# Qwen3.8 Max vs Step 3

> Qwen3.8 Max is the stronger model overall, scoring 56.8 to 40.5 on the Noometry Index.

- Canonical page: https://noometry.com/compare/qwen3-8-max-vs-step-3
- Last updated: 2026-10-11
- Shared benchmarks: 16

## Summary

- They share 16 benchmarks with published results for both. Qwen3.8 Max scores higher in 9 categories and Step 3 in 0 categories; 9 gaps are clear of the uncertainty.
- The widest gap is in math, where Qwen3.8 Max leads 73.2 to 37.6.
- Step 3 has downloadable open weights; the other is API-only.

## Snapshot

| | Qwen3.8 Max | Step 3 |
|---|---|---|
| Provider | Alibaba (Qwen) | StepFun |
| Noometry Index | 56.8 | 40.5 |
| Rank | 22 | 149 |
| Context | 1M | — |
| Input $/M | $2 | — |
| Output $/M | $6 | — |
| Weights | Proprietary | Open |

## Coding

- Qwen3.8 Max: 53.5 (#29)
- Step 3: 40.1 (#147)

| Benchmark | Qwen3.8 Max | Step 3 |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Coding | 1502 | 1367 |
| DeepSWE | 57.5% | — |
| LMArena WebDev | 1674 | — |
| FrontierSWE | 17.8% | — |
| SciCode | 53.2% | — |

## Agentic & Tool Use

- Qwen3.8 Max: 45.4 (#14)
- Step 3: —

| Benchmark | Qwen3.8 Max | Step 3 |
|---|---|---|
| APEX-Agents | 63.3% | — |
| τ²-bench Banking | 55.1% | — |
| GDP.pdf | 23.2% | — |

## Reasoning

- Qwen3.8 Max: 54.4 (#26)
- Step 3: 28.4 (#105)

| Benchmark | Qwen3.8 Max | Step 3 |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Hard Prompts | 1496 | 1355 |
| Kagi LLM Benchmark | — | 62.3% |
| NYT Connections (extended) | 88.3% | — |
| CritPt | 20% | — |
| Chess Puzzles | 40% | — |
| Mystery Game Puzzles | 38% | — |
| DTBench | 92% | — |
| LMCA | 46.2% | — |
| Epoch Capabilities Index | 156.41 | — |

## Math

- Qwen3.8 Max: 73.2 (#20)
- Step 3: 37.6 (#148)

| Benchmark | Qwen3.8 Max | Step 3 |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Math | 1499 | 1366 |
| FrontierMath (Tiers 1-3) | 74.7% | — |
| FrontierMath Tier 4 | 46.3% | — |
| OTIS Mock AIME 2024-2025 | 100% | — |
| ProofBench | 58% | — |

## Knowledge

- Qwen3.8 Max: 61.7 (#27)
- Step 3: 36.8 (#164)

| Benchmark | Qwen3.8 Max | Step 3 |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Expert | 1507 | 1333 |
| GPQA Diamond | 92.7% | — |
| SimpleQA Verified | 47.3% | — |

## Multimodal

- Qwen3.8 Max: 37.2 (#75)
- Step 3: 35.5 (#86)

| Benchmark | Qwen3.8 Max | Step 3 |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Vision | 1314 | 1177 |
| Furniture Assembly | 20% | — |

## Multilingual

- Qwen3.8 Max: 56.7 (#18)
- Step 3: 46.3 (#159)

| Benchmark | Qwen3.8 Max | Step 3 |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Non-English | 1472 | 1327 |
| LMArena Chinese | 1538 | 1397 |
| LMArena German | 1483 | 1371 |
| LMArena Korean | 1461 | 1269 |
| LMArena Russian | 1481 | 1331 |
| LMArena Spanish | 1492 | 1371 |
| LMArena French | 1503 | — |
| LMArena Japanese | 1467 | — |

## Instruction Following

- Qwen3.8 Max: 77.6 (#17)
- Step 3: 70.4 (#164)

| Benchmark | Qwen3.8 Max | Step 3 |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Instruction Following | 1479 | 1332 |

## Long Context

- Qwen3.8 Max: 45.6 (#31)
- Step 3: 40.3 (#157)

| Benchmark | Qwen3.8 Max | Step 3 |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Longer Query | 1489 | 1326 |

## Writing & Preference

- Qwen3.8 Max: 67.1 (#30)
- Step 3: 54.3 (#151)

| Benchmark | Qwen3.8 Max | Step 3 |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Text | 1483 | 1350 |
| LMArena Creative Writing | 1479 | 1321 |
| LMArena Multi-Turn | 1489 | 1341 |

## FAQ

### Is Qwen3.8 Max better than Step 3?

Qwen3.8 Max is the stronger model overall, scoring 56.8 to 40.5 on the Noometry Index.

### Is Qwen3.8 Max or Step 3 better for coding?

Qwen3.8 Max scores higher on coding benchmarks: 53.5 versus 40.1 in the Noometry coding category.

### How many benchmarks do Qwen3.8 Max and Step 3 share?

16 benchmarks have published results for both models. Qwen3.8 Max has 39 scored results on Noometry and Step 3 has 17.