Model comparison
Qwen3.5 Max Preview vs Step 3.5 Flash
Qwen3.5 Max Preview is the stronger model overall, scoring 45.3 to 42.3 on the Noometry Index.
Last verified . 17 shared benchmarks.
Alibaba (Qwen)
StepFunSummary
- They share 17 benchmarks with published results for both. Qwen3.5 Max Preview scores higher in 7 categories and Step 3.5 Flash in 1 category; 8 gaps are clear of the uncertainty.
- The widest gap is in reasoning, where Qwen3.5 Max Preview leads 30.8 to 22.2.
- Step 3.5 Flash has downloadable open weights; the other is API-only.
Side by side
| Qwen3.5 Max Preview | Step 3.5 Flash | |
|---|---|---|
| Provider | Alibaba (Qwen) | StepFun |
| Noometry Index | 45.3 | 42.3 |
| Released | — | 2026-01-29 |
| Weights | Proprietary | Open |
| Context window | — | 256K |
| Max output | — | 256K |
| Input $ / M tokens | — | $0.10 |
| Output $ / M tokens | — | $0.30 |
| Results tracked | 17 | 19 |
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Category by category
Coding Qwen3.5 Max Preview leads
Qwen3.5 Max Preview: 44.0 (#77), Step 3.5 Flash: 42.4 (#105)
| Benchmark | Qwen3.5 Max Preview | Step 3.5 Flash |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Coding | 1487 | 1436 |
Reasoning Qwen3.5 Max Preview leads
Qwen3.5 Max Preview: 30.8 (#84), Step 3.5 Flash: 22.2 (#202)
| Benchmark | Qwen3.5 Max Preview | Step 3.5 Flash |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Hard Prompts | 1483 | 1411 |
| NYT Connections (extended) | — | 28.4% |
Math Step 3.5 Flash leads
Qwen3.5 Max Preview: 40.1 (#94), Step 3.5 Flash: 42.6 (#84)
| Benchmark | Qwen3.5 Max Preview | Step 3.5 Flash |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Math | 1474 | 1408 |
| MathArena Final-Answer Competitions | — | 66.8% |
Knowledge Qwen3.5 Max Preview leads
Qwen3.5 Max Preview: 41.8 (#107), Step 3.5 Flash: 39.6 (#132)
| Benchmark | Qwen3.5 Max Preview | Step 3.5 Flash |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Expert | 1489 | 1421 |
Multilingual Qwen3.5 Max Preview leads
Qwen3.5 Max Preview: 56.2 (#22), Step 3.5 Flash: 50.5 (#119)
| Benchmark | Qwen3.5 Max Preview | Step 3.5 Flash |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Non-English | 1465 | 1385 |
| LMArena Chinese | 1534 | 1447 |
| LMArena French | 1484 | 1421 |
| LMArena German | 1487 | 1405 |
| LMArena Japanese | 1495 | 1354 |
| LMArena Korean | 1438 | 1352 |
| LMArena Russian | 1471 | 1385 |
| LMArena Spanish | 1470 | 1419 |
Instruction Following Qwen3.5 Max Preview leads
Qwen3.5 Max Preview: 77.0 (#31), Step 3.5 Flash: 73.1 (#124)
| Benchmark | Qwen3.5 Max Preview | Step 3.5 Flash |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Instruction Following | 1467 | 1385 |
Long Context Qwen3.5 Max Preview leads
Qwen3.5 Max Preview: 45.2 (#45), Step 3.5 Flash: 42.8 (#117)
| Benchmark | Qwen3.5 Max Preview | Step 3.5 Flash |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Longer Query | 1476 | 1402 |
Writing & Preference Qwen3.5 Max Preview leads
Qwen3.5 Max Preview: 66.0 (#41), Step 3.5 Flash: 58.8 (#113)
| Benchmark | Qwen3.5 Max Preview | Step 3.5 Flash |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Text | 1470 | 1403 |
| LMArena Creative Writing | 1464 | 1357 |
| LMArena Multi-Turn | 1478 | 1405 |
Frequently asked questions
Is Qwen3.5 Max Preview better than Step 3.5 Flash?
Qwen3.5 Max Preview is the stronger model overall, scoring 45.3 to 42.3 on the Noometry Index.
Is Qwen3.5 Max Preview or Step 3.5 Flash better for coding?
Qwen3.5 Max Preview scores higher on coding benchmarks: 44.0 versus 42.4 in the Noometry coding category.
How many benchmarks do Qwen3.5 Max Preview and Step 3.5 Flash share?
17 benchmarks have published results for both models. Qwen3.5 Max Preview has 17 scored results on Noometry and Step 3.5 Flash has 19.