Noometry

Model comparison

Gemini 3.5 Flash vs Step 3.5 Flash

Gemini 3.5 Flash is the stronger model overall, scoring 54.1 to 41.7 on the Noometry Index. Step 3.5 Flash costs 22× less per token, which makes it the better buy when Gemini 3.5 Flash's lead doesn't matter for your workload.

Last verified . 19 shared benchmarks.

Gemini 3.5 Flash Google

54.1

Rank #29 Confirmed

Step 3.5 Flash StepFun

41.7

Rank #116 Confirmed

Summary

  • They share 19 benchmarks with published results for both. Gemini 3.5 Flash scores higher in 8 categories and Step 3.5 Flash in 0 categories; 8 gaps are clear of the uncertainty.
  • The widest gap is in reasoning, where Gemini 3.5 Flash leads 62.7 to 21.2.
  • The biggest single-benchmark swing is NYT Connections (extended): 92.6% for Gemini 3.5 Flash and 28.4% for Step 3.5 Flash.
  • Step 3.5 Flash is cheaper at $0.10 / $0.30 per million input/output tokens, against $1.50 / $9 for Gemini 3.5 Flash.
  • Gemini 3.5 Flash accepts more context: 1.05M tokens versus 256K.
  • Step 3.5 Flash has downloadable open weights; the other is API-only.

Side by side

Gemini 3.5 FlashStep 3.5 Flash
ProviderGoogleStepFun
Noometry Index54.141.7
Released2026-05-192026-01-29
WeightsProprietaryOpen
Context window1.05M256K
Max output66K256K
Input $ / M tokens$1.50$0.10
Output $ / M tokens$9$0.30
Results tracked5419

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Category by category

Coding Gemini 3.5 Flash leads

Gemini 3.5 Flash: 49.1 (#46), Step 3.5 Flash: 41.7 (#106)

BenchmarkGemini 3.5 FlashStep 3.5 Flash
LMArena Coding14921436
SWE-bench Verified79.3%—
DeepSWE37.4%—
LMArena WebDev1499—
SciCode53.1%—
WeirdML62.6%—
ALE-Bench911.02—

Agentic & Tool Use Not comparable

Gemini 3.5 Flash: 24.8 (#107), Step 3.5 Flash: —

BenchmarkGemini 3.5 FlashStep 3.5 Flash
APEX-Agents27.5%—
GBAEval6.7%—
GDP.pdf14%—
Vending-Bench 25,396—

Reasoning Gemini 3.5 Flash leads

Gemini 3.5 Flash: 62.7 (#16), Step 3.5 Flash: 21.2 (#202)

BenchmarkGemini 3.5 FlashStep 3.5 Flash
NYT Connections (extended)92.6%28.4%
LMArena Hard Prompts14881411
ARC-AGI-272.1%—
SimpleBench76.7%—
ARC-AGI-192.5%—
CritPt13.1%—
Chess Puzzles50%—
EnigmaEval25.4%—
EBR-Bench4.8%—
Mystery Game Puzzles32%—
DTBench94.7%—
LMCA47.1%—
Surface Evolver Bench58.1%—
Epoch Capabilities Index154.55—
ForecastBench59—

Math Gemini 3.5 Flash leads

Gemini 3.5 Flash: 60.5 (#30), Step 3.5 Flash: 40.6 (#77)

BenchmarkGemini 3.5 FlashStep 3.5 Flash
MathArena Final-Answer Competitions76.3%66.8%
LMArena Math15021408
FrontierMath (Tiers 1-3)62.8%—
FrontierMath Tier 426.8%—
OTIS Mock AIME 2024-202595.6%—
ProofBench31%—
FrontierMath (Feb 2025 set)39%—
FrontierMath Tier 4 (v1)14.6%—

Knowledge Gemini 3.5 Flash leads

Gemini 3.5 Flash: 66.3 (#10), Step 3.5 Flash: 39.0 (#127)

BenchmarkGemini 3.5 FlashStep 3.5 Flash
LMArena Expert14931422
GPQA Diamond92.8%—
SimpleQA Verified66.2%—

Multimodal Not comparable

Gemini 3.5 Flash: 45.7 (#13), Step 3.5 Flash: —

BenchmarkGemini 3.5 FlashStep 3.5 Flash
LMArena Vision1311—
Blueprint-Bench 233.6%—
LMArena Document1463—

Multilingual Gemini 3.5 Flash leads

Gemini 3.5 Flash: 57.1 (#12), Step 3.5 Flash: 50.7 (#115)

BenchmarkGemini 3.5 FlashStep 3.5 Flash
LMArena Non-English14751386
LMArena Chinese15251448
LMArena French14901421
LMArena German15001404
LMArena Japanese14811353
LMArena Korean14531350
LMArena Russian14911385
LMArena Spanish14781419

Instruction Following Gemini 3.5 Flash leads

Gemini 3.5 Flash: 77.2 (#29), Step 3.5 Flash: 73.3 (#119)

BenchmarkGemini 3.5 FlashStep 3.5 Flash
LMArena Instruction Following14661385

Long Context Gemini 3.5 Flash leads

Gemini 3.5 Flash: 45.3 (#39), Step 3.5 Flash: 42.8 (#112)

BenchmarkGemini 3.5 FlashStep 3.5 Flash
LMArena Longer Query14811402

Writing & Preference Gemini 3.5 Flash leads

Gemini 3.5 Flash: 65.5 (#46), Step 3.5 Flash: 59.0 (#108)

BenchmarkGemini 3.5 FlashStep 3.5 Flash
LMArena Text14811403
LMArena Creative Writing14671357
LMArena Multi-Turn14821405
EQ-Bench 41087—

Frequently asked questions

Is Gemini 3.5 Flash better than Step 3.5 Flash?

Gemini 3.5 Flash is the stronger model overall, scoring 54.1 to 41.7 on the Noometry Index. Step 3.5 Flash costs 22× less per token, which makes it the better buy when Gemini 3.5 Flash's lead doesn't matter for your workload.

Which is cheaper, Gemini 3.5 Flash 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; Gemini 3.5 Flash lists at $1.50 and $9.

Is Gemini 3.5 Flash or Step 3.5 Flash better for coding?

Gemini 3.5 Flash scores higher on coding benchmarks: 49.1 versus 41.7 in the Noometry coding category.

Which has the bigger context window?

Gemini 3.5 Flash does, with 1.05M tokens against 256K.

How many benchmarks do Gemini 3.5 Flash and Step 3.5 Flash share?

19 benchmarks have published results for both models. Gemini 3.5 Flash has 54 scored results on Noometry and Step 3.5 Flash has 19.

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