AI model comparison
Step 5 Preview vs Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite
Side by side comparison of Step 5 Preview and Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite on pricing, benchmark scores, context window, and more.
Step 5 Preview is StepFun's flagship model for agentic work, built on a sparse Mixture-of-Experts architecture (27B active / 600B total parameters).
- Input / 1M
- $1
- Output / 1M
- $2.70
- Context
- 1.05M
Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite is Google’s GA high-efficiency multimodal model optimized for low-latency, high-volume workloads.
- Input / 1M
- $0.25
- Output / 1M
- $1.50
- Context
- 1.05M
Comparing image generators? Compare image models
At a glance
Quick verdict
How the two models stack up on the things people ask about most.
Lower price
Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite
2.7x cheaper for a typical chat
Higher intelligence score
Not available
Not enough benchmark data
Larger context window
Tie
1.05M vs 1.05M tokens
Newer release
Step 5 Preview
Released October 8, 2026
Benchmarks
Benchmark scores
Independent scores from Artificial Analysis. Higher is better.
Intelligence index
Gemini 3.1 Flash LiteNot availableCoding index
Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite34.7Agentic index
Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite1.6Pricing
Step 5 Preview vs Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite API pricing
Per-token API rates. Cheaper option highlighted.
| Metric | Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite | |
|---|---|---|
| Input tokensPer 1M tokens | $1 | $0.25 |
| Output tokensPer 1M tokens | $2.70 | $1.50 |
| Cached input (read)Per 1M tokens | $0.10 | $0.03 |
| Cache writePer 1M tokens | Not available | $0.08 |
| Web searchPer request | Not available | $0.014 |
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
Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite$1.25Coding task
30K in, 4K out
Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite$13.50$6.75 cachedLong document summary
150K in, 2K out
Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite$40.50$6.75 cachedSpecs
Context window and capabilities
How much each model can read, how much it can write, and what it accepts as input.
| Metric | Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite | |
|---|---|---|
| Context window | 1.05M tokens | 1.05M tokens |
| Max output | 64K tokens | 66K tokens |
| Input types | Image, Text, Video | Audio, File, Image, Text, Video |
| Output types | Text | Text |
| Reasoning effort levels | High, Medium, Low | High, Medium, Low, Minimal, None |
| Default reasoning effort | Medium | Minimal |
| Release date | October 8, 2026 | May 7, 2026 |
Features
Supported features
API features available for each model.
| Metric | Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite | |
|---|---|---|
| Tool calling | Supported | Supported |
| Structured outputs | Supported | Supported |
| JSON mode | Supported | Supported |
| Reasoning | Supported | Supported |
| Temperature | Supported | Supported |
| Stop sequences | Supported | Supported |
| Deterministic seed | Supported | Supported |
| Verbosity control | Not supported | Not supported |
Keep exploring
More on these models
Other head-to-heads, the full model page, and the alternatives list for each model.
- Step 5 Preview vs DeepSeek V4.1 Flash 1017
- Step 5 Preview vs DeepSeek V4.1 Flash
- Step 5 Preview vs GLM 5.3 Flash
- Step 5 Preview vs Hy4 preview
- Step 5 Preview vs GPT-6 Luna
- Step 5 Preview vs Claude Opus 5.5
- Step 5 Preview vs GLM 5.3
- Step 5 Preview vs MiMo-V2.6-Flash
- Step 5 Preview vs DeepSeek V4 Flash 0731
- Step 5 Preview vs Hy3
- Step 5 Preview vs GPT-6.1 Sol
- Step 5 Preview vs MiniMax M3.1 Flash
- Step 5 Preview vs Muse Spark 1.3
- Step 5 Preview vs Grok 4.7
- Step 5 Preview vs Qwen3.8 Max (0902)
- Step 5 Preview vs Gemini 3.8 Flash
- Step 5 Preview vs MiMo-V2.6-Pro
- Step 5 Preview vs MiniMax M3
- Step 5 Preview vs Solar Pro 4
- Step 5 Preview vs GLM 5.2
- Step 5 Preview vs DeepSeek V4 Pro 0813
- Step 5 Preview vs Mistral Large 4
- Step 5 Preview vs Qwen3.8 27B
- Step 5 Preview vs Gemini 3 Flash Preview
- Step 5 Preview vs DeepSeek V4 Pro 0423
- Step 5 Preview vs Gemini 3.7 Flash
- Step 5 Preview vs Step 3.7 Flash
- Step 5 Preview vs Gemini 2.5 Flash
- Step 5 Preview vs Claude Haiku 4.5
- Step 5 Preview vs GLM 5.3 FlashX
- Step 5 Preview vs Grok 4.6
- Step 5 Preview vs MiMo-V2.5
- Step 5 Preview vs MiMo-V2.5-Pro
Gemini 3.1 Flash LiteView full model details- Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite vs DeepSeek V4.1 Flash 1017
- Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite vs DeepSeek V4.1 Flash
- Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite vs GLM 5.3 Flash
- Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite vs Hy4 preview
- Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite vs GLM 5.3
- Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite vs Gemini 3.8 Flash
- Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite vs Gemini 3 Flash Preview
- Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite vs DeepSeek V4 Pro 0423
- Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite vs Gemini 3.7 Flash
- Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite vs Gemini 2.5 Flash
- Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite vs Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite
- Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite vs Command A+
Our take
Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite is 2.7x cheaper for a typical chat. 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 5 Preview or Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite cheaper?
Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite is cheaper for a typical chat (2K input tokens and 500 output tokens). Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite costs $0.25 per 1M input tokens and $1.50 per 1M output tokens, while Step 5 Preview costs $1 per 1M input tokens and $2.70 per 1M output tokens.
Which has a bigger context window, Step 5 Preview or Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite?
Step 5 Preview supports up to 1.05M tokens of context, compared with 1.05M for Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite.
Can I use Step 5 Preview and Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite at the same time?
Yes. Shortcut Chat sends one prompt to multiple models at once, so you can see Step 5 Preview and Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite answer side by side and keep the better response.
Why choose? Ask both.
Send one prompt to Step 5 Preview and Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite at the same time. Compare the answers side by side and keep the best one.