Model comparison
Qwen Max vs Step 3.5 Flash
Step 3.5 Flash is the stronger model overall, scoring 42.3 to 34.7 on the Noometry Index.
Last verified . 17 shared benchmarks.
Alibaba (Qwen)
StepFunSummary
- They share 17 benchmarks with published results for both. Qwen Max scores higher in 1 category and Step 3.5 Flash in 7 categories; 8 gaps are clear of the uncertainty.
- The widest gap is in math, where Step 3.5 Flash leads 42.6 to 22.3.
- Step 3.5 Flash is cheaper at $0.10 / $0.30 per million input/output tokens, against $1.60 / $6.40 for Qwen Max.
- Step 3.5 Flash accepts more context: 256K tokens versus 33K.
- Step 3.5 Flash has downloadable open weights; the other is API-only.
Side by side
| Qwen Max | Step 3.5 Flash | |
|---|---|---|
| Provider | Alibaba (Qwen) | StepFun |
| Noometry Index | 34.7 | 42.3 |
| Released | 2024-04-03 | 2026-01-29 |
| Weights | Proprietary | Open |
| Context window | 33K | 256K |
| Max output | 8K | 256K |
| Input $ / M tokens | $1.60 | $0.10 |
| Output $ / M tokens | $6.40 | $0.30 |
| Results tracked | 23 | 19 |
Sponsored placements are available on pages like this one. Advertise on Noometry
Category by category
Coding Step 3.5 Flash leads
Qwen Max: 30.7 (#292), Step 3.5 Flash: 42.4 (#105)
| Benchmark | Qwen Max | Step 3.5 Flash |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Coding | 1288 | 1436 |
| Aider Polyglot | 21.8% | — |
Reasoning Qwen Max leads
Qwen Max: 25.1 (#151), Step 3.5 Flash: 22.2 (#202)
| Benchmark | Qwen Max | Step 3.5 Flash |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Hard Prompts | 1269 | 1411 |
| NYT Connections (extended) | — | 28.4% |
Math Step 3.5 Flash leads
Qwen Max: 22.3 (#276), Step 3.5 Flash: 42.6 (#84)
| Benchmark | Qwen Max | Step 3.5 Flash |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Math | 1275 | 1408 |
| MathArena Final-Answer Competitions | — | 66.8% |
| OTIS Mock AIME 2024-2025 | 16.1% | — |
| MATH Level 5 | 67.2% | — |
| FrontierMath (Feb 2025 set) | 1% | — |
Knowledge Step 3.5 Flash leads
Qwen Max: 30.3 (#228), Step 3.5 Flash: 39.6 (#132)
| Benchmark | Qwen Max | Step 3.5 Flash |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Expert | 1248 | 1421 |
| GPQA Diamond | 56.1% | — |
Multilingual Step 3.5 Flash leads
Qwen Max: 41.8 (#202), Step 3.5 Flash: 50.5 (#119)
| Benchmark | Qwen Max | Step 3.5 Flash |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Non-English | 1263 | 1385 |
| LMArena Chinese | 1254 | 1447 |
| LMArena French | 1330 | 1421 |
| LMArena German | 1254 | 1405 |
| LMArena Japanese | 1205 | 1354 |
| LMArena Korean | 1142 | 1352 |
| LMArena Russian | 1274 | 1385 |
| LMArena Spanish | 1290 | 1419 |
Instruction Following Step 3.5 Flash leads
Qwen Max: 66.5 (#208), Step 3.5 Flash: 73.1 (#124)
| Benchmark | Qwen Max | Step 3.5 Flash |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Instruction Following | 1262 | 1385 |
Long Context Step 3.5 Flash leads
Qwen Max: 39.4 (#180), Step 3.5 Flash: 42.8 (#117)
| Benchmark | Qwen Max | Step 3.5 Flash |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Longer Query | 1288 | 1402 |
| Fiction.LiveBench | 66.7% | — |
Writing & Preference Step 3.5 Flash leads
Qwen Max: 47.8 (#205), Step 3.5 Flash: 58.8 (#113)
| Benchmark | Qwen Max | Step 3.5 Flash |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Text | 1282 | 1403 |
| LMArena Creative Writing | 1248 | 1357 |
| LMArena Multi-Turn | 1277 | 1405 |
Frequently asked questions
Is Qwen Max better than Step 3.5 Flash?
Step 3.5 Flash is the stronger model overall, scoring 42.3 to 34.7 on the Noometry Index.
Which is cheaper, Qwen Max 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; Qwen Max lists at $1.60 and $6.40.
Is Qwen Max or Step 3.5 Flash better for coding?
Step 3.5 Flash scores higher on coding benchmarks: 42.4 versus 30.7 in the Noometry coding category.
Which has the bigger context window?
Step 3.5 Flash does, with 256K tokens against 33K.
How many benchmarks do Qwen Max and Step 3.5 Flash share?
17 benchmarks have published results for both models. Qwen Max has 23 scored results on Noometry and Step 3.5 Flash has 19.