# Grok 4.1 vs Step 3.5 Flash

> Grok 4.1 and Step 3.5 Flash score almost the same on the Noometry Index (41.5 vs 42.3), so choose on price, context window or the category you care about most.

- Canonical page: https://noometry.com/compare/grok-4-1-vs-step-3-5-flash
- Last updated: 2026-10-10
- Shared benchmarks: 17

## Summary

- They share 17 benchmarks with published results for both. Grok 4.1 scores higher in 5 categories and Step 3.5 Flash in 3 categories; 5 gaps are clear of the uncertainty.
- The widest gap is in coding, where Step 3.5 Flash leads 42.4 to 33.7.
- Step 3.5 Flash has downloadable open weights; the other is API-only.

## Snapshot

| | Grok 4.1 | Step 3.5 Flash |
|---|---|---|
| Provider | xAI | StepFun |
| Noometry Index | 41.5 | 42.3 |
| Rank | 134 | 116 |
| Context | — | 256K |
| Input $/M | — | $0.10 |
| Output $/M | — | $0.30 |
| Weights | Proprietary | Open |

## Coding

- Grok 4.1: 33.7 (#253)
- Step 3.5 Flash: 42.4 (#105)

| Benchmark | Grok 4.1 | Step 3.5 Flash |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Coding | 1445 | 1436 |
| LMArena WebDev | 1214 | — |

## Agentic & Tool Use

- Grok 4.1: 34.1 (#49)
- Step 3.5 Flash: —

| Benchmark | Grok 4.1 | Step 3.5 Flash |
|---|---|---|
| Cybench | 39% | — |

## Reasoning

- Grok 4.1: 29.5 (#91)
- Step 3.5 Flash: 22.2 (#202)

| Benchmark | Grok 4.1 | Step 3.5 Flash |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Hard Prompts | 1435 | 1411 |
| NYT Connections (extended) | — | 28.4% |

## Math

- Grok 4.1: 38.9 (#120)
- Step 3.5 Flash: 42.6 (#84)

| Benchmark | Grok 4.1 | Step 3.5 Flash |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Math | 1422 | 1408 |
| MathArena Final-Answer Competitions | — | 66.8% |

## Knowledge

- Grok 4.1: 39.5 (#133)
- Step 3.5 Flash: 39.6 (#132)

| Benchmark | Grok 4.1 | Step 3.5 Flash |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Expert | 1417 | 1421 |

## Multilingual

- Grok 4.1: 53.4 (#68)
- Step 3.5 Flash: 50.5 (#119)

| Benchmark | Grok 4.1 | Step 3.5 Flash |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Non-English | 1425 | 1385 |
| LMArena Chinese | 1465 | 1447 |
| LMArena French | 1448 | 1421 |
| LMArena German | 1446 | 1405 |
| LMArena Japanese | 1397 | 1354 |
| LMArena Korean | 1407 | 1352 |
| LMArena Russian | 1434 | 1385 |
| LMArena Spanish | 1438 | 1419 |

## Instruction Following

- Grok 4.1: 73.8 (#111)
- Step 3.5 Flash: 73.1 (#124)

| Benchmark | Grok 4.1 | Step 3.5 Flash |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Instruction Following | 1400 | 1385 |

## Long Context

- Grok 4.1: 43.2 (#100)
- Step 3.5 Flash: 42.8 (#117)

| Benchmark | Grok 4.1 | Step 3.5 Flash |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Longer Query | 1416 | 1402 |

## Writing & Preference

- Grok 4.1: 62.4 (#75)
- Step 3.5 Flash: 58.8 (#113)

| Benchmark | Grok 4.1 | Step 3.5 Flash |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Text | 1437 | 1403 |
| LMArena Creative Writing | 1411 | 1357 |
| LMArena Multi-Turn | 1437 | 1405 |

## FAQ

### Is Grok 4.1 better than Step 3.5 Flash?

Grok 4.1 and Step 3.5 Flash score almost the same on the Noometry Index (41.5 vs 42.3), so choose on price, context window or the category you care about most.

### Is Grok 4.1 or Step 3.5 Flash better for coding?

Step 3.5 Flash scores higher on coding benchmarks: 42.4 versus 33.7 in the Noometry coding category.

### How many benchmarks do Grok 4.1 and Step 3.5 Flash share?

17 benchmarks have published results for both models. Grok 4.1 has 19 scored results on Noometry and Step 3.5 Flash has 19.