# Grok 4.1 vs Step 3

> Grok 4.1 is the stronger model overall, scoring 41.5 to 40.5 on the Noometry Index.

- Canonical page: https://noometry.com/compare/grok-4-1-vs-step-3
- Last updated: 2026-10-10
- Shared benchmarks: 15

## Summary

- They share 15 benchmarks with published results for both. Grok 4.1 scores higher in 7 categories and Step 3 in 1 category; 8 gaps are clear of the uncertainty.
- The widest gap is in writing & preference, where Grok 4.1 leads 62.4 to 54.3.
- Step 3 has downloadable open weights; the other is API-only.

## Snapshot

| | Grok 4.1 | Step 3 |
|---|---|---|
| Provider | xAI | StepFun |
| Noometry Index | 41.5 | 40.5 |
| Rank | 134 | 149 |
| Context | — | — |
| Input $/M | — | — |
| Output $/M | — | — |
| Weights | Proprietary | Open |

## Coding

- Grok 4.1: 33.7 (#253)
- Step 3: 40.1 (#147)

| Benchmark | Grok 4.1 | Step 3 |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Coding | 1445 | 1367 |
| LMArena WebDev | 1214 | — |

## Agentic & Tool Use

- Grok 4.1: 34.1 (#49)
- Step 3: —

| Benchmark | Grok 4.1 | Step 3 |
|---|---|---|
| Cybench | 39% | — |

## Reasoning

- Grok 4.1: 29.5 (#91)
- Step 3: 28.4 (#105)

| Benchmark | Grok 4.1 | Step 3 |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Hard Prompts | 1435 | 1355 |
| Kagi LLM Benchmark | — | 62.3% |

## Math

- Grok 4.1: 38.9 (#120)
- Step 3: 37.6 (#148)

| Benchmark | Grok 4.1 | Step 3 |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Math | 1422 | 1366 |

## Knowledge

- Grok 4.1: 39.5 (#133)
- Step 3: 36.8 (#164)

| Benchmark | Grok 4.1 | Step 3 |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Expert | 1417 | 1333 |

## Multimodal

- Grok 4.1: —
- Step 3: 35.5 (#86)

| Benchmark | Grok 4.1 | Step 3 |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Vision | — | 1177 |

## Multilingual

- Grok 4.1: 53.4 (#68)
- Step 3: 46.3 (#159)

| Benchmark | Grok 4.1 | Step 3 |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Non-English | 1425 | 1327 |
| LMArena Chinese | 1465 | 1397 |
| LMArena German | 1446 | 1371 |
| LMArena Korean | 1407 | 1269 |
| LMArena Russian | 1434 | 1331 |
| LMArena Spanish | 1438 | 1371 |
| LMArena French | 1448 | — |
| LMArena Japanese | 1397 | — |

## Instruction Following

- Grok 4.1: 73.8 (#111)
- Step 3: 70.4 (#164)

| Benchmark | Grok 4.1 | Step 3 |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Instruction Following | 1400 | 1332 |

## Long Context

- Grok 4.1: 43.2 (#100)
- Step 3: 40.3 (#157)

| Benchmark | Grok 4.1 | Step 3 |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Longer Query | 1416 | 1326 |

## Writing & Preference

- Grok 4.1: 62.4 (#75)
- Step 3: 54.3 (#151)

| Benchmark | Grok 4.1 | Step 3 |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Text | 1437 | 1350 |
| LMArena Creative Writing | 1411 | 1321 |
| LMArena Multi-Turn | 1437 | 1341 |

## FAQ

### Is Grok 4.1 better than Step 3?

Grok 4.1 is the stronger model overall, scoring 41.5 to 40.5 on the Noometry Index.

### Is Grok 4.1 or Step 3 better for coding?

Step 3 scores higher on coding benchmarks: 40.1 versus 33.7 in the Noometry coding category.

### How many benchmarks do Grok 4.1 and Step 3 share?

15 benchmarks have published results for both models. Grok 4.1 has 19 scored results on Noometry and Step 3 has 17.