Model comparison
Grok 4.1 vs Step 3.5 Flash
Grok 4.1 and Step 3.5 Flash score almost the same on the Noometry Index (41.5 vs 42.3), so choose on price, context window or the category you care about most.
Last verified . 17 shared benchmarks.
StepFunSummary
- They share 17 benchmarks with published results for both. Grok 4.1 scores higher in 5 categories and Step 3.5 Flash in 3 categories; 5 gaps are clear of the uncertainty.
- The widest gap is in coding, where Step 3.5 Flash leads 42.4 to 33.7.
- Step 3.5 Flash has downloadable open weights; the other is API-only.
Side by side
| Grok 4.1 | Step 3.5 Flash | |
|---|---|---|
| Provider | xAI | StepFun |
| Noometry Index | 41.5 | 42.3 |
| Released | 2025-11-17 | 2026-01-29 |
| Weights | Proprietary | Open |
| Context window | — | 256K |
| Max output | — | 256K |
| Input $ / M tokens | — | $0.10 |
| Output $ / M tokens | — | $0.30 |
| Results tracked | 19 | 19 |
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Category by category
Coding Step 3.5 Flash leads
Grok 4.1: 33.7 (#253), Step 3.5 Flash: 42.4 (#105)
| Benchmark | Grok 4.1 | Step 3.5 Flash |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Coding | 1445 | 1436 |
| LMArena WebDev | 1214 | — |
Agentic & Tool Use Not comparable
Grok 4.1: 34.1 (#49), Step 3.5 Flash: —
| Benchmark | Grok 4.1 | Step 3.5 Flash |
|---|---|---|
| Cybench | 39% | — |
Reasoning Grok 4.1 leads
Grok 4.1: 29.5 (#91), Step 3.5 Flash: 22.2 (#202)
| Benchmark | Grok 4.1 | Step 3.5 Flash |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Hard Prompts | 1435 | 1411 |
| NYT Connections (extended) | — | 28.4% |
Math Step 3.5 Flash leads
Grok 4.1: 38.9 (#120), Step 3.5 Flash: 42.6 (#84)
| Benchmark | Grok 4.1 | Step 3.5 Flash |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Math | 1422 | 1408 |
| MathArena Final-Answer Competitions | — | 66.8% |
Knowledge Too close to call
Grok 4.1: 39.5 (#133), Step 3.5 Flash: 39.6 (#132)
| Benchmark | Grok 4.1 | Step 3.5 Flash |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Expert | 1417 | 1421 |
Multilingual Grok 4.1 leads
Grok 4.1: 53.4 (#68), Step 3.5 Flash: 50.5 (#119)
| Benchmark | Grok 4.1 | Step 3.5 Flash |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Non-English | 1425 | 1385 |
| LMArena Chinese | 1465 | 1447 |
| LMArena French | 1448 | 1421 |
| LMArena German | 1446 | 1405 |
| LMArena Japanese | 1397 | 1354 |
| LMArena Korean | 1407 | 1352 |
| LMArena Russian | 1434 | 1385 |
| LMArena Spanish | 1438 | 1419 |
Instruction Following Too close to call
Grok 4.1: 73.8 (#111), Step 3.5 Flash: 73.1 (#124)
| Benchmark | Grok 4.1 | Step 3.5 Flash |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Instruction Following | 1400 | 1385 |
Long Context Too close to call
Grok 4.1: 43.2 (#100), Step 3.5 Flash: 42.8 (#117)
| Benchmark | Grok 4.1 | Step 3.5 Flash |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Longer Query | 1416 | 1402 |
Writing & Preference Grok 4.1 leads
Grok 4.1: 62.4 (#75), Step 3.5 Flash: 58.8 (#113)
| Benchmark | Grok 4.1 | Step 3.5 Flash |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Text | 1437 | 1403 |
| LMArena Creative Writing | 1411 | 1357 |
| LMArena Multi-Turn | 1437 | 1405 |
Frequently asked questions
Is Grok 4.1 better than Step 3.5 Flash?
Grok 4.1 and Step 3.5 Flash score almost the same on the Noometry Index (41.5 vs 42.3), so choose on price, context window or the category you care about most.
Is Grok 4.1 or Step 3.5 Flash better for coding?
Step 3.5 Flash scores higher on coding benchmarks: 42.4 versus 33.7 in the Noometry coding category.
How many benchmarks do Grok 4.1 and Step 3.5 Flash share?
17 benchmarks have published results for both models. Grok 4.1 has 19 scored results on Noometry and Step 3.5 Flash has 19.