# Qwen3 Max vs Step 3.7 Flash

> Qwen3 Max is the stronger model overall, scoring 43.7 to 37.3 on the Noometry Index. Step 3.7 Flash costs 5.8× less per token, which makes it the better buy when Qwen3 Max's lead doesn't matter for your workload.

- Canonical page: https://noometry.com/compare/qwen3-max-vs-step-3-7-flash
- Last updated: 2026-10-11
- Shared benchmarks: 2

## Summary

- They share 2 benchmarks with published results for both. Qwen3 Max scores higher in 2 categories and Step 3.7 Flash in 1 category; 2 gaps are clear of the uncertainty.
- The widest gap is in math, where Step 3.7 Flash leads 42.9 to 38.7.
- The biggest single-benchmark swing is NYT Connections (extended): 30.1% for Qwen3 Max 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 $1.20 / $6 for Qwen3 Max.
- Qwen3 Max accepts more context: 262K tokens versus 256K.
- Step 3.7 Flash has downloadable open weights; the other is API-only.

## Snapshot

| | Qwen3 Max | Step 3.7 Flash |
|---|---|---|
| Provider | Alibaba (Qwen) | StepFun |
| Noometry Index | 43.7 | 37.3 |
| Rank | 87 | 207 |
| Context | 262K | 256K |
| Input $/M | $1.20 | $0.18 |
| Output $/M | $6 | $1.11 |
| Weights | Proprietary | Open |

## Coding

- Qwen3 Max: 43.0 (#93)
- Step 3.7 Flash: 40.0 (#150)

| Benchmark | Qwen3 Max | Step 3.7 Flash |
|---|---|---|
| ALE-Bench | 370.45 | 694.12 |
| SciCode | — | 40% |
| LMArena Coding | 1456 | — |

## Agentic & Tool Use

- Qwen3 Max: —
- Step 3.7 Flash: —

| Benchmark | Qwen3 Max | Step 3.7 Flash |
|---|---|---|
| Vending-Bench 2 | 71.56 | — |

## Reasoning

- Qwen3 Max: 22.6 (#190)
- Step 3.7 Flash: 21.6 (#219)

| Benchmark | Qwen3 Max | Step 3.7 Flash |
|---|---|---|
| NYT Connections (extended) | 30.1% | 39.7% |
| Kagi LLM Benchmark | 72.5% | — |
| CritPt | — | 2.3% |
| Chess Puzzles | 4% | — |
| LMArena Hard Prompts | 1448 | — |
| Mystery Game Puzzles | 5% | — |
| DTBench | 82.1% | — |
| LMCA | 28.3% | — |
| Epoch Capabilities Index | 142.38 | — |

## Math

- Qwen3 Max: 38.7 (#131)
- Step 3.7 Flash: 42.9 (#82)

| Benchmark | Qwen3 Max | Step 3.7 Flash |
|---|---|---|
| FrontierMath (Tiers 1-3) | 18.9% | — |
| MathArena Final-Answer Competitions | — | 68.5% |
| OTIS Mock AIME 2024-2025 | 73.3% | — |
| LMArena Math | 1446 | — |
| MATH Level 5 | 97.1% | — |

## Knowledge

- Qwen3 Max: 48.1 (#78)
- Step 3.7 Flash: —

| Benchmark | Qwen3 Max | Step 3.7 Flash |
|---|---|---|
| GPQA Diamond | 72.6% | — |
| SimpleQA Verified | 48.7% | — |
| LMArena Expert | 1455 | — |

## Multilingual

- Qwen3 Max: 53.7 (#62)
- Step 3.7 Flash: —

| Benchmark | Qwen3 Max | Step 3.7 Flash |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Non-English | 1429 | — |
| LMArena Chinese | 1478 | — |
| LMArena French | 1449 | — |
| LMArena German | 1463 | — |
| LMArena Japanese | 1397 | — |
| LMArena Korean | 1399 | — |
| LMArena Russian | 1428 | — |
| LMArena Spanish | 1462 | — |

## Instruction Following

- Qwen3 Max: 74.8 (#87)
- Step 3.7 Flash: —

| Benchmark | Qwen3 Max | Step 3.7 Flash |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Instruction Following | 1419 | — |

## Long Context

- Qwen3 Max: 41.6 (#134)
- Step 3.7 Flash: —

| Benchmark | Qwen3 Max | Step 3.7 Flash |
|---|---|---|
| Fiction.LiveBench | 66.7% | — |
| CL-bench | 14.5% | — |
| LMArena Longer Query | 1438 | — |

## Writing & Preference

- Qwen3 Max: 62.4 (#76)
- Step 3.7 Flash: —

| Benchmark | Qwen3 Max | Step 3.7 Flash |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Text | 1439 | — |
| LMArena Creative Writing | 1402 | — |
| LMArena Multi-Turn | 1446 | — |

## FAQ

### Is Qwen3 Max better than Step 3.7 Flash?

Qwen3 Max is the stronger model overall, scoring 43.7 to 37.3 on the Noometry Index. Step 3.7 Flash costs 5.8× less per token, which makes it the better buy when Qwen3 Max's lead doesn't matter for your workload.

### Which is cheaper, Qwen3 Max 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 Max lists at $1.20 and $6.

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

Qwen3 Max scores higher on coding benchmarks: 43.0 versus 40.0 in the Noometry coding category.

### Which has the bigger context window?

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

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

2 benchmarks have published results for both models. Qwen3 Max has 33 scored results on Noometry and Step 3.7 Flash has 5.