# Gemma 3n E4b IT vs Step 5 Preview

> Step 5 Preview is the stronger model overall, scoring 43.8 to 36.7 on the Noometry Index. Gemma 3n E4b IT costs 19× less per token, which makes it the better buy when Step 5 Preview's lead doesn't matter for your workload.

- Canonical page: https://noometry.com/compare/gemma-3n-e4b-it-vs-step-5-preview
- Last updated: 2026-10-10
- Shared benchmarks: 0

## Summary

- The widest gap is in reasoning, where Step 5 Preview leads 38.0 to 19.2.
- Gemma 3n E4b IT is cheaper at $0.06 / $0.12 per million input/output tokens, against $1 / $2.70 for Step 5 Preview.
- Step 5 Preview accepts more context: 1.02M tokens versus 33K.
- Gemma 3n E4b IT has downloadable open weights; the other is API-only.

## Snapshot

| | Gemma 3n E4b IT | Step 5 Preview |
|---|---|---|
| Provider | Google | StepFun |
| Noometry Index | 36.7 | 43.8 |
| Rank | 203 | 78 |
| Context | 33K | 1.02M |
| Input $/M | $0.06 | $1 |
| Output $/M | $0.12 | $2.70 |
| Weights | Open | Proprietary |

## Coding

- Gemma 3n E4b IT: 36.4 (#193)
- Step 5 Preview: 50.6 (#40)

| Benchmark | Gemma 3n E4b IT | Step 5 Preview |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena WebDev | — | 1569 |
| SciCode | — | 58.9% |
| LMArena Coding | 1269 | — |

## Reasoning

- Gemma 3n E4b IT: 19.2 (#239)
- Step 5 Preview: 38.0 (#58)

| Benchmark | Gemma 3n E4b IT | Step 5 Preview |
|---|---|---|
| Kagi LLM Benchmark | 31.5% | — |
| CritPt | — | 20.9% |
| LMArena Hard Prompts | 1284 | — |

## Math

- Gemma 3n E4b IT: 32.5 (#186)
- Step 5 Preview: —

| Benchmark | Gemma 3n E4b IT | Step 5 Preview |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Math | 1251 | — |

## Knowledge

- Gemma 3n E4b IT: 33.6 (#193)
- Step 5 Preview: —

| Benchmark | Gemma 3n E4b IT | Step 5 Preview |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Expert | 1245 | — |

## Multilingual

- Gemma 3n E4b IT: 43.5 (#179)
- Step 5 Preview: —

| Benchmark | Gemma 3n E4b IT | Step 5 Preview |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Non-English | 1285 | — |
| LMArena Chinese | 1310 | — |
| LMArena French | 1330 | — |
| LMArena German | 1312 | — |
| LMArena Japanese | 1274 | — |
| LMArena Korean | 1259 | — |
| LMArena Russian | 1288 | — |
| LMArena Spanish | 1305 | — |

## Instruction Following

- Gemma 3n E4b IT: 66.3 (#205)
- Step 5 Preview: —

| Benchmark | Gemma 3n E4b IT | Step 5 Preview |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Instruction Following | 1255 | — |

## Long Context

- Gemma 3n E4b IT: 38.8 (#185)
- Step 5 Preview: —

| Benchmark | Gemma 3n E4b IT | Step 5 Preview |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Longer Query | 1277 | — |

## Writing & Preference

- Gemma 3n E4b IT: 50.3 (#181)
- Step 5 Preview: —

| Benchmark | Gemma 3n E4b IT | Step 5 Preview |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Text | 1306 | — |
| LMArena Creative Writing | 1287 | — |
| LMArena Multi-Turn | 1276 | — |

## FAQ

### Is Gemma 3n E4b IT better than Step 5 Preview?

Step 5 Preview is the stronger model overall, scoring 43.8 to 36.7 on the Noometry Index. Gemma 3n E4b IT costs 19× less per token, which makes it the better buy when Step 5 Preview's lead doesn't matter for your workload.

### Which is cheaper, Gemma 3n E4b IT or Step 5 Preview?

Gemma 3n E4b IT is cheaper. It lists at $0.06 per million input tokens and $0.12 per million output tokens; Step 5 Preview lists at $1 and $2.70.

### Is Gemma 3n E4b IT or Step 5 Preview better for coding?

Step 5 Preview scores higher on coding benchmarks: 50.6 versus 36.4 in the Noometry coding category.

### Which has the bigger context window?

Step 5 Preview does, with 1.02M tokens against 33K.

### How many benchmarks do Gemma 3n E4b IT and Step 5 Preview share?

0 benchmarks have published results for both models. Gemma 3n E4b IT has 18 scored results on Noometry and Step 5 Preview has 3.