Model comparison
Qwen3.6 Flash vs Step 3.5 Flash
Step 3.5 Flash is the stronger model overall, scoring 42.3 to 38.8 on the Noometry Index.
Last verified . 0 shared benchmarks.
Alibaba (Qwen)
StepFunSummary
- The widest gap is in reasoning, where Qwen3.6 Flash leads 29.0 to 22.2.
- Step 3.5 Flash is cheaper at $0.10 / $0.30 per million input/output tokens, against $0.19 / $1.13 for Qwen3.6 Flash.
- Qwen3.6 Flash accepts more context: 1M tokens versus 256K.
- Step 3.5 Flash has downloadable open weights; the other is API-only.
Side by side
| Qwen3.6 Flash | Step 3.5 Flash | |
|---|---|---|
| Provider | Alibaba (Qwen) | StepFun |
| Noometry Index | 38.8 | 42.3 |
| Released | 2026-04-27 | 2026-01-29 |
| Weights | Proprietary | Open |
| Context window | 1M | 256K |
| Max output | 66K | 256K |
| Input $ / M tokens | $0.19 | $0.10 |
| Output $ / M tokens | $1.13 | $0.30 |
| Results tracked | 13 | 19 |
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Category by category
Coding Not comparable
Qwen3.6 Flash: —, Step 3.5 Flash: 42.4 (#105)
| Benchmark | Qwen3.6 Flash | Step 3.5 Flash |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Coding | — | 1436 |
| ALE-Bench | 326.4 | — |
Reasoning Qwen3.6 Flash leads
Qwen3.6 Flash: 29.0 (#96), Step 3.5 Flash: 22.2 (#202)
| Benchmark | Qwen3.6 Flash | Step 3.5 Flash |
|---|---|---|
| SimpleBench | 35.2% | — |
| NYT Connections (extended) | — | 28.4% |
| Chess Puzzles | 20% | — |
| LMArena Hard Prompts | — | 1411 |
| Mystery Game Puzzles | 18% | — |
| DTBench | 77.1% | — |
| LMCA | 31% | — |
| Epoch Capabilities Index | 143.26 | — |
Math Step 3.5 Flash leads
Qwen3.6 Flash: 39.0 (#117), Step 3.5 Flash: 42.6 (#84)
| Benchmark | Qwen3.6 Flash | Step 3.5 Flash |
|---|---|---|
| FrontierMath (Tiers 1-3) | 22.5% | — |
| MathArena Final-Answer Competitions | — | 66.8% |
| OTIS Mock AIME 2024-2025 | 84.4% | — |
| LMArena Math | — | 1408 |
| FrontierMath (Feb 2025 set) | 10.3% | — |
| FrontierMath Tier 4 (v1) | 0% | — |
Knowledge Qwen3.6 Flash leads
Qwen3.6 Flash: 42.1 (#100), Step 3.5 Flash: 39.6 (#132)
| Benchmark | Qwen3.6 Flash | Step 3.5 Flash |
|---|---|---|
| GPQA Diamond | 83.3% | — |
| SimpleQA Verified | 15.9% | — |
| LMArena Expert | — | 1421 |
Multilingual Not comparable
Qwen3.6 Flash: —, Step 3.5 Flash: 50.5 (#119)
| Benchmark | Qwen3.6 Flash | 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
Qwen3.6 Flash: —, Step 3.5 Flash: 73.1 (#124)
| Benchmark | Qwen3.6 Flash | Step 3.5 Flash |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Instruction Following | — | 1385 |
Long Context Not comparable
Qwen3.6 Flash: —, Step 3.5 Flash: 42.8 (#117)
| Benchmark | Qwen3.6 Flash | Step 3.5 Flash |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Longer Query | — | 1402 |
Writing & Preference Not comparable
Qwen3.6 Flash: —, Step 3.5 Flash: 58.8 (#113)
| Benchmark | Qwen3.6 Flash | Step 3.5 Flash |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Text | — | 1403 |
| LMArena Creative Writing | — | 1357 |
| LMArena Multi-Turn | — | 1405 |
Frequently asked questions
Is Qwen3.6 Flash better than Step 3.5 Flash?
Step 3.5 Flash is the stronger model overall, scoring 42.3 to 38.8 on the Noometry Index.
Which is cheaper, Qwen3.6 Flash 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; Qwen3.6 Flash lists at $0.19 and $1.13.
Which has the bigger context window?
Qwen3.6 Flash does, with 1M tokens against 256K.
How many benchmarks do Qwen3.6 Flash and Step 3.5 Flash share?
0 benchmarks have published results for both models. Qwen3.6 Flash has 13 scored results on Noometry and Step 3.5 Flash has 19.