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MAI-Thinking-1 vs Step-3.5-Flash

Step-3.5-Flash leads the LLM Stats Score 37.0 to 32.8.

Microsoft · StepFun · Updated for 2026

Which is better?

Step-3.5-Flash leads the overall LLM Stats Score 37.0 to 32.8, ranking #86 overall.

In the 4 individual benchmarks reported for both models, Step-3.5-Flash wins 3; this is a narrower head-to-head signal than the composite indexes.

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

Choose MAI-Thinking-1

  • you want the most recent training data — it shipped Jun 2026

Choose Step-3.5-Flash

  • overall performance matters — it scores 37.0 and ranks #86 on LLM Stats
  • you value its reported benchmark strengths — it wins 3 of 4 exact shared results
  • you need open weights you can self-host or fine-tune

At a glance

The differences that matter most.

MAI-Thinking-1
Microsoft
Step-3.5-Flash
StepFun
Core performance indexes
LLM Stats Score
32.8
#122
37.0
#86
Reasoning
33.6
#112
37.0
#87
Coding
19.4
#121
20.5
#113
Agents
12.9
#117
15.4
#106
Cost, coverage & limits
Benchmark wins
1 of 4
3 of 4
Input price
— / M
$0.10 / M
Output price
— / M
$0.40 / M
Context window
—
65,536

Capability indexes

Additional strengths measured across groups of related public benchmarks

2 shared
Index
MAI-Thinking-1
Step-3.5-Flash
Math
33.7#54
33.9#53
Tool use
10.7#136
13.3#115
Conservative TrueSkill rating · higher is betterHow scores work

Individual benchmarks

23 reported for MAI-Thinking-1 · 7 for Step-3.5-Flash

4 shared

MAI-Thinking-1 outperforms in 1 benchmarks (LiveCodeBench v6), while Step-3.5-Flash is better at 3 benchmarks (AIME 2025, SWE-Bench Verified, Terminal-Bench 2.0).

Step-3.5-Flash shows notably better performance in the majority of benchmarks.

Tue Oct 20 2026 • llm-stats.com

Human preference

Blind head-to-head votes and playground preference scores

Model Size

Parameter count comparison

804.0B diff

MAI-Thinking-1 has 804.0B more parameters than Step-3.5-Flash, making it 410.2% larger.

Microsoft
MAI-Thinking-1
1.0Tparameters
StepFun
Step-3.5-Flash
196.0Bparameters
1000.0B
MAI-Thinking-1
196.0B
Step-3.5-Flash

Context Window

Maximum input and output token capacity

Only Step-3.5-Flash specifies input context (65,536 tokens). Only Step-3.5-Flash specifies output context (8,192 tokens).

Microsoft
MAI-Thinking-1
Input- tokens
Output- tokens
StepFun
Step-3.5-Flash
Input65,536 tokens
Output8,192 tokens
Tue Oct 20 2026 • llm-stats.com

License

Usage and distribution terms

MAI-Thinking-1 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.

MAI-Thinking-1

Proprietary

Closed source

Step-3.5-Flash

Apache 2.0

Open weights

Release Timeline

When each model was launched

MAI-Thinking-1 was released on 2026-06-02, while Step-3.5-Flash was released on 2026-02-02.

MAI-Thinking-1 is 4 months newer than Step-3.5-Flash.

MAI-Thinking-1

Jun 2, 2026

4 months ago

4mo newer
Step-3.5-Flash

Feb 2, 2026

8 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

Outputs Comparison

Notice missing or incorrect data?

Judge for yourself.

Run your own prompts against MAI-Thinking-1 and Step-3.5-Flash side-by-side, then vote on the output you prefer.

MAI-Thinking-1
✓ Preferred
Step-3.5-Flash
Open in Playground

FAQ

Common questions about MAI-Thinking-1 vs Step-3.5-Flash.

Which is better, MAI-Thinking-1 or Step-3.5-Flash?

Step-3.5-Flash leads the LLM Stats Score 37.0 to 32.8. MAI-Thinking-1 is made by Microsoft 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 MAI-Thinking-1 compare to Step-3.5-Flash in benchmarks?

MAI-Thinking-1 scores LongFact: 98.0%, AIME 2025: 97.0%, AIME 2026: 94.5%, GraphWalks: 90.0%, AIR-Bench: 88.0%. 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%.

What are the context window sizes for MAI-Thinking-1 and Step-3.5-Flash?

MAI-Thinking-1 supports an unknown number of 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 MAI-Thinking-1 and Step-3.5-Flash?

Key differences include LLM Stats Score (32.8 vs 37.0), licensing (Proprietary vs Apache 2.0). See the full comparison above for benchmark-by-benchmark results.

Who makes MAI-Thinking-1 and Step-3.5-Flash?

MAI-Thinking-1 is developed by Microsoft and Step-3.5-Flash is developed by StepFun.

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