Gemini 3.8 Flash (Medium) vs Step 5 Preview
Which is better for the money: Gemini 3.8 Flash (Medium) 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 3.9 points higher (43.7 vs 39.8) but costs 1.1× as much to run the benchmark ($1190 vs $1100; both premium class). Pick Step 5 Preview when the extra intelligence is worth the premium, otherwise Gemini 3.8 Flash (Medium).
| Metric | Gemini 3.8 Flash (Medium) | Step 5 Preview | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Intelligence (higher is better) | 39.8 | 43.7 | +9.8% Step 5 Preview is 9.8% more intelligent |
| Total AA cost (lower is better) | $1,100.06 | $1,190.26 | +8.2% Step 5 Preview is 8.2% more expensive |
| End-to-end time (lower is better) | Not reported | 12.06s | — not comparable |
| Price per 1M tokens (in / out) | $0.75 / $3.75 | $1.00 / $2.70 | |
| Input modalities | Text, Image, Speech, Video | Text, Image |
Step 5 Preview vs Gemini 3.8 Flash (Medium): 9.8% more intelligence, 8.2% more cost to run the AA benchmark, and end-to-end time not fully reported.
Today's Pareto frontier
Against the frontier
- Gemini 3.8 Flash (Medium) 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 3.8 Flash (Medium)Step 5 PreviewToday's Pareto frontierOpen-weights frontierEvery other model
Matchup
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