Model comparison

Qwen3.5-9B vs Step 3.5 Flash

Step 3.5 Flash is the stronger model overall, scoring 42.3 to 33.8 on the Noometry Index.

Last verified October 10, 2026. 1 shared benchmarks.

Qwen3.5-9B

Alibaba (Qwen)

33.8

Rank #236 Confirmed

Step 3.5 Flash

StepFun

42.3

Rank #116 Confirmed

Summary

They share 1 benchmark with published results for both. Qwen3.5-9B scores higher in 2 categories and Step 3.5 Flash in 2 categories; 3 gaps are clear of the uncertainty.
The widest gap is in math, where Step 3.5 Flash leads 42.6 to 34.8.
The biggest single-benchmark swing is MathArena Final-Answer Competitions: 48.5% for Qwen3.5-9B and 66.8% for Step 3.5 Flash.
Qwen3.5-9B is cheaper at $0.10 / $0.15 per million input/output tokens, against $0.10 / $0.30 for Step 3.5 Flash.
Qwen3.5-9B accepts more context: 262K tokens versus 256K.

Side by side

Qwen3.5-9B and Step 3.5 Flash specifications
	Qwen3.5-9B	Step 3.5 Flash
Provider	Alibaba (Qwen)	StepFun
Noometry Index	33.8	42.3
Released	2026-02-23	2026-01-29
Weights	Open	Open
Context window	262K	256K
Max output	66K	256K
Input $ / M tokens	$0.10	$0.10
Output $ / M tokens	$0.15	$0.30
Results tracked	10	19

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Category by category

Coding Step 3.5 Flash leads

Qwen3.5-9B: 35.9 (#217), Step 3.5 Flash: 42.4 (#105)

Coding benchmarks
Benchmark	Qwen3.5-9B	Step 3.5 Flash
SciCode	27.5%	—
LMArena Coding	—	1436

Agentic & Tool Use Not comparable

Qwen3.5-9B: 14.5 (#151), Step 3.5 Flash: —

Agentic & Tool Use benchmarks
Benchmark	Qwen3.5-9B	Step 3.5 Flash
Terminal-Bench	9.2%	—

Reasoning Too close to call

Qwen3.5-9B: 23.1 (#182), Step 3.5 Flash: 22.2 (#202)

Reasoning benchmarks
Benchmark	Qwen3.5-9B	Step 3.5 Flash
NYT Connections (extended)	—	28.4%
CritPt	0.3%	—
Chess Puzzles	12%	—
LMArena Hard Prompts	—	1411
DTBench	71.2%	—
LMCA	24.5%	—
Epoch Capabilities Index	139.46	—

Math Step 3.5 Flash leads

Qwen3.5-9B: 34.8 (#192), Step 3.5 Flash: 42.6 (#84)

Math benchmarks
Benchmark	Qwen3.5-9B	Step 3.5 Flash
MathArena Final-Answer Competitions	48.5%	66.8%
OTIS Mock AIME 2024-2025	61.7%	—
LMArena Math	—	1408

Knowledge Qwen3.5-9B leads

Qwen3.5-9B: 46.0 (#84), Step 3.5 Flash: 39.6 (#132)

Knowledge benchmarks
Benchmark	Qwen3.5-9B	Step 3.5 Flash
GPQA Diamond	79%	—
LMArena Expert	—	1421

Multilingual Not comparable

Qwen3.5-9B: —, Step 3.5 Flash: 50.5 (#119)

Multilingual benchmarks
Benchmark	Qwen3.5-9B	Step 3.5 Flash
LMArena Non-English	—	1385
LMArena Chinese	—	1447
LMArena French	—	1421
LMArena German	—	1405
LMArena Japanese	—	1354
LMArena Korean	—	1352
LMArena Russian	—	1385
LMArena Spanish	—	1419

Instruction Following Not comparable

Qwen3.5-9B: —, Step 3.5 Flash: 73.1 (#124)

Instruction Following benchmarks
Benchmark	Qwen3.5-9B	Step 3.5 Flash
LMArena Instruction Following	—	1385

Long Context Not comparable

Qwen3.5-9B: —, Step 3.5 Flash: 42.8 (#117)

Long Context benchmarks
Benchmark	Qwen3.5-9B	Step 3.5 Flash
LMArena Longer Query	—	1402

Writing & Preference Not comparable

Qwen3.5-9B: —, Step 3.5 Flash: 58.8 (#113)

Writing & Preference benchmarks
Benchmark	Qwen3.5-9B	Step 3.5 Flash
LMArena Text	—	1403
LMArena Creative Writing	—	1357
LMArena Multi-Turn	—	1405

Frequently asked questions

Is Qwen3.5-9B better than Step 3.5 Flash?

Step 3.5 Flash is the stronger model overall, scoring 42.3 to 33.8 on the Noometry Index.

Which is cheaper, Qwen3.5-9B or Step 3.5 Flash?

Qwen3.5-9B is cheaper. It lists at $0.10 per million input tokens and $0.15 per million output tokens; Step 3.5 Flash lists at $0.10 and $0.30.

Is Qwen3.5-9B or Step 3.5 Flash better for coding?

Step 3.5 Flash scores higher on coding benchmarks: 42.4 versus 35.9 in the Noometry coding category.

Which has the bigger context window?

Qwen3.5-9B does, with 262K tokens against 256K.

How many benchmarks do Qwen3.5-9B and Step 3.5 Flash share?

1 benchmark has published results for both models. Qwen3.5-9B has 10 scored results on Noometry and Step 3.5 Flash has 19.