# Gemma 3 4B vs Step 3

> Step 3 is the stronger model overall, scoring 40.5 to 28.1 on the Noometry Index.

- Canonical page: https://noometry.com/compare/gemma-3-4b-vs-step-3
- Last updated: 2026-10-12
- Shared benchmarks: 13

## Summary

- They share 13 benchmarks with published results for both. Gemma 3 4B scores higher in 0 categories and Step 3 in 8 categories; 8 gaps are clear of the uncertainty.
- The widest gap is in knowledge, where Step 3 leads 36.8 to 11.8.
- The biggest single-benchmark swing is Kagi LLM Benchmark: 25.2% for Gemma 3 4B and 62.3% for Step 3.

## Snapshot

| | Gemma 3 4B | Step 3 |
|---|---|---|
| Provider | Google | StepFun |
| Noometry Index | 28.1 | 40.5 |
| Rank | 326 | 149 |
| Context | 131K | — |
| Input $/M | $0.04 | — |
| Output $/M | $0.08 | — |
| Weights | Open | Open |

## Coding

- Gemma 3 4B: 35.9 (#215)
- Step 3: 40.1 (#147)

| Benchmark | Gemma 3 4B | Step 3 |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Coding | 1230 | 1367 |

## Agentic & Tool Use

- Gemma 3 4B: 20.9 (#142)
- Step 3: —

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

## Reasoning

- Gemma 3 4B: 13.2 (#335)
- Step 3: 28.4 (#105)

| Benchmark | Gemma 3 4B | Step 3 |
|---|---|---|
| Kagi LLM Benchmark | 25.2% | 62.3% |
| LMArena Hard Prompts | 1253 | 1355 |
| Chess Puzzles | 0% | — |
| DTBench | 50.9% | — |
| LMCA | 2.8% | — |
| Epoch Capabilities Index | 116.02 | — |

## Math

- Gemma 3 4B: 16.8 (#292)
- Step 3: 37.6 (#148)

| Benchmark | Gemma 3 4B | Step 3 |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Math | 1239 | 1366 |
| OTIS Mock AIME 2024-2025 | 7.5% | — |

## Knowledge

- Gemma 3 4B: 11.8 (#299)
- Step 3: 36.8 (#164)

| Benchmark | Gemma 3 4B | Step 3 |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Expert | 1223 | 1333 |
| GPQA Diamond | 23.2% | — |
| Vectara Hallucination Rate | 6.4% | — |

## Multimodal

- Gemma 3 4B: —
- Step 3: 35.5 (#86)

| Benchmark | Gemma 3 4B | Step 3 |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Vision | — | 1177 |

## Multilingual

- Gemma 3 4B: 42.5 (#194)
- Step 3: 46.3 (#159)

| Benchmark | Gemma 3 4B | Step 3 |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Non-English | 1273 | 1327 |
| LMArena German | 1281 | 1371 |
| LMArena Russian | 1294 | 1331 |
| LMArena Chinese | — | 1397 |
| LMArena Korean | — | 1269 |
| LMArena Spanish | — | 1371 |

## Instruction Following

- Gemma 3 4B: 65.2 (#225)
- Step 3: 70.4 (#164)

| Benchmark | Gemma 3 4B | Step 3 |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Instruction Following | 1239 | 1332 |

## Long Context

- Gemma 3 4B: 38.7 (#194)
- Step 3: 40.3 (#157)

| Benchmark | Gemma 3 4B | Step 3 |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Longer Query | 1273 | 1326 |

## Writing & Preference

- Gemma 3 4B: 42.0 (#239)
- Step 3: 54.3 (#151)

| Benchmark | Gemma 3 4B | Step 3 |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Text | 1291 | 1350 |
| LMArena Creative Writing | 1271 | 1321 |
| LMArena Multi-Turn | 1255 | 1341 |
| EQ-Bench Creative Writing | 1068 | — |

## FAQ

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

Step 3 is the stronger model overall, scoring 40.5 to 28.1 on the Noometry Index.

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

Step 3 scores higher on coding benchmarks: 40.1 versus 35.9 in the Noometry coding category.

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

13 benchmarks have published results for both models. Gemma 3 4B has 22 scored results on Noometry and Step 3 has 17.