Model comparison
Gemini 3.6 Flash vs Step 5 Preview
Gemini 3.6 Flash is the stronger model overall, scoring 54.1 to 47.9 on the Noometry Index.
Last verified . 18 shared benchmarks.
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StepFunSummary
- They share 18 benchmarks with published results for both. Gemini 3.6 Flash scores higher in 7 categories and Step 5 Preview in 2 categories; 8 gaps are clear of the uncertainty.
- The widest gap is in knowledge, where Gemini 3.6 Flash leads 67.8 to 41.2.
- The biggest single-benchmark swing is CritPt: 10.6% for Gemini 3.6 Flash and 20.9% for Step 5 Preview.
- Both cost about the same: $0.75 input and $3.75 output per million tokens.
- Gemini 3.6 Flash accepts more context: 1.05M tokens versus 1.02M.
Side by side
| Gemini 3.6 Flash | Step 5 Preview | |
|---|---|---|
| Provider | StepFun | |
| Noometry Index | 54.1 | 47.9 |
| Released | 2026-07-21 | 2026-09-16 |
| Weights | Proprietary | Proprietary |
| Context window | 1.05M | 1.02M |
| Max output | 66K | 66K |
| Input $ / M tokens | $0.75 | $1 |
| Output $ / M tokens | $3.75 | $2.70 |
| Results tracked | 46 | 18 |
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Category by category
Coding Step 5 Preview leads
Gemini 3.6 Flash: 50.0 (#48), Step 5 Preview: 51.8 (#36)
| Benchmark | Gemini 3.6 Flash | Step 5 Preview |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena WebDev | 1538 | 1564 |
| SciCode | 52.7% | 58.9% |
| LMArena Coding | 1491 | 1480 |
| DeepSWE | 46.7% | — |
| FrontierCode | 34.4% | — |
| WeirdML | 56.1% | — |
| ALE-Bench | 715.52 | — |
Agentic & Tool Use Not comparable
Gemini 3.6 Flash: 32.3 (#65), Step 5 Preview: —
| Benchmark | Gemini 3.6 Flash | Step 5 Preview |
|---|---|---|
| APEX-Agents | 46.9% | — |
| GDP.pdf | 14% | — |
Reasoning Gemini 3.6 Flash leads
Gemini 3.6 Flash: 58.8 (#22), Step 5 Preview: 40.0 (#57)
| Benchmark | Gemini 3.6 Flash | Step 5 Preview |
|---|---|---|
| CritPt | 10.6% | 20.9% |
| LMArena Hard Prompts | 1485 | 1465 |
| ARC-AGI-2 | 60.4% | — |
| NYT Connections (extended) | 89% | — |
| ARC-AGI-1 | 91.2% | — |
| Chess Puzzles | 43% | — |
| Mystery Game Puzzles | 30% | — |
| DTBench | 95.5% | — |
| LMCA | 44.9% | — |
| Epoch Capabilities Index | 154.25 | — |
Math Gemini 3.6 Flash leads
Gemini 3.6 Flash: 57.3 (#40), Step 5 Preview: 46.1 (#72)
| Benchmark | Gemini 3.6 Flash | Step 5 Preview |
|---|---|---|
| ProofBench | 36% | 42% |
| LMArena Math | 1505 | 1470 |
| FrontierMath (Tiers 1-3) | 58.9% | — |
| FrontierMath Tier 4 | 22% | — |
| MathArena Final-Answer Competitions | 70.8% | — |
| OTIS Mock AIME 2024-2025 | 94.2% | — |
Knowledge Gemini 3.6 Flash leads
Gemini 3.6 Flash: 67.8 (#8), Step 5 Preview: 41.2 (#112)
| Benchmark | Gemini 3.6 Flash | Step 5 Preview |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Expert | 1488 | 1470 |
| GPQA Diamond | 94.1% | — |
| SimpleQA Verified | 66.2% | — |
Multimodal Step 5 Preview leads
Gemini 3.6 Flash: 38.5 (#64), Step 5 Preview: 41.0 (#41)
| Benchmark | Gemini 3.6 Flash | Step 5 Preview |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Vision | 1298 | 1267 |
| Blueprint-Bench 2 | 31.2% | — |
| Furniture Assembly | 23.3% | — |
| LMArena Document | 1456 | — |
Multilingual Gemini 3.6 Flash leads
Gemini 3.6 Flash: 56.5 (#19), Step 5 Preview: 53.8 (#54)
| Benchmark | Gemini 3.6 Flash | Step 5 Preview |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Non-English | 1469 | 1432 |
| LMArena Chinese | 1531 | 1519 |
| LMArena Russian | 1487 | 1436 |
| LMArena Spanish | 1475 | 1439 |
| LMArena French | 1504 | — |
| LMArena German | 1478 | — |
| LMArena Japanese | 1476 | — |
| LMArena Korean | 1431 | — |
Instruction Following Gemini 3.6 Flash leads
Gemini 3.6 Flash: 77.0 (#33), Step 5 Preview: 76.0 (#50)
| Benchmark | Gemini 3.6 Flash | Step 5 Preview |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Instruction Following | 1466 | 1444 |
Long Context Too close to call
Gemini 3.6 Flash: 45.1 (#50), Step 5 Preview: 44.5 (#64)
| Benchmark | Gemini 3.6 Flash | Step 5 Preview |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Longer Query | 1474 | 1455 |
Writing & Preference Gemini 3.6 Flash leads
Gemini 3.6 Flash: 68.2 (#27), Step 5 Preview: 62.8 (#71)
| Benchmark | Gemini 3.6 Flash | Step 5 Preview |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Text | 1479 | 1442 |
| LMArena Creative Writing | 1465 | 1410 |
| LMArena Multi-Turn | 1481 | 1447 |
| EQ-Bench Creative Writing | 1604 | — |
Frequently asked questions
Is Gemini 3.6 Flash better than Step 5 Preview?
Gemini 3.6 Flash is the stronger model overall, scoring 54.1 to 47.9 on the Noometry Index.
Which is cheaper, Gemini 3.6 Flash or Step 5 Preview?
Step 5 Preview is cheaper. It lists at $1 per million input tokens and $2.70 per million output tokens; Gemini 3.6 Flash lists at $0.75 and $3.75.
Is Gemini 3.6 Flash or Step 5 Preview better for coding?
Step 5 Preview scores higher on coding benchmarks: 51.8 versus 50.0 in the Noometry coding category.
Which has the bigger context window?
Gemini 3.6 Flash does, with 1.05M tokens against 1.02M.
How many benchmarks do Gemini 3.6 Flash and Step 5 Preview share?
18 benchmarks have published results for both models. Gemini 3.6 Flash has 46 scored results on Noometry and Step 5 Preview has 18.