vs SambaCloud](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/antseed-vs-sambanova.md)
- [Antseed vs StepFun API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/antseed-vs-stepfun-api.md)
- [BlockRun.AI vs SambaCloud](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/blockrun-ai-vs-sambanova.md)
- [BlockRun.AI vs StepFun API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/blockrun-ai-vs-stepfun-api.md)
- [Cloudflare AI Gateway vs SambaCloud](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudflare-ai-gateway-vs-sambanova.md)
- [Cloudflare AI Gateway vs StepFun API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudflare-ai-gateway-vs-stepfun-api.md)
- [Cloudflare Workers AI vs SambaCloud](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudflare-workers-ai-vs-sambanova.md)
- [Cloudflare Workers AI vs StepFun API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudflare-workers-ai-vs-stepfun-api.md)
- [Cohere Chat API (Command models) vs SambaCloud](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cohere-chat-vs-sambanova.md)
- [Cohere Chat API (Command models) vs StepFun API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cohere-chat-vs-stepfun-api.md)
- [DeepInfra vs SambaCloud](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deepinfra-vs-sambanova.md)
- [DeepInfra vs StepFun API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deepinfra-vs-stepfun-api.md)
- [DeepSeek API vs SambaCloud](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deepseek-api-vs-sambanova.md)
- [DeepSeek API vs StepFun API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deepseek-api-vs-stepfun-api.md)
- [Gemini Developer API vs SambaCloud](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gemini-api-vs-sambanova.md)
- [Gemini Developer API vs StepFun API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gemini-api-vs-stepfun-api.md)
- [GroqCloud vs SambaCloud](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/groq-vs-sambanova.md)
- [GroqCloud vs StepFun API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/groq-vs-stepfun-api.md)
- [Mistral AI API vs SambaCloud](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/mistral-api-vs-sambanova.md)
- [Mistral AI API vs StepFun API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/mistral-api-vs-stepfun-api.md)
- [Novita AI vs SambaCloud](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/novita-ai-vs-sambanova.md)
- [Novita AI vs StepFun API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/novita-ai-vs-stepfun-api.md)
- [OpenAI API vs SambaCloud](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openai-api-vs-sambanova.md)
- [OpenAI API vs StepFun API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openai-api-vs-stepfun-api.md)
- [OpenRouter vs SambaCloud](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openrouter-vs-sambanova.md)
- [OpenRouter vs StepFun API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openrouter-vs-stepfun-api.md)
- [Prism Inference vs StepFun API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/prism-inference-vs-stepfun-api.md)
- [SambaCloud vs SiliconFlow](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/sambanova-vs-siliconflow.md)
- [SiliconFlow vs StepFun API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/siliconflow-vs-stepfun-api.md)
- [Prism Inference vs SambaCloud](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/prism-inference-vs-sambanova.md)