Model Comparison

Gemini 3 Flash vs Step-3.5-Flash

Gemini 3 Flash shows notably better performance in the majority of benchmarks. Step-3.5-Flash is 6.4x cheaper per token.

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Performance Benchmarks

Comparative analysis across standard metrics

3 benchmarks

Gemini 3 Flash outperforms in 2 benchmarks (AIME 2025, SWE-Bench Verified), while Step-3.5-Flash is better at 1 benchmark (Terminal-Bench 2.0).

Gemini 3 Flash shows notably better performance in the majority of benchmarks.

Tue Apr 07 2026 • llm-stats.com

Arena Performance

Human preference votes

Pricing Analysis

Price comparison per million tokens

Step-3.5-Flash costs less

For input processing, Gemini 3 Flash ($0.50/1M tokens) is 5.0x more expensive than Step-3.5-Flash ($0.10/1M tokens).

For output processing, Gemini 3 Flash ($3.00/1M tokens) is 7.5x more expensive than Step-3.5-Flash ($0.40/1M tokens).

In conclusion, Gemini 3 Flash is more expensive than Step-3.5-Flash.*

* Using a 3:1 ratio of input to output tokens

Lowest available price from all providers
Tue Apr 07 2026 • llm-stats.com
Google
Gemini 3 Flash
Input tokens$0.50
Output tokens$3.00
Best providerGoogle
StepFun
Step-3.5-Flash
Input tokens$0.10
Output tokens$0.40
Best providerStepFun
Notice missing or incorrect data?Start an Issue→

Context Window

Maximum input and output token capacity

Gemini 3 Flash accepts 1,000,000 input tokens compared to Step-3.5-Flash's 65,536 tokens. Gemini 3 Flash can generate longer responses up to 65,536 tokens, while Step-3.5-Flash is limited to 8,192 tokens.

Google
Gemini 3 Flash
Input1,000,000 tokens
Output65,536 tokens
StepFun
Step-3.5-Flash
Input65,536 tokens
Output8,192 tokens
Tue Apr 07 2026 • llm-stats.com

Input Capabilities

Supported data types and modalities

Gemini 3 Flash supports multimodal inputs, whereas Step-3.5-Flash does not.

Gemini 3 Flash can handle both text and other forms of data like images, making it suitable for multimodal applications.

Gemini 3 Flash

Text
Images
Audio
Video

Step-3.5-Flash

Text
Images
Audio
Video

License

Usage and distribution terms

Gemini 3 Flash is licensed under a proprietary license, while Step-3.5-Flash uses Apache 2.0.

License differences may affect how you can use these models in commercial or open-source projects.

Gemini 3 Flash

Proprietary

Closed source

Step-3.5-Flash

Apache 2.0

Open weights

Release Timeline

When each model was launched

Gemini 3 Flash was released on 2025-12-17, while Step-3.5-Flash was released on 2026-02-02.

Step-3.5-Flash is 2 months newer than Gemini 3 Flash.

Gemini 3 Flash

Dec 17, 2025

3 months ago

Step-3.5-Flash

Feb 2, 2026

2 months ago

1mo newer

Knowledge Cutoff

When training data ends

Gemini 3 Flash has a documented knowledge cutoff of 2025-01-31, while Step-3.5-Flash's cutoff date is not specified.

We can confirm Gemini 3 Flash's training data extends to 2025-01-31, but cannot make a direct comparison without Step-3.5-Flash's cutoff date.

Gemini 3 Flash

Jan 2025

Step-3.5-Flash

—

Provider Availability

Gemini 3 Flash is available from Google. Step-3.5-Flash is available from StepFun.

Gemini 3 Flash

google logo
Google
Input Price:Input: $0.50/1MOutput Price:Output: $3.00/1M

Step-3.5-Flash

stepfun logo
StepFun
Input Price:Input: $0.10/1MOutput Price:Output: $0.40/1M
* Prices shown are per million tokens

Outputs Comparison

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Key Takeaways

Google
Larger context window (1,000,000 tokens)
Supports multimodal inputs
Higher AIME 2025 score (99.7% vs 97.3%)
Higher SWE-Bench Verified score (78.0% vs 74.4%)
StepFun
Less expensive input tokens
Less expensive output tokens
Has open weights
Higher Terminal-Bench 2.0 score (51.0% vs 47.6%)

Detailed Comparison

AI Model Comparison Table
Feature
Google
Gemini 3 Flash
StepFun
Step-3.5-Flash

FAQ

Common questions about Gemini 3 Flash vs Step-3.5-Flash

Gemini 3 Flash shows notably better performance in the majority of benchmarks. Gemini 3 Flash is made by Google and Step-3.5-Flash is made by StepFun. The best choice depends on your use case — compare their benchmark scores, pricing, and capabilities above.
Gemini 3 Flash scores Vending-Bench 2: 100.0%, AIME 2025: 99.7%, Global PIQA: 92.8%, MMMLU: 91.8%, GPQA: 90.4%. Step-3.5-Flash scores AIME 2025: 97.3%, Tau-bench: 88.2%, LiveCodeBench v6: 86.4%, IMO-AnswerBench: 85.4%, SWE-Bench Verified: 74.4%.
Step-3.5-Flash is 5.0x cheaper for input tokens. Gemini 3 Flash costs $0.50/M input and $3.00/M output via google. Step-3.5-Flash costs $0.10/M input and $0.40/M output via stepfun.
Gemini 3 Flash supports 1.0M tokens and Step-3.5-Flash supports 66K tokens. A larger context window lets you process longer documents, conversations, or codebases in a single request.
Key differences include context window (1.0M vs 66K), input pricing ($0.50 vs $0.10/M), multimodal support (yes vs no), licensing (Proprietary vs Apache 2.0). See the full comparison above for benchmark-by-benchmark results.
Gemini 3 Flash is developed by Google and Step-3.5-Flash is developed by StepFun.