AI model comparison

Step 3.7 Flash vs Step 3.5 Flash

Pricing, context window, benchmarks, and features compared side by side. Or skip the guesswork and send one prompt to both.

Step 3.7 Flash is StepFun's latest high-efficiency multimodal Mixture-of-Experts model.

Input / 1M
$0.20
Output / 1M
$1.15
Context
262K

Step 3.5 Flash is StepFun's most capable open-source foundation model.

Input / 1M
$0.10
Output / 1M
$0.30
Context
262K

At a glance

Quick verdict

How the two models stack up on the things people ask about most.

Lower price

stepfun logo

Step 3.5 Flash

2.8x cheaper for a typical chat

Higher intelligence score

stepfun logo

Step 3.7 Flash

19.5 vs 17 on Artificial Analysis

Larger context window

Tie

262K vs 262K tokens

Newer release

stepfun logo

Step 3.7 Flash

Released May 28, 2026

Benchmarks

Benchmark scores

Independent scores from Artificial Analysis. Higher is better.

Intelligence index

stepfun logoStep 3.7 Flash19.5
stepfun logoStep 3.5 Flash17

Coding index

stepfun logoStep 3.7 Flash39.6
stepfun logoStep 3.5 FlashNot available

Agentic index

stepfun logoStep 3.7 FlashNot available
stepfun logoStep 3.5 FlashNot available

Pricing

Step 3.7 Flash vs Step 3.5 Flash API pricing

Per-token API rates. Cheaper option highlighted.

Metricstepfun logoStep 3.7 Flashstepfun logoStep 3.5 Flash
Input tokensPer 1M tokens$0.20$0.10
Output tokensPer 1M tokens$1.15$0.30
Cached input (read)Per 1M tokens$0.04Not available
Cache writePer 1M tokensNot availableNot available

What it costs in practice

Estimated cost per 1,000 requests at standard rates. Coding and long-document figures also show the cost when the input is already cached.

Chat message

2K in, 500 out

stepfun logoStep 3.7 Flash$0.98
stepfun logoStep 3.5 Flash$0.35

Coding task

30K in, 4K out

stepfun logoStep 3.7 Flash$10.60$5.80 cached
stepfun logoStep 3.5 Flash$4.20

Long document summary

150K in, 2K out

stepfun logoStep 3.7 Flash$32.30$8.30 cached
stepfun logoStep 3.5 Flash$15.60

Specs

Context window and capabilities

How much each model can read, how much it can write, and what it accepts as input.

Metricstepfun logoStep 3.7 Flashstepfun logoStep 3.5 Flash
Context window262K tokens262K tokens
Max output230K tokens66K tokens
Input typesImage, Text, VideoText
Output typesTextText
Reasoning effort levelsHigh, Medium, LowNot available
Default reasoning effortMediumNot available
Release dateMay 28, 2026January 29, 2026

Features

Supported features

API features available for each model.

Metricstepfun logoStep 3.7 Flashstepfun logoStep 3.5 Flash
Tool callingSupportedSupported
Structured outputsSupportedNot supported
JSON modeSupportedNot supported
ReasoningSupportedSupported
TemperatureSupportedSupported
Stop sequencesSupportedNot supported
Deterministic seedSupportedNot supported
Verbosity controlNot supportedNot supported

Our take

Step 3.5 Flash is 2.8x cheaper for a typical chat. Step 3.7 Flash scores higher on the Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index (19.5 vs 17). The right pick depends on your workload, so the quickest way to settle it is to send the same prompt to both and compare.

FAQ

Frequently asked questions

Is Step 3.7 Flash or Step 3.5 Flash cheaper?

Step 3.5 Flash is cheaper for a typical chat (2K input tokens and 500 output tokens). Step 3.5 Flash costs $0.10 per 1M input tokens and $0.30 per 1M output tokens, while Step 3.7 Flash costs $0.20 per 1M input tokens and $1.15 per 1M output tokens.

Which has a bigger context window, Step 3.7 Flash or Step 3.5 Flash?

Step 3.7 Flash supports up to 262K tokens of context, compared with 262K for Step 3.5 Flash.

Is Step 3.7 Flash smarter than Step 3.5 Flash?

On the Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index, Step 3.7 Flash scores 19.5 and Step 3.5 Flash scores 17, putting Step 3.7 Flash ahead. Benchmarks don't capture everything, so the best test is running your own prompts through both.

Can I use Step 3.7 Flash and Step 3.5 Flash at the same time?

Yes. Shortcut Chat sends one prompt to multiple models at once, so you can see Step 3.7 Flash and Step 3.5 Flash answer side by side and keep the better response.

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Why choose? Ask both.

Send one prompt to Step 3.7 Flash and Step 3.5 Flash at the same time. Compare the answers side by side and keep the best one.