# Gemini 2.0 Flash-Lite vs Step 3.5 Flash

> Step 3.5 Flash is the stronger model overall, scoring 41.7 to 37.3 on the Noometry Index.

- Canonical page: https://noometry.com/compare/gemini-2-0-flash-lite-vs-step-3-5-flash
- Last updated: 2026-10-10
- Shared benchmarks: 17

## Summary

- They share 17 benchmarks with published results for both. Gemini 2.0 Flash-Lite scores higher in 0 categories and Step 3.5 Flash in 8 categories; 7 gaps are clear of the uncertainty.
- The widest gap is in math, where Step 3.5 Flash leads 40.6 to 31.8.
- Step 3.5 Flash has downloadable open weights; the other is API-only.

## Snapshot

| | Gemini 2.0 Flash-Lite | Step 3.5 Flash |
|---|---|---|
| Provider | Google | StepFun |
| Noometry Index | 37.3 | 41.7 |
| Rank | 189 | 116 |
| Context | — | 256K |
| Input $/M | — | $0.10 |
| Output $/M | — | $0.30 |
| Weights | Proprietary | Open |

## Coding

- Gemini 2.0 Flash-Lite: 37.4 (#181)
- Step 3.5 Flash: 41.7 (#106)

| Benchmark | Gemini 2.0 Flash-Lite | Step 3.5 Flash |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Coding | 1322 | 1436 |
| LiveBench Coding | 47.1% | — |

## Reasoning

- Gemini 2.0 Flash-Lite: 21.2 (#203)
- Step 3.5 Flash: 21.2 (#202)

| Benchmark | Gemini 2.0 Flash-Lite | Step 3.5 Flash |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Hard Prompts | 1324 | 1411 |
| NYT Connections (extended) | — | 28.4% |
| LiveBench Reasoning | 50.1% | — |
| DTBench | 52.5% | — |
| LiveBench Data Analysis | 65.5% | — |
| ForecastBench | 57.1 | — |
| LiveBench | 54.3% | — |

## Math

- Gemini 2.0 Flash-Lite: 31.8 (#192)
- Step 3.5 Flash: 40.6 (#77)

| Benchmark | Gemini 2.0 Flash-Lite | Step 3.5 Flash |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Math | 1309 | 1408 |
| MathArena Final-Answer Competitions | — | 66.8% |
| Omni-MATH | 37.4% | — |
| LiveBench Math | 58.1% | — |

## Knowledge

- Gemini 2.0 Flash-Lite: 34.6 (#185)
- Step 3.5 Flash: 39.0 (#127)

| Benchmark | Gemini 2.0 Flash-Lite | Step 3.5 Flash |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Expert | 1305 | 1422 |
| MMLU-Pro | 72% | — |
| GPQA (HELM) | 50% | — |

## Multimodal

- Gemini 2.0 Flash-Lite: 30.6 (#103)
- Step 3.5 Flash: —

| Benchmark | Gemini 2.0 Flash-Lite | Step 3.5 Flash |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Vision | 1100 | — |

## Multilingual

- Gemini 2.0 Flash-Lite: 46.2 (#156)
- Step 3.5 Flash: 50.7 (#115)

| Benchmark | Gemini 2.0 Flash-Lite | Step 3.5 Flash |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Non-English | 1323 | 1386 |
| LMArena Chinese | 1339 | 1448 |
| LMArena French | 1346 | 1421 |
| LMArena German | 1306 | 1404 |
| LMArena Japanese | 1302 | 1353 |
| LMArena Korean | 1325 | 1350 |
| LMArena Russian | 1328 | 1385 |
| LMArena Spanish | 1313 | 1419 |

## Instruction Following

- Gemini 2.0 Flash-Lite: 70.6 (#158)
- Step 3.5 Flash: 73.3 (#119)

| Benchmark | Gemini 2.0 Flash-Lite | Step 3.5 Flash |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Instruction Following | 1305 | 1385 |
| LiveBench Instruction Following | 78.3% | — |
| IFEval | 82.4% | — |

## Long Context

- Gemini 2.0 Flash-Lite: 40.1 (#155)
- Step 3.5 Flash: 42.8 (#112)

| Benchmark | Gemini 2.0 Flash-Lite | Step 3.5 Flash |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Longer Query | 1321 | 1402 |

## Writing & Preference

- Gemini 2.0 Flash-Lite: 51.9 (#172)
- Step 3.5 Flash: 59.0 (#108)

| Benchmark | Gemini 2.0 Flash-Lite | Step 3.5 Flash |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Text | 1330 | 1403 |
| LMArena Creative Writing | 1319 | 1357 |
| LMArena Multi-Turn | 1307 | 1405 |
| WildBench | 79% | — |
| LiveBench Language | 34.3% | — |

## FAQ

### Is Gemini 2.0 Flash-Lite better than Step 3.5 Flash?

Step 3.5 Flash is the stronger model overall, scoring 41.7 to 37.3 on the Noometry Index.

### Is Gemini 2.0 Flash-Lite or Step 3.5 Flash better for coding?

Step 3.5 Flash scores higher on coding benchmarks: 41.7 versus 37.4 in the Noometry coding category.

### How many benchmarks do Gemini 2.0 Flash-Lite and Step 3.5 Flash share?

17 benchmarks have published results for both models. Gemini 2.0 Flash-Lite has 32 scored results on Noometry and Step 3.5 Flash has 19.