# ERNIE 5.1 vs Step 3

> ERNIE 5.1 is the stronger model overall, scoring 43.1 to 39.9 on the Noometry Index.

- Canonical page: https://noometry.com/compare/ernie-5-1-vs-step-3
- Last updated: 2026-10-10
- Shared benchmarks: 15

## Summary

- They share 15 benchmarks with published results for both. ERNIE 5.1 scores higher in 7 categories and Step 3 in 1 category; 8 gaps are clear of the uncertainty.
- The widest gap is in writing & preference, where ERNIE 5.1 leads 65.3 to 54.5.
- Step 3 has downloadable open weights; the other is API-only.

## Snapshot

| | ERNIE 5.1 | Step 3 |
|---|---|---|
| Provider | Baidu | StepFun |
| Noometry Index | 43.1 | 39.9 |
| Rank | 87 | 145 |
| Context | — | — |
| Input $/M | — | — |
| Output $/M | — | — |
| Weights | Proprietary | Open |

## Coding

- ERNIE 5.1: 43.4 (#78)
- Step 3: 39.5 (#144)

| Benchmark | ERNIE 5.1 | Step 3 |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Coding | 1488 | 1367 |

## Agentic & Tool Use

- ERNIE 5.1: —
- Step 3: —

| Benchmark | ERNIE 5.1 | Step 3 |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Search | 1227 | — |

## Reasoning

- ERNIE 5.1: 20.9 (#209)
- Step 3: 27.6 (#102)

| Benchmark | ERNIE 5.1 | Step 3 |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Hard Prompts | 1481 | 1355 |
| Kagi LLM Benchmark | — | 62.3% |
| NYT Connections (extended) | 23.4% | — |

## Math

- ERNIE 5.1: 37.5 (#96)
- Step 3: 34.9 (#148)

| Benchmark | ERNIE 5.1 | Step 3 |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Math | 1481 | 1366 |

## Knowledge

- ERNIE 5.1: 41.2 (#103)
- Step 3: 36.2 (#161)

| Benchmark | ERNIE 5.1 | Step 3 |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Expert | 1491 | 1333 |

## Multimodal

- ERNIE 5.1: —
- Step 3: 34.9 (#81)

| Benchmark | ERNIE 5.1 | Step 3 |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Vision | — | 1176 |

## Multilingual

- ERNIE 5.1: 55.7 (#28)
- Step 3: 46.5 (#154)

| Benchmark | ERNIE 5.1 | Step 3 |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Non-English | 1455 | 1327 |
| LMArena Chinese | 1507 | 1396 |
| LMArena German | 1470 | 1371 |
| LMArena Korean | 1428 | 1271 |
| LMArena Russian | 1459 | 1331 |
| LMArena Spanish | 1472 | 1372 |
| LMArena French | 1486 | — |
| LMArena Japanese | 1422 | — |

## Instruction Following

- ERNIE 5.1: 76.9 (#35)
- Step 3: 70.6 (#159)

| Benchmark | ERNIE 5.1 | Step 3 |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Instruction Following | 1460 | 1332 |

## Long Context

- ERNIE 5.1: 44.7 (#56)
- Step 3: 40.3 (#152)

| Benchmark | ERNIE 5.1 | Step 3 |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Longer Query | 1462 | 1326 |

## Writing & Preference

- ERNIE 5.1: 65.3 (#50)
- Step 3: 54.5 (#146)

| Benchmark | ERNIE 5.1 | Step 3 |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Text | 1468 | 1351 |
| LMArena Creative Writing | 1440 | 1322 |
| LMArena Multi-Turn | 1471 | 1340 |

## FAQ

### Is ERNIE 5.1 better than Step 3?

ERNIE 5.1 is the stronger model overall, scoring 43.1 to 39.9 on the Noometry Index.

### Is ERNIE 5.1 or Step 3 better for coding?

ERNIE 5.1 scores higher on coding benchmarks: 43.4 versus 39.5 in the Noometry coding category.

### How many benchmarks do ERNIE 5.1 and Step 3 share?

15 benchmarks have published results for both models. ERNIE 5.1 has 19 scored results on Noometry and Step 3 has 17.