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Ling 3.0 Flash Fin vs Step-3.5-Flash

Ling 3.0 Flash Fin leads the LLM Stats Score 43.3 to 37.3. Ling 3.0 Flash Fin is 1.9x cheaper per token.

InclusionAI · StepFun · Updated for 2026

Which is better?

Ling 3.0 Flash Fin leads the overall LLM Stats Score 43.3 to 37.3, ranking #39 overall.

On price, Ling 3.0 Flash Fin is roughly 1.9x cheaper per token on a blended 3:1 input/output basis, which adds up quickly at production volume.

Ling 3.0 Flash Fin also accepts a larger context window (262,144 input tokens), making it the stronger choice for long documents and large codebases.

Based on current LLM Stats indexes, shared benchmarks, pricing, and model metadata for 2026.

Choose Ling 3.0 Flash Fin

  • overall performance matters — it scores 43.3 and ranks #39 on LLM Stats
  • your work emphasizes reasoning and agents — it leads those capability indexes
  • cost matters — it's about 1.9x cheaper per token
  • you process long inputs — it offers a 262,144 token context window
  • you want the most recent training data — it shipped Sep 2026

Choose Step-3.5-Flash

  • you need open weights you can self-host or fine-tune

At a glance

The differences that matter most.

Ling 3.0 Flash Fin
InclusionAI
Step-3.5-Flash
StepFun
Core performance indexes
LLM Stats Score
43.3
#39
37.3
#67
Reasoning
44.7
#32
37.3
#67
Agents
29.5
#35
15.5
#83
Cost, coverage & limits
Benchmark wins
—
—
Input price
$0.06 / M
$0.10 / M
Output price
$0.18 / M
$0.40 / M
Context window
262,144
65,536

Capability indexes

Additional strengths measured across groups of related public benchmarks

1 shared
Index
Ling 3.0 Flash Fin
Step-3.5-Flash
Tool use
20.5#56
13.3#95
Conservative TrueSkill rating · higher is betterHow scores work

Individual benchmarks

6 reported for Ling 3.0 Flash Fin · 7 for Step-3.5-Flash

No common benchmarks found

Ling 3.0 Flash Fin and Step-3.5-Flashdon't have any common benchmark datasets to compare. They may have been evaluated on different testing suites.

Human preference

Blind head-to-head votes and playground preference scores

Pricing Analysis

Price comparison per million tokens

Ling 3.0 Flash Fin costs less

For input processing, Ling 3.0 Flash Fin ($0.06/1M tokens) is 1.7x cheaper than Step-3.5-Flash ($0.10/1M tokens).

For output processing, Ling 3.0 Flash Fin ($0.18/1M tokens) is 2.2x cheaper than Step-3.5-Flash ($0.40/1M tokens).

In conclusion, Step-3.5-Flash is more expensive than Ling 3.0 Flash Fin.*

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

Lowest available price from all providers
Tue Sep 08 2026 • llm-stats.com
InclusionAI
Ling 3.0 Flash Fin
Input tokens$0.06
Output tokens$0.18
Best providerDeepinfra
StepFun
Step-3.5-Flash
Input tokens$0.10
Output tokens$0.40
Best providerStepFun
Notice missing or incorrect data?Start an Issue→

Model Size

Parameter count comparison

72.0B diff

Step-3.5-Flash has 72.0B more parameters than Ling 3.0 Flash Fin, making it 58.1% larger.

InclusionAI
Ling 3.0 Flash Fin
124.0Bparameters
StepFun
Step-3.5-Flash
196.0Bparameters
124.0B
Ling 3.0 Flash Fin
196.0B
Step-3.5-Flash

Context Window

Maximum input and output token capacity

Ling 3.0 Flash Fin accepts 262,144 input tokens compared to Step-3.5-Flash's 65,536 tokens. Ling 3.0 Flash Fin can generate longer responses up to 262,144 tokens, while Step-3.5-Flash is limited to 8,192 tokens.

InclusionAI
Ling 3.0 Flash Fin
Input262,144 tokens
Output262,144 tokens
StepFun
Step-3.5-Flash
Input65,536 tokens
Output8,192 tokens
Tue Sep 08 2026 • llm-stats.com

Release Timeline

When each model was launched

Ling 3.0 Flash Fin was released on 2026-09-03, while Step-3.5-Flash was released on 2026-02-02.

Ling 3.0 Flash Fin is 7 months newer than Step-3.5-Flash.

Ling 3.0 Flash Fin

Sep 3, 2026

5 days ago

7mo newer
Step-3.5-Flash

Feb 2, 2026

7 months ago

Knowledge Cutoff

When training data ends

Neither model specifies a knowledge cutoff date.

Unable to compare the recency of their training data.

No cutoff dates available

Provider Availability

Ling 3.0 Flash Fin is available from DeepInfra. Step-3.5-Flash is available from StepFun.

Ling 3.0 Flash Fin

deepinfra logo
Deepinfra
Input Price:Input: $0.06/1MOutput Price:Output: $0.18/1M

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

Notice missing or incorrect data?Start an Issue discussion→

Judge for yourself.

Run your own prompts against Ling 3.0 Flash Fin and Step-3.5-Flash side-by-side, then vote on the output you prefer.

Ling 3.0 Flash Fin
✓ Preferred
Step-3.5-Flash
Open in Playground

FAQ

Common questions about Ling 3.0 Flash Fin vs Step-3.5-Flash.

Which is better, Ling 3.0 Flash Fin or Step-3.5-Flash?

Ling 3.0 Flash Fin leads the LLM Stats Score 43.3 to 37.3. Ling 3.0 Flash Fin is made by InclusionAI and Step-3.5-Flash is made by StepFun. The best choice depends on your use case — compare their capability indexes, individual benchmarks, pricing, and limits above.

How does Ling 3.0 Flash Fin compare to Step-3.5-Flash in benchmarks?

Ling 3.0 Flash Fin scores SpreadSheetBench-v1: 86.5%, Finance Agent v1.1: 69.2%, Finance Agent v2: 59.8%, Tau3 Banking: 41.0%, APEX-Agents: 29.2%. 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%.

Is Ling 3.0 Flash Fin cheaper than Step-3.5-Flash?

Ling 3.0 Flash Fin is 1.7x cheaper for input tokens. Ling 3.0 Flash Fin costs $0.06/M input and $0.18/M output via deepinfra. Step-3.5-Flash costs $0.10/M input and $0.40/M output via stepfun.

What are the context window sizes for Ling 3.0 Flash Fin and Step-3.5-Flash?

Ling 3.0 Flash Fin supports 262K 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.

What are the main differences between Ling 3.0 Flash Fin and Step-3.5-Flash?

Key differences include LLM Stats Score (43.3 vs 37.3), context window (262K vs 66K), input pricing ($0.06 vs $0.10/M), licensing (Unknown vs Apache 2.0). See the full comparison above for benchmark-by-benchmark results.

Who makes Ling 3.0 Flash Fin and Step-3.5-Flash?

Ling 3.0 Flash Fin is developed by InclusionAI and Step-3.5-Flash is developed by StepFun.

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