Model comparison
Mistral Medium 3.1 vs Step 3.5 Flash
Step 3.5 Flash is the stronger model overall, scoring 41.7 to 31.5 on the Noometry Index.
Last verified . 1 shared benchmarks.
Mistral AI
StepFunSummary
- They share 1 benchmark with published results for both. Mistral Medium 3.1 scores higher in 0 categories and Step 3.5 Flash in 2 categories; 2 gaps are clear of the uncertainty.
- The widest gap is in reasoning, where Step 3.5 Flash leads 21.2 to 10.1.
- The biggest single-benchmark swing is NYT Connections (extended): 6.5% for Mistral Medium 3.1 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 $0.40 / $2 for Mistral Medium 3.1.
- Step 3.5 Flash accepts more context: 256K tokens versus 131K.
- Step 3.5 Flash has downloadable open weights; the other is API-only.
Side by side
| Mistral Medium 3.1 | Step 3.5 Flash | |
|---|---|---|
| Provider | Mistral AI | StepFun |
| Noometry Index | 31.5 | 41.7 |
| Released | — | 2026-01-29 |
| Weights | Proprietary | Open |
| Context window | 131K | 256K |
| Max output | 105K | 256K |
| Input $ / M tokens | $0.40 | $0.10 |
| Output $ / M tokens | $2 | $0.30 |
| Results tracked | 3 | 19 |
Sponsored placements are available on pages like this one. Advertise on Noometry
Category by category
Coding Not comparable
Mistral Medium 3.1: —, Step 3.5 Flash: 41.7 (#106)
| Benchmark | Mistral Medium 3.1 | Step 3.5 Flash |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Coding | — | 1436 |
Reasoning Step 3.5 Flash leads
Mistral Medium 3.1: 10.1 (#336), Step 3.5 Flash: 21.2 (#202)
| Benchmark | Mistral Medium 3.1 | Step 3.5 Flash |
|---|---|---|
| NYT Connections (extended) | 6.5% | 28.4% |
| Thematic Generalization | 20.3% | — |
| LMArena Hard Prompts | — | 1411 |
Math Not comparable
Mistral Medium 3.1: —, Step 3.5 Flash: 40.6 (#77)
| Benchmark | Mistral Medium 3.1 | Step 3.5 Flash |
|---|---|---|
| MathArena Final-Answer Competitions | — | 66.8% |
| LMArena Math | — | 1408 |
Knowledge Not comparable
Mistral Medium 3.1: —, Step 3.5 Flash: 39.0 (#127)
| Benchmark | Mistral Medium 3.1 | Step 3.5 Flash |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Expert | — | 1422 |
Multilingual Not comparable
Mistral Medium 3.1: —, Step 3.5 Flash: 50.7 (#115)
| Benchmark | Mistral Medium 3.1 | Step 3.5 Flash |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Non-English | — | 1386 |
| LMArena Chinese | — | 1448 |
| LMArena French | — | 1421 |
| LMArena German | — | 1404 |
| LMArena Japanese | — | 1353 |
| LMArena Korean | — | 1350 |
| LMArena Russian | — | 1385 |
| LMArena Spanish | — | 1419 |
Instruction Following Not comparable
Mistral Medium 3.1: —, Step 3.5 Flash: 73.3 (#119)
| Benchmark | Mistral Medium 3.1 | Step 3.5 Flash |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Instruction Following | — | 1385 |
Long Context Not comparable
Mistral Medium 3.1: —, Step 3.5 Flash: 42.8 (#112)
| Benchmark | Mistral Medium 3.1 | Step 3.5 Flash |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Longer Query | — | 1402 |
Writing & Preference Step 3.5 Flash leads
Mistral Medium 3.1: 55.6 (#140), Step 3.5 Flash: 59.0 (#108)
| Benchmark | Mistral Medium 3.1 | Step 3.5 Flash |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Text | — | 1403 |
| LMArena Creative Writing | — | 1357 |
| EQ-Bench Creative Writing | 1476 | — |
| LMArena Multi-Turn | — | 1405 |
Frequently asked questions
Is Mistral Medium 3.1 better than Step 3.5 Flash?
Step 3.5 Flash is the stronger model overall, scoring 41.7 to 31.5 on the Noometry Index.
Which is cheaper, Mistral Medium 3.1 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; Mistral Medium 3.1 lists at $0.40 and $2.
Which has the bigger context window?
Step 3.5 Flash does, with 256K tokens against 131K.
How many benchmarks do Mistral Medium 3.1 and Step 3.5 Flash share?
1 benchmark has published results for both models. Mistral Medium 3.1 has 3 scored results on Noometry and Step 3.5 Flash has 19.