# StepFun vs Infron

> StepFun sells efficient multimodal models from China. Infron is a gateway across 400+ models with region pinning.

Canonical: https://www.subconscious.dev/compare/stepfun-vs-infron · By The Subconscious Team · Updated September 30, 2026

## How they compare

StepFun serves Step 3.7 Flash and Step3 on its own China-hosted API at $0.20 in and $1.15 out, with many weights under Apache 2.0. Infron is a gateway: one OpenAI-compatible API in front of 400+ models from 100+ providers, at provider rates plus a 3% to 5% fee on credit top-ups, with fallbacks, region pinning and a 99.9% uptime SLA on dedicated throughput.

Go direct to StepFun for its models at first-party prices. Use Infron for one integration across many vendors with failover; check its catalog for current StepFun coverage.

## What each one does

### StepFun

StepFun is a Shanghai AI lab known for efficient multimodal models, with a mix of proprietary API models and open-weight releases. Its current workhorse, Step 3.7 Flash, came out in May 2026 as a 198B mixture-of-experts vision-language model with only 11B active parameters. It has 256K context, selectable reasoning levels, tool use and structured outputs, and it ships under Apache 2.0. StepFun's own API prices it at $0.20 in and $1.15 out per million tokens, and OpenRouter carries it too.

### Infron

Infron is a US-based AI gateway and inference platform. One OpenAI-compatible API reaches 400+ models from 100+ providers, including DeepSeek, Qwen, Claude, Gemini and GPT through what Infron calls official partner routes, plus media and search models. Teams set provider preferences and fallbacks, see usage and billing in one place, and can bring their own provider keys at no fee. Lawrence Xu is CEO and co-founder Andrew Zheng is CTO.

## Which is best, and when

### Choose StepFun for

- Efficient multimodal models
- Apache 2.0 weights
- Low first-party prices

### Choose Infron for

- Closed and open models on one key and one bill
- Automatic failover across providers
- Region pinning across Asia, Europe and the US

## At a glance

| Attribute | StepFun | Infron |
|---|---|---|
| Model access | Open (Apache 2.0) and API models | Closed and open, 400+ models |
| Flagship models | Step 3.7 Flash, Step3 | DeepSeek, Qwen, Claude, Gemini, GPT |
| Speed | ~128 tok/s on Step 3.7 Flash | - |
| Price | $0.20 in, $1.15 out (Step 3.7 Flash) | Provider rates; 3–5% top-up fee |
| Customization | Open weights to fine-tune | Custom deployments |
| Deployment | First-party API, OpenRouter | Gateway API, dedicated, BYOK |
| Long context | 256K | Varies by model |

## FAQ

### What is the difference between StepFun and Infron?

StepFun sells efficient multimodal models from China. Infron is a gateway across 400+ models with region pinning.

### When should I choose StepFun over Infron?

Efficient multimodal models; Apache 2.0 weights; Low first-party prices.

### When should I choose Infron over StepFun?

Closed and open models on one key and one bill; Automatic failover across providers; Region pinning across Asia, Europe and the US.

### Is StepFun or Infron cheaper?

StepFun: $0.20 in, $1.15 out (Step 3.7 Flash). Infron: Provider rates; 3–5% top-up fee. The cheaper choice depends on the model and workload.

### Which has more context, StepFun or Infron?

StepFun: 256K. Infron: Varies by model.

## Running long-horizon agents?

If your agents run past 200K tokens, compare both against Subconscious: [Subconscious vs StepFun](https://www.subconscious.dev/compare/subconscious-vs-stepfun.md), [Subconscious vs Infron](https://www.subconscious.dev/compare/subconscious-vs-infron.md).

Full profiles: [StepFun](https://www.subconscious.dev/providers/stepfun.md), [Infron](https://www.subconscious.dev/providers/infron.md).