Model comparison
Command R vs Step 3.5 Flash
Step 3.5 Flash is the stronger model overall, scoring 42.3 to 31.4 on the Noometry Index.
Last verified . 17 shared benchmarks.
Cohere
StepFunSummary
- They share 17 benchmarks with published results for both. Command R scores higher in 0 categories and Step 3.5 Flash in 8 categories; 8 gaps are clear of the uncertainty.
- The widest gap is in writing & preference, where Step 3.5 Flash leads 58.8 to 38.2.
- Step 3.5 Flash is cheaper at $0.10 / $0.30 per million input/output tokens, against $0.15 / $0.60 for Command R.
- Step 3.5 Flash accepts more context: 256K tokens versus 128K.
Side by side
| Command R | Step 3.5 Flash | |
|---|---|---|
| Provider | Cohere | StepFun |
| Noometry Index | 31.4 | 42.3 |
| Released | 2024-08-30 | 2026-01-29 |
| Weights | Open | Open |
| Context window | 128K | 256K |
| Max output | 4K | 256K |
| Input $ / M tokens | $0.15 | $0.10 |
| Output $ / M tokens | $0.60 | $0.30 |
| Results tracked | 29 | 19 |
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Category by category
Coding Step 3.5 Flash leads
Command R: 29.3 (#306), Step 3.5 Flash: 42.4 (#105)
| Benchmark | Command R | Step 3.5 Flash |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Coding | 1169 | 1436 |
| BigCodeBench Instruct | 37.1% | — |
| LiveBench Coding | 17.9% | — |
| BigCodeBench Complete | 45.2% | — |
Reasoning Step 3.5 Flash leads
Command R: 13.8 (#331), Step 3.5 Flash: 22.2 (#202)
| Benchmark | Command R | Step 3.5 Flash |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Hard Prompts | 1164 | 1411 |
| NYT Connections (extended) | — | 28.4% |
| LiveBench Reasoning | 21.9% | — |
| DTBench | 46.4% | — |
| LiveBench Data Analysis | 33.3% | — |
| LMCA | 9.2% | — |
| LiveBench | 27.5% | — |
Math Step 3.5 Flash leads
Command R: 28.0 (#246), Step 3.5 Flash: 42.6 (#84)
| Benchmark | Command R | Step 3.5 Flash |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Math | 1155 | 1408 |
| MathArena Final-Answer Competitions | — | 66.8% |
| LiveBench Math | 19.4% | — |
Knowledge Step 3.5 Flash leads
Command R: 31.0 (#221), Step 3.5 Flash: 39.6 (#132)
| Benchmark | Command R | Step 3.5 Flash |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Expert | 1138 | 1421 |
| MMLU | 65.2% | — |
Multilingual Step 3.5 Flash leads
Command R: 35.7 (#245), Step 3.5 Flash: 50.5 (#119)
| Benchmark | Command R | Step 3.5 Flash |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Non-English | 1174 | 1385 |
| LMArena Chinese | 1182 | 1447 |
| LMArena French | 1162 | 1421 |
| LMArena German | 1176 | 1405 |
| LMArena Japanese | 1143 | 1354 |
| LMArena Korean | 1163 | 1352 |
| LMArena Russian | 1174 | 1385 |
| LMArena Spanish | 1151 | 1419 |
Instruction Following Step 3.5 Flash leads
Command R: 58.1 (#261), Step 3.5 Flash: 73.1 (#124)
| Benchmark | Command R | Step 3.5 Flash |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Instruction Following | 1167 | 1385 |
| LiveBench Instruction Following | 55.6% | — |
Long Context Step 3.5 Flash leads
Command R: 36.3 (#231), Step 3.5 Flash: 42.8 (#117)
| Benchmark | Command R | Step 3.5 Flash |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Longer Query | 1198 | 1402 |
Writing & Preference Step 3.5 Flash leads
Command R: 38.2 (#254), Step 3.5 Flash: 58.8 (#113)
| Benchmark | Command R | Step 3.5 Flash |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Text | 1187 | 1403 |
| LMArena Creative Writing | 1170 | 1357 |
| LMArena Multi-Turn | 1163 | 1405 |
| LiveBench Language | 16.7% | — |
Frequently asked questions
Is Command R better than Step 3.5 Flash?
Step 3.5 Flash is the stronger model overall, scoring 42.3 to 31.4 on the Noometry Index.
Which is cheaper, Command R or Step 3.5 Flash?
Step 3.5 Flash is cheaper. It lists at $0.10 per million input tokens and $0.30 per million output tokens; Command R lists at $0.15 and $0.60.
Is Command R or Step 3.5 Flash better for coding?
Step 3.5 Flash scores higher on coding benchmarks: 42.4 versus 29.3 in the Noometry coding category.
Which has the bigger context window?
Step 3.5 Flash does, with 256K tokens against 128K.
How many benchmarks do Command R and Step 3.5 Flash share?
17 benchmarks have published results for both models. Command R has 29 scored results on Noometry and Step 3.5 Flash has 19.