# Qwen3.8 27B vs Step 3.5 Flash

> Qwen3.8 27B is the stronger model overall, scoring 45.3 to 41.7 on the Noometry Index. Step 3.5 Flash costs 7.4× less per token, which makes it the better buy when Qwen3.8 27B's lead doesn't matter for your workload.

- Canonical page: https://noometry.com/compare/qwen3-8-27b-vs-step-3-5-flash
- Last updated: 2026-10-10
- Shared benchmarks: 18

## Summary

- They share 18 benchmarks with published results for both. Qwen3.8 27B scores higher in 7 categories and Step 3.5 Flash in 1 category; 8 gaps are clear of the uncertainty.
- The widest gap is in reasoning, where Qwen3.8 27B leads 31.5 to 21.2.
- The biggest single-benchmark swing is NYT Connections (extended): 54.5% for Qwen3.8 27B 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 $0.99 / $1.49 for Qwen3.8 27B.
- Qwen3.8 27B accepts more context: 262K tokens versus 256K.

## Snapshot

| | Qwen3.8 27B | Step 3.5 Flash |
|---|---|---|
| Provider | Alibaba (Qwen) | StepFun |
| Noometry Index | 45.3 | 41.7 |
| Rank | 64 | 116 |
| Context | 262K | 256K |
| Input $/M | $0.99 | $0.10 |
| Output $/M | $1.49 | $0.30 |
| Weights | Open | Open |

## Coding

- Qwen3.8 27B: 50.3 (#42)
- Step 3.5 Flash: 41.7 (#106)

| Benchmark | Qwen3.8 27B | Step 3.5 Flash |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Coding | 1487 | 1436 |
| LMArena WebDev | 1592 | — |
| SciCode | 46.6% | — |

## Reasoning

- Qwen3.8 27B: 31.5 (#71)
- Step 3.5 Flash: 21.2 (#202)

| Benchmark | Qwen3.8 27B | Step 3.5 Flash |
|---|---|---|
| NYT Connections (extended) | 54.5% | 28.4% |
| LMArena Hard Prompts | 1459 | 1411 |
| CritPt | 5.4% | — |
| DTBench | 88% | — |
| LMCA | 41.4% | — |
| Surface Evolver Bench | 45% | — |
| Epoch Capabilities Index | 149.38 | — |

## Math

- Qwen3.8 27B: 35.7 (#139)
- Step 3.5 Flash: 40.6 (#77)

| Benchmark | Qwen3.8 27B | Step 3.5 Flash |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Math | 1453 | 1408 |
| MathArena Final-Answer Competitions | — | 66.8% |
| ProofBench | 16% | — |

## Knowledge

- Qwen3.8 27B: 40.9 (#105)
- Step 3.5 Flash: 39.0 (#127)

| Benchmark | Qwen3.8 27B | Step 3.5 Flash |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Expert | 1482 | 1422 |

## Multimodal

- Qwen3.8 27B: 40.5 (#36)
- Step 3.5 Flash: —

| Benchmark | Qwen3.8 27B | Step 3.5 Flash |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Vision | 1270 | — |

## Multilingual

- Qwen3.8 27B: 54.0 (#54)
- Step 3.5 Flash: 50.7 (#115)

| Benchmark | Qwen3.8 27B | Step 3.5 Flash |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Non-English | 1431 | 1386 |
| LMArena Chinese | 1504 | 1448 |
| LMArena French | 1468 | 1421 |
| LMArena German | 1435 | 1404 |
| LMArena Japanese | 1392 | 1353 |
| LMArena Korean | 1389 | 1350 |
| LMArena Russian | 1421 | 1385 |
| LMArena Spanish | 1444 | 1419 |

## Instruction Following

- Qwen3.8 27B: 75.8 (#54)
- Step 3.5 Flash: 73.3 (#119)

| Benchmark | Qwen3.8 27B | Step 3.5 Flash |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Instruction Following | 1436 | 1385 |

## Long Context

- Qwen3.8 27B: 44.3 (#66)
- Step 3.5 Flash: 42.8 (#112)

| Benchmark | Qwen3.8 27B | Step 3.5 Flash |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Longer Query | 1448 | 1402 |

## Writing & Preference

- Qwen3.8 27B: 65.9 (#41)
- Step 3.5 Flash: 59.0 (#108)

| Benchmark | Qwen3.8 27B | Step 3.5 Flash |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Text | 1441 | 1403 |
| LMArena Creative Writing | 1382 | 1357 |
| LMArena Multi-Turn | 1443 | 1405 |
| EQ-Bench Creative Writing | 1671 | — |

## FAQ

### Is Qwen3.8 27B better than Step 3.5 Flash?

Qwen3.8 27B is the stronger model overall, scoring 45.3 to 41.7 on the Noometry Index. Step 3.5 Flash costs 7.4× less per token, which makes it the better buy when Qwen3.8 27B's lead doesn't matter for your workload.

### Which is cheaper, Qwen3.8 27B 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; Qwen3.8 27B lists at $0.99 and $1.49.

### Is Qwen3.8 27B or Step 3.5 Flash better for coding?

Qwen3.8 27B scores higher on coding benchmarks: 50.3 versus 41.7 in the Noometry coding category.

### Which has the bigger context window?

Qwen3.8 27B does, with 262K tokens against 256K.

### How many benchmarks do Qwen3.8 27B and Step 3.5 Flash share?

18 benchmarks have published results for both models. Qwen3.8 27B has 28 scored results on Noometry and Step 3.5 Flash has 19.