# Gemma 3 4B vs Step 3.5 Flash

> Step 3.5 Flash is the stronger model overall, scoring 42.3 to 28.1 on the Noometry Index. Gemma 3 4B costs 3.0× less per token, which makes it the better buy when Step 3.5 Flash's lead doesn't matter for your workload.

- Canonical page: https://noometry.com/compare/gemma-3-4b-vs-step-3-5-flash
- Last updated: 2026-10-11
- Shared benchmarks: 12

## Summary

- They share 12 benchmarks with published results for both. Gemma 3 4B 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 knowledge, where Step 3.5 Flash leads 39.6 to 11.8.
- Gemma 3 4B is cheaper at $0.04 / $0.08 per million input/output tokens, against $0.10 / $0.30 for Step 3.5 Flash.
- Step 3.5 Flash accepts more context: 256K tokens versus 131K.

## Snapshot

| | Gemma 3 4B | Step 3.5 Flash |
|---|---|---|
| Provider | Google | StepFun |
| Noometry Index | 28.1 | 42.3 |
| Rank | 326 | 116 |
| Context | 131K | 256K |
| Input $/M | $0.04 | $0.10 |
| Output $/M | $0.08 | $0.30 |
| Weights | Open | Open |

## Coding

- Gemma 3 4B: 35.9 (#215)
- Step 3.5 Flash: 42.4 (#105)

| Benchmark | Gemma 3 4B | Step 3.5 Flash |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Coding | 1230 | 1436 |

## Agentic & Tool Use

- Gemma 3 4B: 20.9 (#142)
- Step 3.5 Flash: —

| Benchmark | Gemma 3 4B | Step 3.5 Flash |
|---|---|---|
| Berkeley Function Calling Leaderboard | 19.6% | — |

## Reasoning

- Gemma 3 4B: 13.2 (#335)
- Step 3.5 Flash: 22.2 (#202)

| Benchmark | Gemma 3 4B | Step 3.5 Flash |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Hard Prompts | 1253 | 1411 |
| Kagi LLM Benchmark | 25.2% | — |
| NYT Connections (extended) | — | 28.4% |
| Chess Puzzles | 0% | — |
| DTBench | 50.9% | — |
| LMCA | 2.8% | — |
| Epoch Capabilities Index | 116.02 | — |

## Math

- Gemma 3 4B: 16.8 (#292)
- Step 3.5 Flash: 42.6 (#84)

| Benchmark | Gemma 3 4B | Step 3.5 Flash |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Math | 1239 | 1408 |
| MathArena Final-Answer Competitions | — | 66.8% |
| OTIS Mock AIME 2024-2025 | 7.5% | — |

## Knowledge

- Gemma 3 4B: 11.8 (#299)
- Step 3.5 Flash: 39.6 (#132)

| Benchmark | Gemma 3 4B | Step 3.5 Flash |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Expert | 1223 | 1421 |
| GPQA Diamond | 23.2% | — |
| Vectara Hallucination Rate | 6.4% | — |

## Multilingual

- Gemma 3 4B: 42.5 (#194)
- Step 3.5 Flash: 50.5 (#119)

| Benchmark | Gemma 3 4B | Step 3.5 Flash |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Non-English | 1273 | 1385 |
| LMArena German | 1281 | 1405 |
| LMArena Russian | 1294 | 1385 |
| LMArena Chinese | — | 1447 |
| LMArena French | — | 1421 |
| LMArena Japanese | — | 1354 |
| LMArena Korean | — | 1352 |
| LMArena Spanish | — | 1419 |

## Instruction Following

- Gemma 3 4B: 65.2 (#225)
- Step 3.5 Flash: 73.1 (#124)

| Benchmark | Gemma 3 4B | Step 3.5 Flash |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Instruction Following | 1239 | 1385 |

## Long Context

- Gemma 3 4B: 38.7 (#194)
- Step 3.5 Flash: 42.8 (#117)

| Benchmark | Gemma 3 4B | Step 3.5 Flash |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Longer Query | 1273 | 1402 |

## Writing & Preference

- Gemma 3 4B: 42.0 (#239)
- Step 3.5 Flash: 58.8 (#113)

| Benchmark | Gemma 3 4B | Step 3.5 Flash |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Text | 1291 | 1403 |
| LMArena Creative Writing | 1271 | 1357 |
| LMArena Multi-Turn | 1255 | 1405 |
| EQ-Bench Creative Writing | 1068 | — |

## FAQ

### Is Gemma 3 4B better than Step 3.5 Flash?

Step 3.5 Flash is the stronger model overall, scoring 42.3 to 28.1 on the Noometry Index. Gemma 3 4B costs 3.0× less per token, which makes it the better buy when Step 3.5 Flash's lead doesn't matter for your workload.

### Which is cheaper, Gemma 3 4B or Step 3.5 Flash?

Gemma 3 4B is cheaper. It lists at $0.04 per million input tokens and $0.08 per million output tokens; Step 3.5 Flash lists at $0.10 and $0.30.

### Is Gemma 3 4B or Step 3.5 Flash better for coding?

Step 3.5 Flash scores higher on coding benchmarks: 42.4 versus 35.9 in the Noometry coding category.

### Which has the bigger context window?

Step 3.5 Flash does, with 256K tokens against 131K.

### How many benchmarks do Gemma 3 4B and Step 3.5 Flash share?

12 benchmarks have published results for both models. Gemma 3 4B has 22 scored results on Noometry and Step 3.5 Flash has 19.