# Gemma 2 9B vs Step 3.5 Flash

> Step 3.5 Flash is the stronger model overall, scoring 41.7 to 25.7 on the Noometry Index.

- Canonical page: https://noometry.com/compare/gemma-2-9b-vs-step-3-5-flash
- Last updated: 2026-10-10
- Shared benchmarks: 17

## Summary

- They share 17 benchmarks with published results for both. Gemma 2 9B scores higher in 0 categories and Step 3.5 Flash in 8 categories; 8 gaps are clear of the uncertainty.
- The widest gap is in math, where Step 3.5 Flash leads 40.6 to 9.3.

## Snapshot

| | Gemma 2 9B | Step 3.5 Flash |
|---|---|---|
| Provider | Google | StepFun |
| Noometry Index | 25.7 | 41.7 |
| Rank | 334 | 116 |
| Context | — | 256K |
| Input $/M | — | $0.10 |
| Output $/M | — | $0.30 |
| Weights | Open | Open |

## Coding

- Gemma 2 9B: 29.0 (#299)
- Step 3.5 Flash: 41.7 (#106)

| Benchmark | Gemma 2 9B | Step 3.5 Flash |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Coding | 1174 | 1436 |
| BigCodeBench Instruct | 34.7% | — |
| LiveBench Coding | 22.5% | — |
| BigCodeBench Complete | 40.6% | — |

## Reasoning

- Gemma 2 9B: 15.3 (#306)
- Step 3.5 Flash: 21.2 (#202)

| Benchmark | Gemma 2 9B | Step 3.5 Flash |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Hard Prompts | 1172 | 1411 |
| NYT Connections (extended) | — | 28.4% |
| LiveBench Reasoning | 15.2% | — |
| LiveBench Data Analysis | 36.4% | — |
| Epoch Capabilities Index | 119.78 | — |
| LiveBench | 28.7% | — |
| PIQA | 83.7% | — |

## Math

- Gemma 2 9B: 9.3 (#312)
- Step 3.5 Flash: 40.6 (#77)

| Benchmark | Gemma 2 9B | Step 3.5 Flash |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Math | 1183 | 1408 |
| MathArena Final-Answer Competitions | — | 66.8% |
| OTIS Mock AIME 2024-2025 | 0.6% | — |
| LiveBench Math | 19.8% | — |
| MATH Level 5 | 21% | — |
| GSM8K | 84.9% | — |

## Knowledge

- Gemma 2 9B: 9.7 (#300)
- Step 3.5 Flash: 39.0 (#127)

| Benchmark | Gemma 2 9B | Step 3.5 Flash |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Expert | 1147 | 1422 |
| GPQA Diamond | 27.5% | — |
| BoolQ | 85.7% | — |
| MMLU | 72.1% | — |

## Multilingual

- Gemma 2 9B: 36.8 (#233)
- Step 3.5 Flash: 50.7 (#115)

| Benchmark | Gemma 2 9B | Step 3.5 Flash |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Non-English | 1188 | 1386 |
| LMArena Chinese | 1185 | 1448 |
| LMArena French | 1189 | 1421 |
| LMArena German | 1186 | 1404 |
| LMArena Japanese | 1144 | 1353 |
| LMArena Korean | 1137 | 1350 |
| LMArena Russian | 1200 | 1385 |
| LMArena Spanish | 1200 | 1419 |

## Instruction Following

- Gemma 2 9B: 57.8 (#264)
- Step 3.5 Flash: 73.3 (#119)

| Benchmark | Gemma 2 9B | Step 3.5 Flash |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Instruction Following | 1178 | 1385 |
| LiveBench Instruction Following | 52.6% | — |

## Long Context

- Gemma 2 9B: 36.3 (#228)
- Step 3.5 Flash: 42.8 (#112)

| Benchmark | Gemma 2 9B | Step 3.5 Flash |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Longer Query | 1197 | 1402 |

## Writing & Preference

- Gemma 2 9B: 32.3 (#276)
- Step 3.5 Flash: 59.0 (#108)

| Benchmark | Gemma 2 9B | Step 3.5 Flash |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Text | 1207 | 1403 |
| LMArena Creative Writing | 1206 | 1357 |
| LMArena Multi-Turn | 1193 | 1405 |
| EQ-Bench Creative Writing | 841 | — |
| LiveBench Language | 25.5% | — |

## FAQ

### Is Gemma 2 9B better than Step 3.5 Flash?

Step 3.5 Flash is the stronger model overall, scoring 41.7 to 25.7 on the Noometry Index.

### Is Gemma 2 9B or Step 3.5 Flash better for coding?

Step 3.5 Flash scores higher on coding benchmarks: 41.7 versus 29.0 in the Noometry coding category.

### How many benchmarks do Gemma 2 9B and Step 3.5 Flash share?

17 benchmarks have published results for both models. Gemma 2 9B has 35 scored results on Noometry and Step 3.5 Flash has 19.