Gemini 3.6 Flash (High) vs Step 5 Preview
Which is better for the money: Gemini 3.6 Flash (High) 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.
Clear winner
Verdict
Pick Step 5 Preview
Step 5 Preview vs Gemini 3.6 Flash (High): 28.5% more intelligence, 26.3% less cost to run the AA benchmark, and 32.2% faster end-to-end.
| Metric | Gemini 3.6 Flash (High) | Step 5 Preview | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Intelligence (higher is better) | 34.0 | 43.7 | +28.5% Step 5 Preview is 28.5% more intelligent |
| Total AA cost (lower is better) | $1,614.42 | $1,190.26 | −26.3% Step 5 Preview is 26.3% cheaper |
| End-to-end time (lower is better) | 17.79s | 12.06s | −32.2% Step 5 Preview is 32.2% faster |
| Price per 1M tokens (in / out) | $0.75 / $3.75 | $1.00 / $2.70 | |
| Input modalities | Text, Image, Speech, Video | Text, Image |
Today's Pareto frontier
Against the frontier
- Gemini 3.6 Flash (High) is off the frontier: at the same or lower cost, GPT-6.1 Sol (Max) scores 51.80 for $1082.
- Step 5 Preview is off the frontier: at the same or lower cost, GPT-6.1 Sol (Max) scores 51.80 for $1082.
Gemini 3.6 Flash (High)Step 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-3-6-flash/step-5 · Markdown: /api/v1/compare/gemini-3-6-flash/step-5?format=md · llms.txt · agent skill