Model comparison

GPT-6 Sol vs Step 3.5 Flash

GPT-6 Sol is the stronger model overall, scoring 61.8 to 42.3 on the Noometry Index. Step 3.5 Flash costs 27× less per token, which makes it the better buy when GPT-6 Sol's lead doesn't matter for your workload.

Last verified . 18 shared benchmarks.

GPT-6 Sol OpenAI

61.8

Rank #12 Confirmed

Step 3.5 Flash StepFun

42.3

Rank #116 Confirmed

Summary

  • They share 18 benchmarks with published results for both. GPT-6 Sol scores higher in 8 categories and Step 3.5 Flash in 0 categories; 6 gaps are clear of the uncertainty.
  • The widest gap is in reasoning, where GPT-6 Sol leads 74.0 to 22.2.
  • The biggest single-benchmark swing is NYT Connections (extended): 90.1% for GPT-6 Sol and 28.4% for Step 3.5 Flash.
  • Step 3.5 Flash is cheaper at $0.10 / $0.30 per million input/output tokens, against $2 / $10 for GPT-6 Sol.
  • GPT-6 Sol accepts more context: 1.05M tokens versus 256K.
  • Step 3.5 Flash has downloadable open weights; the other is API-only.

Side by side

GPT-6 Sol and Step 3.5 Flash specifications
GPT-6 SolStep 3.5 Flash
ProviderOpenAIStepFun
Noometry Index61.842.3
Released2026-09-222026-01-29
WeightsProprietaryOpen
Context window1.05M256K
Max output128K256K
Input $ / M tokens$2$0.10
Output $ / M tokens$10$0.30
Results tracked4519

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Category by category

Coding GPT-6 Sol leads

GPT-6 Sol: 60.1 (#11), Step 3.5 Flash: 42.4 (#105)

Coding benchmarks
BenchmarkGPT-6 SolStep 3.5 Flash
LMArena Coding14471436
DeepSWE68.8%—
FrontierCode49.3%—
LMArena WebDev1688—
SciCode57.6%—
ALE-Bench2,462—

Agentic & Tool Use Not comparable

GPT-6 Sol: 37.2 (#36), Step 3.5 Flash: —

Agentic & Tool Use benchmarks
BenchmarkGPT-6 SolStep 3.5 Flash
APEX-Agents54.3%—
GDP.pdf26.4%—
Vending-Bench 214,428—

Reasoning GPT-6 Sol leads

GPT-6 Sol: 74.0 (#9), Step 3.5 Flash: 22.2 (#202)

Reasoning benchmarks
BenchmarkGPT-6 SolStep 3.5 Flash
NYT Connections (extended)90.1%28.4%
LMArena Hard Prompts14181411
ARC-AGI-289.6%—
ARC-AGI-195.5%—
CritPt30.9%—
EBR-Bench53.3%—
Mystery Game Puzzles56%—
DTBench97.3%—
LMCA59.1%—
Epoch Capabilities Index162.72—

Math GPT-6 Sol leads

GPT-6 Sol: 87.2 (#7), Step 3.5 Flash: 42.6 (#84)

Math benchmarks
BenchmarkGPT-6 SolStep 3.5 Flash
LMArena Math14021408
FrontierMath (Tiers 1-3)89.8%—
FrontierMath Tier 490%—
MathArena Final-Answer Competitions—66.8%
OTIS Mock AIME 2024-2025100%—
ProofBench83%—

Knowledge GPT-6 Sol leads

GPT-6 Sol: 64.8 (#15), Step 3.5 Flash: 39.6 (#132)

Knowledge benchmarks
BenchmarkGPT-6 SolStep 3.5 Flash
LMArena Expert14391421
GPQA Diamond94.3%—
SimpleQA Verified60.7%—
Vectara Hallucination Rate6.5%—

Multimodal Not comparable

GPT-6 Sol: 47.6 (#10), Step 3.5 Flash: —

Multimodal benchmarks
BenchmarkGPT-6 SolStep 3.5 Flash
LMArena Vision1245—
Blueprint-Bench 236.9%—
Furniture Assembly58.3%—

Multilingual Too close to call

GPT-6 Sol: 50.5 (#118), Step 3.5 Flash: 50.5 (#119)

Multilingual benchmarks
BenchmarkGPT-6 SolStep 3.5 Flash
LMArena Non-English13851385
LMArena Chinese14051447
LMArena French14101421
LMArena German13901405
LMArena Japanese13851354
LMArena Korean13411352
LMArena Russian14011385
LMArena Spanish13841419

Instruction Following GPT-6 Sol leads

GPT-6 Sol: 74.5 (#94), Step 3.5 Flash: 73.1 (#124)

Instruction Following benchmarks
BenchmarkGPT-6 SolStep 3.5 Flash
LMArena Instruction Following14121385

Long Context Too close to call

GPT-6 Sol: 43.1 (#108), Step 3.5 Flash: 42.8 (#117)

Long Context benchmarks
BenchmarkGPT-6 SolStep 3.5 Flash
LMArena Longer Query14111402

Writing & Preference GPT-6 Sol leads

GPT-6 Sol: 71.9 (#18), Step 3.5 Flash: 58.8 (#113)

Writing & Preference benchmarks
BenchmarkGPT-6 SolStep 3.5 Flash
LMArena Text13951403
LMArena Creative Writing13781357
LMArena Multi-Turn14121405
EQ-Bench Creative Writing2125—

Frequently asked questions

Is GPT-6 Sol better than Step 3.5 Flash?

GPT-6 Sol is the stronger model overall, scoring 61.8 to 42.3 on the Noometry Index. Step 3.5 Flash costs 27× less per token, which makes it the better buy when GPT-6 Sol's lead doesn't matter for your workload.

Which is cheaper, GPT-6 Sol or Step 3.5 Flash?

Step 3.5 Flash is cheaper. It lists at $0.10 per million input tokens and $0.30 per million output tokens; GPT-6 Sol lists at $2 and $10.

Is GPT-6 Sol or Step 3.5 Flash better for coding?

GPT-6 Sol scores higher on coding benchmarks: 60.1 versus 42.4 in the Noometry coding category.

Which has the bigger context window?

GPT-6 Sol does, with 1.05M tokens against 256K.

How many benchmarks do GPT-6 Sol and Step 3.5 Flash share?

18 benchmarks have published results for both models. GPT-6 Sol has 45 scored results on Noometry and Step 3.5 Flash has 19.

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