Model comparison
Molmo 2 8b vs Step 3.5 Flash
Step 3.5 Flash is the stronger model overall, scoring 42.3 to 39.1 on the Noometry Index.
Last verified . 4 shared benchmarks.
Allen Institute for AI (Ai2)
StepFunSummary
- They share 4 benchmarks with published results for both. Molmo 2 8b scores higher in 1 category and Step 3.5 Flash in 3 categories; 4 gaps are clear of the uncertainty.
- The widest gap is in writing & preference, where Step 3.5 Flash leads 58.8 to 49.4.
Side by side
| Molmo 2 8b | Step 3.5 Flash | |
|---|---|---|
| Provider | Allen Institute for AI (Ai2) | StepFun |
| Noometry Index | 39.1 | 42.3 |
| Released | — | 2026-01-29 |
| Weights | Open | Open |
| Context window | — | 256K |
| Max output | — | 256K |
| Input $ / M tokens | — | $0.10 |
| Output $ / M tokens | — | $0.30 |
| Results tracked | 5 | 19 |
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Category by category
Coding Not comparable
Molmo 2 8b: —, Step 3.5 Flash: 42.4 (#105)
| Benchmark | Molmo 2 8b | Step 3.5 Flash |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Coding | — | 1436 |
Reasoning Molmo 2 8b leads
Molmo 2 8b: 25.6 (#146), Step 3.5 Flash: 22.2 (#202)
| Benchmark | Molmo 2 8b | Step 3.5 Flash |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Hard Prompts | 1287 | 1411 |
| NYT Connections (extended) | — | 28.4% |
Math Not comparable
Molmo 2 8b: —, Step 3.5 Flash: 42.6 (#84)
| Benchmark | Molmo 2 8b | Step 3.5 Flash |
|---|---|---|
| MathArena Final-Answer Competitions | — | 66.8% |
| LMArena Math | — | 1408 |
Knowledge Not comparable
Molmo 2 8b: —, Step 3.5 Flash: 39.6 (#132)
| Benchmark | Molmo 2 8b | Step 3.5 Flash |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Expert | — | 1421 |
Multimodal Not comparable
Molmo 2 8b: 30.2 (#112), Step 3.5 Flash: —
| Benchmark | Molmo 2 8b | Step 3.5 Flash |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Vision | 1081 | — |
Multilingual Step 3.5 Flash leads
Molmo 2 8b: 42.7 (#190), Step 3.5 Flash: 50.5 (#119)
| Benchmark | Molmo 2 8b | Step 3.5 Flash |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Non-English | 1276 | 1385 |
| LMArena Chinese | — | 1447 |
| LMArena French | — | 1421 |
| LMArena German | — | 1405 |
| LMArena Japanese | — | 1354 |
| LMArena Korean | — | 1352 |
| LMArena Russian | — | 1385 |
| LMArena Spanish | — | 1419 |
Instruction Following Step 3.5 Flash leads
Molmo 2 8b: 67.0 (#201), Step 3.5 Flash: 73.1 (#124)
| Benchmark | Molmo 2 8b | Step 3.5 Flash |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Instruction Following | 1270 | 1385 |
Long Context Not comparable
Molmo 2 8b: —, Step 3.5 Flash: 42.8 (#117)
| Benchmark | Molmo 2 8b | Step 3.5 Flash |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Longer Query | — | 1402 |
Writing & Preference Step 3.5 Flash leads
Molmo 2 8b: 49.4 (#191), Step 3.5 Flash: 58.8 (#113)
| Benchmark | Molmo 2 8b | Step 3.5 Flash |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Text | 1288 | 1403 |
| LMArena Creative Writing | — | 1357 |
| LMArena Multi-Turn | — | 1405 |
Frequently asked questions
Is Molmo 2 8b better than Step 3.5 Flash?
Step 3.5 Flash is the stronger model overall, scoring 42.3 to 39.1 on the Noometry Index.
How many benchmarks do Molmo 2 8b and Step 3.5 Flash share?
4 benchmarks have published results for both models. Molmo 2 8b has 5 scored results on Noometry and Step 3.5 Flash has 19.