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 2026-09-22.
Clear winner
Verdict
Pick Step 5 Preview
Step 5 Preview vs Gemini 3.8 Flash (medium): 9.8% more intelligence, 15.9% less cost to run the AA benchmark, and end-to-end time not fully reported.
| 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 | $924.68 | −15.9% Step 5 Preview is 15.9% cheaper |
| End-to-end time (lower is better) | Not reported | 33.68s | — not comparable |
| 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 3.8 Flash (medium) is off the frontier: at the same or lower cost, MiMo-V2.6-Pro scores 46.30 for $207.
- Step 5 Preview is off the frontier: at the same or lower cost, MiMo-V2.6-Pro scores 46.30 for $207.
Gemini 3.8 Flash (medium)Step 5 PreviewToday's Pareto frontierEvery other model
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Accept: text/markdown or ?format=md returns this page as Markdown. JSON: /api/v1/compare/gemini-3-8-flash-medium/step-5 · Markdown: /api/v1/compare/gemini-3-8-flash-medium/step-5?format=md · llms.txt · agent skill