# Qwen3.5-9B vs Step 3.5 Flash

> Step 3.5 Flash is the stronger model overall, scoring 41.7 to 33.3 on the Noometry Index.

- Canonical page: https://noometry.com/compare/qwen3-5-9b-vs-step-3-5-flash
- Last updated: 2026-10-10
- Shared benchmarks: 1

## Summary

- They share 1 benchmark with published results for both. Qwen3.5-9B scores higher in 2 categories and Step 3.5 Flash in 2 categories; 4 gaps are clear of the uncertainty.
- The widest gap is in math, where Step 3.5 Flash leads 40.6 to 33.5.
- The biggest single-benchmark swing is MathArena Final-Answer Competitions: 48.5% for Qwen3.5-9B and 66.8% for Step 3.5 Flash.
- Qwen3.5-9B is cheaper at $0.10 / $0.15 per million input/output tokens, against $0.10 / $0.30 for Step 3.5 Flash.
- Qwen3.5-9B accepts more context: 262K tokens versus 256K.

## Snapshot

| | Qwen3.5-9B | Step 3.5 Flash |
|---|---|---|
| Provider | Alibaba (Qwen) | StepFun |
| Noometry Index | 33.3 | 41.7 |
| Rank | 235 | 116 |
| Context | 262K | 256K |
| Input $/M | $0.10 | $0.10 |
| Output $/M | $0.15 | $0.30 |
| Weights | Open | Open |

## Coding

- Qwen3.5-9B: 35.3 (#213)
- Step 3.5 Flash: 41.7 (#106)

| Benchmark | Qwen3.5-9B | Step 3.5 Flash |
|---|---|---|
| SciCode | 27.5% | — |
| LMArena Coding | — | 1436 |

## Agentic & Tool Use

- Qwen3.5-9B: 14.4 (#143)
- Step 3.5 Flash: —

| Benchmark | Qwen3.5-9B | Step 3.5 Flash |
|---|---|---|
| Terminal-Bench | 9.2% | — |

## Reasoning

- Qwen3.5-9B: 22.5 (#178)
- Step 3.5 Flash: 21.2 (#202)

| Benchmark | Qwen3.5-9B | Step 3.5 Flash |
|---|---|---|
| NYT Connections (extended) | — | 28.4% |
| CritPt | 0.3% | — |
| Chess Puzzles | 12% | — |
| LMArena Hard Prompts | — | 1411 |
| DTBench | 71.2% | — |
| LMCA | 24.5% | — |
| Epoch Capabilities Index | 139.45 | — |

## Math

- Qwen3.5-9B: 33.5 (#174)
- Step 3.5 Flash: 40.6 (#77)

| Benchmark | Qwen3.5-9B | Step 3.5 Flash |
|---|---|---|
| MathArena Final-Answer Competitions | 48.5% | 66.8% |
| OTIS Mock AIME 2024-2025 | 61.7% | — |
| LMArena Math | — | 1408 |

## Knowledge

- Qwen3.5-9B: 46.0 (#77)
- Step 3.5 Flash: 39.0 (#127)

| Benchmark | Qwen3.5-9B | Step 3.5 Flash |
|---|---|---|
| GPQA Diamond | 79% | — |
| LMArena Expert | — | 1422 |

## Multilingual

- Qwen3.5-9B: —
- Step 3.5 Flash: 50.7 (#115)

| Benchmark | Qwen3.5-9B | Step 3.5 Flash |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Non-English | — | 1386 |
| LMArena Chinese | — | 1448 |
| LMArena French | — | 1421 |
| LMArena German | — | 1404 |
| LMArena Japanese | — | 1353 |
| LMArena Korean | — | 1350 |
| LMArena Russian | — | 1385 |
| LMArena Spanish | — | 1419 |

## Instruction Following

- Qwen3.5-9B: —
- Step 3.5 Flash: 73.3 (#119)

| Benchmark | Qwen3.5-9B | Step 3.5 Flash |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Instruction Following | — | 1385 |

## Long Context

- Qwen3.5-9B: —
- Step 3.5 Flash: 42.8 (#112)

| Benchmark | Qwen3.5-9B | Step 3.5 Flash |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Longer Query | — | 1402 |

## Writing & Preference

- Qwen3.5-9B: —
- Step 3.5 Flash: 59.0 (#108)

| Benchmark | Qwen3.5-9B | Step 3.5 Flash |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Text | — | 1403 |
| LMArena Creative Writing | — | 1357 |
| LMArena Multi-Turn | — | 1405 |

## FAQ

### Is Qwen3.5-9B better than Step 3.5 Flash?

Step 3.5 Flash is the stronger model overall, scoring 41.7 to 33.3 on the Noometry Index.

### Which is cheaper, Qwen3.5-9B or Step 3.5 Flash?

Qwen3.5-9B is cheaper. It lists at $0.10 per million input tokens and $0.15 per million output tokens; Step 3.5 Flash lists at $0.10 and $0.30.

### Is Qwen3.5-9B or Step 3.5 Flash better for coding?

Step 3.5 Flash scores higher on coding benchmarks: 41.7 versus 35.3 in the Noometry coding category.

### Which has the bigger context window?

Qwen3.5-9B does, with 262K tokens against 256K.

### How many benchmarks do Qwen3.5-9B and Step 3.5 Flash share?

1 benchmark has published results for both models. Qwen3.5-9B has 10 scored results on Noometry and Step 3.5 Flash has 19.