Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite vs Step 5 Preview
Which is better for the money: Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite by Google or Step 5 Preview by StepFun? Intelligence, total benchmark cost, and end-to-end time from Artificial Analysis & other sources, snapshot 2026-10-24.
Trade-off
Verdict
Depends on your budget
Step 5 Preview scores 28.1 points higher (43.7 vs 15.6) but costs 7.6× as much to run the benchmark ($1190 vs $156; premium vs mid-range cost classes). They are not alternatives at one budget: pick Step 5 Preview when you need intelligence above 15.6, and Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite when 15.6 is enough.
| Metric | Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite | Step 5 Preview | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Intelligence (higher is better) | 15.6 | 43.7 | +180.1% Step 5 Preview is 2.8× more intelligent |
| Total AA cost (lower is better) | $155.87 | $1,190.26 | +663.6% Step 5 Preview is 7.6× more expensive |
| End-to-end time (lower is better) | 6.15s | 12.06s | +96.1% Step 5 Preview is 96.1% slower |
| Price per 1M tokens (in / out) | $0.25 / $1.50 | $1.00 / $2.70 | |
| Input modalities | Text, Image, Speech, Video | Text, Image |
Step 5 Preview vs Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite: 180.1% more intelligence, 663.6% more cost to run the AA benchmark, and 96.1% slower end-to-end.
Today's Pareto frontier
Against the frontier
- Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite is off the frontier: at the same or lower cost, GPT-6 Luna (Max) scores 38.10 for $122.
- Step 5 Preview is off the frontier: at the same or lower cost, GPT-6.1 Sol (Max) scores 51.80 for $1082.
Gemini 3.1 Flash-LiteStep 5 PreviewToday's Pareto frontierOpen-weights frontierEvery other model
Matchup
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Accept: text/markdown or ?format=md returns this page as Markdown. JSON: /api/v1/compare/gemini-3-1-flash-lite-preview/step-5 · Markdown: /api/v1/compare/gemini-3-1-flash-lite-preview/step-5?format=md · llms.txt · agent skill