# Qwen3.6 35B-A3B vs Step 3.5 Flash

> Step 3.5 Flash is the stronger model overall, scoring 42.3 to 37.6 on the Noometry Index.

- Canonical page: https://noometry.com/compare/qwen3-6-35b-a3b-vs-step-3-5-flash
- Last updated: 2026-10-12
- Shared benchmarks: 1

## Summary

- They share 1 benchmark with published results for both. Qwen3.6 35B-A3B 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 knowledge, where Qwen3.6 35B-A3B leads 51.3 to 39.6.
- The biggest single-benchmark swing is NYT Connections (extended): 41.6% for Qwen3.6 35B-A3B 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 $0.25 / $1.49 for Qwen3.6 35B-A3B.
- Qwen3.6 35B-A3B accepts more context: 262K tokens versus 256K.

## Snapshot

| | Qwen3.6 35B-A3B | Step 3.5 Flash |
|---|---|---|
| Provider | Alibaba (Qwen) | StepFun |
| Noometry Index | 37.6 | 42.3 |
| Rank | 201 | 116 |
| Context | 262K | 256K |
| Input $/M | $0.25 | $0.10 |
| Output $/M | $1.49 | $0.30 |
| Weights | Open | Open |

## Coding

- Qwen3.6 35B-A3B: 37.2 (#196)
- Step 3.5 Flash: 42.4 (#105)

| Benchmark | Qwen3.6 35B-A3B | Step 3.5 Flash |
|---|---|---|
| SciCode | 35.8% | — |
| WeirdML | 34.5% | — |
| LMArena Coding | — | 1436 |

## Agentic & Tool Use

- Qwen3.6 35B-A3B: 22.1 (#134)
- Step 3.5 Flash: —

| Benchmark | Qwen3.6 35B-A3B | Step 3.5 Flash |
|---|---|---|
| Terminal-Bench | 23% | — |

## Reasoning

- Qwen3.6 35B-A3B: 28.0 (#109)
- Step 3.5 Flash: 22.2 (#202)

| Benchmark | Qwen3.6 35B-A3B | Step 3.5 Flash |
|---|---|---|
| NYT Connections (extended) | 41.6% | 28.4% |
| CritPt | 0.3% | — |
| Chess Puzzles | 26% | — |
| LMArena Hard Prompts | — | 1411 |
| Mystery Game Puzzles | 22% | — |
| DTBench | 73.9% | — |
| LMCA | 29.7% | — |
| Surface Evolver Bench | 44.4% | — |
| Epoch Capabilities Index | 143.93 | — |

## Math

- Qwen3.6 35B-A3B: 38.9 (#121)
- Step 3.5 Flash: 42.6 (#84)

| Benchmark | Qwen3.6 35B-A3B | Step 3.5 Flash |
|---|---|---|
| FrontierMath (Tiers 1-3) | 20.4% | — |
| MathArena Final-Answer Competitions | — | 66.8% |
| OTIS Mock AIME 2024-2025 | 86.7% | — |
| LMArena Math | — | 1408 |

## Knowledge

- Qwen3.6 35B-A3B: 51.3 (#68)
- Step 3.5 Flash: 39.6 (#132)

| Benchmark | Qwen3.6 35B-A3B | Step 3.5 Flash |
|---|---|---|
| GPQA Diamond | 84.8% | — |
| LMArena Expert | — | 1421 |

## Multilingual

- Qwen3.6 35B-A3B: —
- Step 3.5 Flash: 50.5 (#119)

| Benchmark | Qwen3.6 35B-A3B | Step 3.5 Flash |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Non-English | — | 1385 |
| LMArena Chinese | — | 1447 |
| LMArena French | — | 1421 |
| LMArena German | — | 1405 |
| LMArena Japanese | — | 1354 |
| LMArena Korean | — | 1352 |
| LMArena Russian | — | 1385 |
| LMArena Spanish | — | 1419 |

## Instruction Following

- Qwen3.6 35B-A3B: —
- Step 3.5 Flash: 73.1 (#124)

| Benchmark | Qwen3.6 35B-A3B | Step 3.5 Flash |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Instruction Following | — | 1385 |

## Long Context

- Qwen3.6 35B-A3B: —
- Step 3.5 Flash: 42.8 (#117)

| Benchmark | Qwen3.6 35B-A3B | Step 3.5 Flash |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Longer Query | — | 1402 |

## Writing & Preference

- Qwen3.6 35B-A3B: —
- Step 3.5 Flash: 58.8 (#113)

| Benchmark | Qwen3.6 35B-A3B | Step 3.5 Flash |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Text | — | 1403 |
| LMArena Creative Writing | — | 1357 |
| LMArena Multi-Turn | — | 1405 |

## FAQ

### Is Qwen3.6 35B-A3B better than Step 3.5 Flash?

Step 3.5 Flash is the stronger model overall, scoring 42.3 to 37.6 on the Noometry Index.

### Which is cheaper, Qwen3.6 35B-A3B 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; Qwen3.6 35B-A3B lists at $0.25 and $1.49.

### Is Qwen3.6 35B-A3B or Step 3.5 Flash better for coding?

Step 3.5 Flash scores higher on coding benchmarks: 42.4 versus 37.2 in the Noometry coding category.

### Which has the bigger context window?

Qwen3.6 35B-A3B does, with 262K tokens against 256K.

### How many benchmarks do Qwen3.6 35B-A3B and Step 3.5 Flash share?

1 benchmark has published results for both models. Qwen3.6 35B-A3B has 14 scored results on Noometry and Step 3.5 Flash has 19.