# Kimi K2.6 vs Step 3.5 Flash

> Kimi K2.6 is the stronger model overall, scoring 47.7 to 42.3 on the Noometry Index. Step 3.5 Flash costs 11× less per token, which makes it the better buy when Kimi K2.6's lead doesn't matter for your workload.

- Canonical page: https://noometry.com/compare/kimi-k2-6-vs-step-3-5-flash
- Last updated: 2026-10-11
- Shared benchmarks: 19

## Summary

- They share 19 benchmarks with published results for both. Kimi K2.6 scores higher in 8 categories and Step 3.5 Flash in 0 categories; 8 gaps are clear of the uncertainty.
- The widest gap is in reasoning, where Kimi K2.6 leads 40.5 to 22.2.
- The biggest single-benchmark swing is NYT Connections (extended): 87.2% for Kimi K2.6 and 28.4% for Step 3.5 Flash.
- Step 3.5 Flash is cheaper at $0.10 / $0.30 per million input/output tokens, against $0.95 / $4 for Kimi K2.6.
- Kimi K2.6 accepts more context: 262K tokens versus 256K.

## Snapshot

| | Kimi K2.6 | Step 3.5 Flash |
|---|---|---|
| Provider | Moonshot AI | StepFun |
| Noometry Index | 47.7 | 42.3 |
| Rank | 60 | 116 |
| Context | 262K | 256K |
| Input $/M | $0.95 | $0.10 |
| Output $/M | $4 | $0.30 |
| Weights | Open | Open |

## Coding

- Kimi K2.6: 50.7 (#43)
- Step 3.5 Flash: 42.4 (#105)

| Benchmark | Kimi K2.6 | Step 3.5 Flash |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Coding | 1488 | 1436 |
| SWE-bench Verified | 76.7% | — |
| LMArena WebDev | 1509 | — |
| SciCode | 53.5% | — |
| WeirdML | 55.9% | — |
| ALE-Bench | 1,093 | — |

## Agentic & Tool Use

- Kimi K2.6: 21.9 (#137)
- Step 3.5 Flash: —

| Benchmark | Kimi K2.6 | Step 3.5 Flash |
|---|---|---|
| OSWorld 2.0 | 4.6% | — |
| ExploitBench | 18.4% | — |
| GBAEval | 0.9% | — |
| GDP.pdf | 12% | — |
| Vending-Bench 2 | 6,205 | — |

## Reasoning

- Kimi K2.6: 40.5 (#55)
- Step 3.5 Flash: 22.2 (#202)

| Benchmark | Kimi K2.6 | Step 3.5 Flash |
|---|---|---|
| NYT Connections (extended) | 87.2% | 28.4% |
| LMArena Hard Prompts | 1470 | 1411 |
| CritPt | 8% | — |
| Chess Puzzles | 26% | — |
| EBR-Bench | 2.4% | — |
| Mystery Game Puzzles | 18% | — |
| DTBench | 90.9% | — |
| LMCA | 37.3% | — |
| Epoch Capabilities Index | 151.05 | — |

## Math

- Kimi K2.6: 57.0 (#41)
- Step 3.5 Flash: 42.6 (#84)

| Benchmark | Kimi K2.6 | Step 3.5 Flash |
|---|---|---|
| MathArena Final-Answer Competitions | 72.9% | 66.8% |
| LMArena Math | 1475 | 1408 |
| FrontierMath (Tiers 1-3) | 57.2% | — |
| FrontierMath Tier 4 | 25.6% | — |
| OTIS Mock AIME 2024-2025 | 96.1% | — |
| ProofBench | 16% | — |
| FrontierMath (Feb 2025 set) | 39% | — |
| FrontierMath Tier 4 (v1) | 14.6% | — |

## Knowledge

- Kimi K2.6: 54.0 (#54)
- Step 3.5 Flash: 39.6 (#132)

| Benchmark | Kimi K2.6 | Step 3.5 Flash |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Expert | 1491 | 1421 |
| GPQA Diamond | 90.8% | — |
| SimpleQA Verified | 34.9% | — |
| Vectara Hallucination Rate | 10.8% | — |

## Multimodal

- Kimi K2.6: 31.6 (#103)
- Step 3.5 Flash: —

| Benchmark | Kimi K2.6 | Step 3.5 Flash |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Vision | 1283 | — |
| Blueprint-Bench 2 | 3.9% | — |
| Furniture Assembly | 21.7% | — |
| LMArena Document | 1451 | — |

## Multilingual

- Kimi K2.6: 54.9 (#37)
- Step 3.5 Flash: 50.5 (#119)

| Benchmark | Kimi K2.6 | Step 3.5 Flash |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Non-English | 1446 | 1385 |
| LMArena Chinese | 1521 | 1447 |
| LMArena French | 1471 | 1421 |
| LMArena German | 1450 | 1405 |
| LMArena Japanese | 1443 | 1354 |
| LMArena Korean | 1427 | 1352 |
| LMArena Russian | 1446 | 1385 |
| LMArena Spanish | 1464 | 1419 |

## Instruction Following

- Kimi K2.6: 76.3 (#43)
- Step 3.5 Flash: 73.1 (#124)

| Benchmark | Kimi K2.6 | Step 3.5 Flash |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Instruction Following | 1451 | 1385 |

## Long Context

- Kimi K2.6: 44.9 (#52)
- Step 3.5 Flash: 42.8 (#117)

| Benchmark | Kimi K2.6 | Step 3.5 Flash |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Longer Query | 1468 | 1402 |

## Writing & Preference

- Kimi K2.6: 68.5 (#26)
- Step 3.5 Flash: 58.8 (#113)

| Benchmark | Kimi K2.6 | Step 3.5 Flash |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Text | 1455 | 1403 |
| LMArena Creative Writing | 1434 | 1357 |
| LMArena Multi-Turn | 1453 | 1405 |
| EQ-Bench Creative Writing | 1725 | — |
| EQ-Bench 4 | 1202 | — |

## FAQ

### Is Kimi K2.6 better than Step 3.5 Flash?

Kimi K2.6 is the stronger model overall, scoring 47.7 to 42.3 on the Noometry Index. Step 3.5 Flash costs 11× less per token, which makes it the better buy when Kimi K2.6's lead doesn't matter for your workload.

### Which is cheaper, Kimi K2.6 or Step 3.5 Flash?

Step 3.5 Flash is cheaper. It lists at $0.10 per million input tokens and $0.30 per million output tokens; Kimi K2.6 lists at $0.95 and $4.

### Is Kimi K2.6 or Step 3.5 Flash better for coding?

Kimi K2.6 scores higher on coding benchmarks: 50.7 versus 42.4 in the Noometry coding category.

### Which has the bigger context window?

Kimi K2.6 does, with 262K tokens against 256K.

### How many benchmarks do Kimi K2.6 and Step 3.5 Flash share?

19 benchmarks have published results for both models. Kimi K2.6 has 51 scored results on Noometry and Step 3.5 Flash has 19.