# Qwen3.6 Max Preview vs Step 3.7 Flash

> Qwen3.6 Max Preview is the stronger model overall, scoring 51.1 to 36.5 on the Noometry Index. Step 3.7 Flash costs 7.0× less per token, which makes it the better buy when Qwen3.6 Max Preview's lead doesn't matter for your workload.

- Canonical page: https://noometry.com/compare/qwen3-6-max-preview-vs-step-3-7-flash
- Last updated: 2026-10-10
- Shared benchmarks: 1

## Summary

- They share 1 benchmark with published results for both. Qwen3.6 Max Preview scores higher in 3 categories and Step 3.7 Flash in 0 categories; 3 gaps are clear of the uncertainty.
- The widest gap is in reasoning, where Qwen3.6 Max Preview leads 40.8 to 20.9.
- The biggest single-benchmark swing is NYT Connections (extended): 74.1% for Qwen3.6 Max Preview and 39.7% for Step 3.7 Flash.
- Step 3.7 Flash is cheaper at $0.18 / $1.11 per million input/output tokens, against $1.30 / $7.80 for Qwen3.6 Max Preview.
- Qwen3.6 Max Preview accepts more context: 262K tokens versus 256K.
- Step 3.7 Flash has downloadable open weights; the other is API-only.

## Snapshot

| | Qwen3.6 Max Preview | Step 3.7 Flash |
|---|---|---|
| Provider | Alibaba (Qwen) | StepFun |
| Noometry Index | 51.1 | 36.5 |
| Rank | 36 | 207 |
| Context | 262K | 256K |
| Input $/M | $1.30 | $0.18 |
| Output $/M | $7.80 | $1.11 |
| Weights | Proprietary | Open |

## Coding

- Qwen3.6 Max Preview: 48.6 (#50)
- Step 3.7 Flash: 39.4 (#147)

| Benchmark | Qwen3.6 Max Preview | Step 3.7 Flash |
|---|---|---|
| SWE-bench Verified | 76.7% | — |
| LMArena WebDev | 1482 | — |
| SciCode | — | 40% |
| LMArena Coding | 1472 | — |
| ALE-Bench | — | 694.12 |

## Agentic & Tool Use

- Qwen3.6 Max Preview: —
- Step 3.7 Flash: —

| Benchmark | Qwen3.6 Max Preview | Step 3.7 Flash |
|---|---|---|
| Vending-Bench 2 | 4,254 | — |

## Reasoning

- Qwen3.6 Max Preview: 40.8 (#47)
- Step 3.7 Flash: 20.9 (#211)

| Benchmark | Qwen3.6 Max Preview | Step 3.7 Flash |
|---|---|---|
| NYT Connections (extended) | 74.1% | 39.7% |
| SimpleBench | 63% | — |
| CritPt | — | 2.3% |
| Chess Puzzles | 20% | — |
| LMArena Hard Prompts | 1457 | — |
| Mystery Game Puzzles | 19% | — |
| DTBench | 87.2% | — |
| LMCA | 42.5% | — |
| Epoch Capabilities Index | 149.27 | — |

## Math

- Qwen3.6 Max Preview: 52.2 (#40)
- Step 3.7 Flash: 40.9 (#74)

| Benchmark | Qwen3.6 Max Preview | Step 3.7 Flash |
|---|---|---|
| MathArena Final-Answer Competitions | — | 68.5% |
| OTIS Mock AIME 2024-2025 | 91.1% | — |
| LMArena Math | 1465 | — |
| FrontierMath (Feb 2025 set) | 23.1% | — |
| FrontierMath Tier 4 (v1) | 4.2% | — |

## Knowledge

- Qwen3.6 Max Preview: 57.6 (#35)
- Step 3.7 Flash: —

| Benchmark | Qwen3.6 Max Preview | Step 3.7 Flash |
|---|---|---|
| GPQA Diamond | 87.4% | — |
| SimpleQA Verified | 52% | — |
| LMArena Expert | 1476 | — |

## Multilingual

- Qwen3.6 Max Preview: 54.3 (#46)
- Step 3.7 Flash: —

| Benchmark | Qwen3.6 Max Preview | Step 3.7 Flash |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Non-English | 1436 | — |
| LMArena Chinese | 1487 | — |
| LMArena French | 1449 | — |
| LMArena Russian | 1444 | — |
| LMArena Spanish | 1452 | — |

## Instruction Following

- Qwen3.6 Max Preview: 75.8 (#51)
- Step 3.7 Flash: —

| Benchmark | Qwen3.6 Max Preview | Step 3.7 Flash |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Instruction Following | 1437 | — |

## Long Context

- Qwen3.6 Max Preview: 44.6 (#59)
- Step 3.7 Flash: —

| Benchmark | Qwen3.6 Max Preview | Step 3.7 Flash |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Longer Query | 1457 | — |

## Writing & Preference

- Qwen3.6 Max Preview: 64.0 (#58)
- Step 3.7 Flash: —

| Benchmark | Qwen3.6 Max Preview | Step 3.7 Flash |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Text | 1447 | — |
| LMArena Creative Writing | 1435 | — |
| LMArena Multi-Turn | 1456 | — |

## FAQ

### Is Qwen3.6 Max Preview better than Step 3.7 Flash?

Qwen3.6 Max Preview is the stronger model overall, scoring 51.1 to 36.5 on the Noometry Index. Step 3.7 Flash costs 7.0× less per token, which makes it the better buy when Qwen3.6 Max Preview's lead doesn't matter for your workload.

### Which is cheaper, Qwen3.6 Max Preview or Step 3.7 Flash?

Step 3.7 Flash is cheaper. It lists at $0.18 per million input tokens and $1.11 per million output tokens; Qwen3.6 Max Preview lists at $1.30 and $7.80.

### Is Qwen3.6 Max Preview or Step 3.7 Flash better for coding?

Qwen3.6 Max Preview scores higher on coding benchmarks: 48.6 versus 39.4 in the Noometry coding category.

### Which has the bigger context window?

Qwen3.6 Max Preview does, with 262K tokens against 256K.

### How many benchmarks do Qwen3.6 Max Preview and Step 3.7 Flash share?

1 benchmark has published results for both models. Qwen3.6 Max Preview has 29 scored results on Noometry and Step 3.7 Flash has 5.