Model comparison

DeepSeek-V3.2-Exp vs Step 2 16k Exp 202412

DeepSeek-V3.2-Exp is the stronger model overall, scoring 44.3 to 39.2 on the Noometry Index.

Last verified . 12 shared benchmarks.

DeepSeek-V3.2-Exp DeepSeek

44.3

Rank #78 Confirmed

Step 2 16k Exp 202412 StepFun

39.2

Rank #171 Confirmed

Summary

  • They share 12 benchmarks with published results for both. DeepSeek-V3.2-Exp scores higher in 7 categories and Step 2 16k Exp 202412 in 1 category; 8 gaps are clear of the uncertainty.
  • The widest gap is in knowledge, where DeepSeek-V3.2-Exp leads 51.7 to 35.2.
  • DeepSeek-V3.2-Exp has downloadable open weights; the other is API-only.

Side by side

DeepSeek-V3.2-Exp and Step 2 16k Exp 202412 specifications
DeepSeek-V3.2-ExpStep 2 16k Exp 202412
ProviderDeepSeekStepFun
Noometry Index44.339.2
Released2025-09-29—
WeightsOpenProprietary
Context window164K—
Max output66K—
Input $ / M tokens$0.26—
Output $ / M tokens$0.38—
Results tracked4912

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Category by category

Coding DeepSeek-V3.2-Exp leads

DeepSeek-V3.2-Exp: 46.5 (#65), Step 2 16k Exp 202412: 38.5 (#174)

Coding benchmarks
BenchmarkDeepSeek-V3.2-ExpStep 2 16k Exp 202412
LMArena Coding14541316
SWE-bench Verified (bash only)70%—
Aider Polyglot74.2%—
LMArena WebDev1362—
SWE-bench Multilingual59%—
SciCode38.9%—
WeirdML39.5%—

Agentic & Tool Use Not comparable

DeepSeek-V3.2-Exp: 32.7 (#59), Step 2 16k Exp 202412: —

Agentic & Tool Use benchmarks
BenchmarkDeepSeek-V3.2-ExpStep 2 16k Exp 202412
Terminal-Bench39.6%—
APEX-Agents21.3%—
Berkeley Function Calling Leaderboard56.7%—
TheAgentCompany42.9%—
Vending-Bench 21,034—

Reasoning Step 2 16k Exp 202412 leads

DeepSeek-V3.2-Exp: 22.1 (#208), Step 2 16k Exp 202412: 25.9 (#142)

Reasoning benchmarks
BenchmarkDeepSeek-V3.2-ExpStep 2 16k Exp 202412
LMArena Hard Prompts14341299
ARC-AGI-24%—
Kagi LLM Benchmark52.2%—
NYT Connections (extended)36.7%—
ARC-AGI-157%—
CritPt2.9%—
Chess Puzzles14%—
Thematic Generalization65%—
DTBench87.7%—
LMCA29.1%—
Epoch Capabilities Index146.27—

Math DeepSeek-V3.2-Exp leads

DeepSeek-V3.2-Exp: 41.7 (#87), Step 2 16k Exp 202412: 36.3 (#169)

Math benchmarks
BenchmarkDeepSeek-V3.2-ExpStep 2 16k Exp 202412
LMArena Math14351304
MathArena Final-Answer Competitions57.7%—
OTIS Mock AIME 2024-202587.8%—
ProofBench8%—
FrontierMath (Feb 2025 set)22.1%—
FrontierMath Tier 4 (v1)2.1%—

Knowledge DeepSeek-V3.2-Exp leads

DeepSeek-V3.2-Exp: 51.7 (#66), Step 2 16k Exp 202412: 35.2 (#187)

Knowledge benchmarks
BenchmarkDeepSeek-V3.2-ExpStep 2 16k Exp 202412
LMArena Expert14361279
GPQA Diamond83.4%—
Vectara Hallucination Rate5.3%—

Multilingual DeepSeek-V3.2-Exp leads

DeepSeek-V3.2-Exp: 52.2 (#90), Step 2 16k Exp 202412: 43.7 (#181)

Multilingual benchmarks
BenchmarkDeepSeek-V3.2-ExpStep 2 16k Exp 202412
LMArena Non-English14091290
LMArena Chinese14611331
LMArena Russian14241324
LMArena French1433—
LMArena German1440—
LMArena Japanese1374—
LMArena Korean1371—
LMArena Spanish1440—

Instruction Following DeepSeek-V3.2-Exp leads

DeepSeek-V3.2-Exp: 74.5 (#93), Step 2 16k Exp 202412: 67.9 (#192)

Instruction Following benchmarks
BenchmarkDeepSeek-V3.2-ExpStep 2 16k Exp 202412
LMArena Instruction Following14131287

Long Context DeepSeek-V3.2-Exp leads

DeepSeek-V3.2-Exp: 47.6 (#16), Step 2 16k Exp 202412: 39.7 (#170)

Long Context benchmarks
BenchmarkDeepSeek-V3.2-ExpStep 2 16k Exp 202412
LMArena Longer Query14281307
Fiction.LiveBench83.3%—
CL-bench13.2%—
CL-bench Life9.5%—

Writing & Preference DeepSeek-V3.2-Exp leads

DeepSeek-V3.2-Exp: 62.4 (#77), Step 2 16k Exp 202412: 52.3 (#173)

Writing & Preference benchmarks
BenchmarkDeepSeek-V3.2-ExpStep 2 16k Exp 202412
LMArena Text14251321
LMArena Creative Writing14031328
LMArena Multi-Turn14271292
EQ-Bench Creative Writing1515—

Frequently asked questions

Is DeepSeek-V3.2-Exp better than Step 2 16k Exp 202412?

DeepSeek-V3.2-Exp is the stronger model overall, scoring 44.3 to 39.2 on the Noometry Index.

Is DeepSeek-V3.2-Exp or Step 2 16k Exp 202412 better for coding?

DeepSeek-V3.2-Exp scores higher on coding benchmarks: 46.5 versus 38.5 in the Noometry coding category.

How many benchmarks do DeepSeek-V3.2-Exp and Step 2 16k Exp 202412 share?

12 benchmarks have published results for both models. DeepSeek-V3.2-Exp has 49 scored results on Noometry and Step 2 16k Exp 202412 has 12.

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