# SambaCloud vs StepFun API (slim)

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

- Full: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/sambanova-vs-stepfun-api.md (~2,650 tokens) · this version ~680 tokens · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/sambanova-vs-stepfun-api.json · canonical https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/sambanova-vs-stepfun-api
- Index: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms.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: B 66.4, rank #297 of 965 · https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/sambanova.min.md
- StepFun API: E 44.4, rank #889 of 965 · https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/stepfun-api.min.md
- SambaCloud, 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 Free to start without a card.
- StepFun API, 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.

| Category | SambaCloud | StepFun API |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability (16%) | 85 | 28 |
| Performance (10%) | pending | pending |
| Schema & documentation (13%) | 81 | 53 |
| Agent ergonomics (13%) | 67 | 68 |
| Security & auth (14%) | 58 | 41 |
| Payments & pricing (10%) | 40 | 20 |
| Task success (10%) | pending | pending |
| Maintenance & community (7%) | 77 | 50 |
| Transparency & trust (7%) | 63 | 58 |

| Fact (where they differ) | SambaCloud | StepFun API |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Vendor | SambaNova Systems, Inc. | StepFun |
| Hosted endpoint | `https://api.sambanova.ai/v1` | `https://api.stepfun.ai/v1` |
| Pricing | Freemium | Pay per use |
| 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). |
| 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 |