Model comparison
DeepSeek V4.1 Flash vs Step 3
DeepSeek V4.1 Flash is the stronger model overall, scoring 52.8 to 40.5 on the Noometry Index.
Last verified . 16 shared benchmarks.
DeepSeek
StepFunSummary
- They share 16 benchmarks with published results for both. DeepSeek V4.1 Flash scores higher in 9 categories and Step 3 in 0 categories; 9 gaps are clear of the uncertainty.
- The widest gap is in math, where DeepSeek V4.1 Flash leads 66.7 to 37.6.
Side by side
| DeepSeek V4.1 Flash | Step 3 | |
|---|---|---|
| Provider | DeepSeek | StepFun |
| Noometry Index | 52.8 | 40.5 |
| Released | 2026-09-09 | — |
| Weights | Open | Open |
| Context window | 1M | — |
| Max output | 393K | — |
| Input $ / M tokens | $0.15 | — |
| Output $ / M tokens | $0.60 | — |
| Results tracked | 37 | 17 |
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Category by category
Coding DeepSeek V4.1 Flash leads
DeepSeek V4.1 Flash: 52.9 (#32), Step 3: 40.1 (#147)
| Benchmark | DeepSeek V4.1 Flash | Step 3 |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Coding | 1506 | 1367 |
| LMArena WebDev | 1619 | — |
| SciCode | 51.9% | — |
| ALE-Bench | 1,092 | — |
Agentic & Tool Use Not comparable
DeepSeek V4.1 Flash: 31.2 (#69), Step 3: —
| Benchmark | DeepSeek V4.1 Flash | Step 3 |
|---|---|---|
| APEX-Agents | 39.5% | — |
| GDP.pdf | 19.8% | — |
Reasoning DeepSeek V4.1 Flash leads
DeepSeek V4.1 Flash: 50.2 (#36), Step 3: 28.4 (#105)
| Benchmark | DeepSeek V4.1 Flash | Step 3 |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Hard Prompts | 1483 | 1355 |
| Kagi LLM Benchmark | — | 62.3% |
| NYT Connections (extended) | 89.6% | — |
| CritPt | 14.3% | — |
| Mystery Game Puzzles | 43% | — |
| DTBench | 89.9% | — |
| LMCA | 47% | — |
| Surface Evolver Bench | 46.3% | — |
| Epoch Capabilities Index | 154.9 | — |
Math DeepSeek V4.1 Flash leads
DeepSeek V4.1 Flash: 66.7 (#25), Step 3: 37.6 (#148)
| Benchmark | DeepSeek V4.1 Flash | Step 3 |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Math | 1477 | 1366 |
| FrontierMath (Tiers 1-3) | 67.4% | — |
| FrontierMath Tier 4 | 26.8% | — |
| OTIS Mock AIME 2024-2025 | 98.3% | — |
| ProofBench | 54% | — |
Knowledge DeepSeek V4.1 Flash leads
DeepSeek V4.1 Flash: 57.9 (#38), Step 3: 36.8 (#164)
| Benchmark | DeepSeek V4.1 Flash | Step 3 |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Expert | 1506 | 1333 |
| GPQA Diamond | 89.8% | — |
Multimodal DeepSeek V4.1 Flash leads
DeepSeek V4.1 Flash: 39.1 (#61), Step 3: 35.5 (#86)
| Benchmark | DeepSeek V4.1 Flash | Step 3 |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Vision | 1277 | 1177 |
| Furniture Assembly | 34.2% | — |
Multilingual DeepSeek V4.1 Flash leads
DeepSeek V4.1 Flash: 55.0 (#35), Step 3: 46.3 (#159)
| Benchmark | DeepSeek V4.1 Flash | Step 3 |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Non-English | 1448 | 1327 |
| LMArena Chinese | 1497 | 1397 |
| LMArena German | 1484 | 1371 |
| LMArena Korean | 1452 | 1269 |
| LMArena Russian | 1471 | 1331 |
| LMArena Spanish | 1459 | 1371 |
| LMArena French | 1452 | — |
| LMArena Japanese | 1412 | — |
Instruction Following DeepSeek V4.1 Flash leads
DeepSeek V4.1 Flash: 77.3 (#26), Step 3: 70.4 (#164)
| Benchmark | DeepSeek V4.1 Flash | Step 3 |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Instruction Following | 1474 | 1332 |
Long Context DeepSeek V4.1 Flash leads
DeepSeek V4.1 Flash: 45.2 (#47), Step 3: 40.3 (#157)
| Benchmark | DeepSeek V4.1 Flash | Step 3 |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Longer Query | 1475 | 1326 |
Writing & Preference DeepSeek V4.1 Flash leads
DeepSeek V4.1 Flash: 65.4 (#48), Step 3: 54.3 (#151)
| Benchmark | DeepSeek V4.1 Flash | Step 3 |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Text | 1462 | 1350 |
| LMArena Creative Writing | 1435 | 1321 |
| LMArena Multi-Turn | 1457 | 1341 |
| EQ-Bench Creative Writing | 1540 | — |
Frequently asked questions
Is DeepSeek V4.1 Flash better than Step 3?
DeepSeek V4.1 Flash is the stronger model overall, scoring 52.8 to 40.5 on the Noometry Index.
Is DeepSeek V4.1 Flash or Step 3 better for coding?
DeepSeek V4.1 Flash scores higher on coding benchmarks: 52.9 versus 40.1 in the Noometry coding category.
How many benchmarks do DeepSeek V4.1 Flash and Step 3 share?
16 benchmarks have published results for both models. DeepSeek V4.1 Flash has 37 scored results on Noometry and Step 3 has 17.