Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite vs Step 5 Preview
Which is better for the money: Gemini 3.5 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 21.5 points higher (43.7 vs 22.2) but costs 3.3× as much to run the benchmark ($1190 vs $366; premium vs mid-range cost classes). They are not alternatives at one budget: pick Step 5 Preview when you need intelligence above 22.2, and Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite when 22.2 is enough.
| Metric | Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite | Step 5 Preview | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Intelligence (higher is better) | 22.2 | 43.7 | +96.8% Step 5 Preview is 96.8% more intelligent |
| Total AA cost (lower is better) | $365.63 | $1,190.26 | +225.5% Step 5 Preview is 3.3× more expensive |
| End-to-end time (lower is better) | 8.60s | 12.06s | +40.2% Step 5 Preview is 40.2% slower |
| Price per 1M tokens (in / out) | $0.30 / $2.50 | $1.00 / $2.70 | |
| Input modalities | Text, Image, Speech, Video | Text, Image |
Step 5 Preview vs Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite: 96.8% more intelligence, 225.5% more cost to run the AA benchmark, and 40.2% slower end-to-end.
Today's Pareto frontier
Against the frontier
- Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite is off the frontier: at the same or lower cost, GPT-6.1 Sol (Medium) scores 47.80 for $361.
- Step 5 Preview is off the frontier: at the same or lower cost, GPT-6.1 Sol (Max) scores 51.80 for $1082.
Gemini 3.5 Flash-LiteStep 5 PreviewToday's Pareto frontierOpen-weights frontierEvery other model
Matchup
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