--- title: "Is Step 3.5 Flash still undominated? · Undominated.ai" canonical: https://undominated.ai/check/stepfun__step-3.5-flash/ description: "Step 3.5 Flash: whether it is still undominated. If anything in this catalogue is both better and cheaper, it is named, as of Oct 6, 2026. Unrated stays unrated." --- # Is Step 3.5 Flash still undominated? · Undominated.ai > Step 3.5 Flash: whether it is still undominated. If anything in this catalogue is both better and cheaper, it is named, as of Oct 6, 2026. Unrated stays unrated. # Is Step 3.5 Flash a good deal? Whether anything in this catalogue beats Step 3.5 Flash on both quality and price, and what you give up if it does. A computation on the current catalogue, not an opinion. 12 undominated of 145 · Oct 6, 2026 [1 · Choose & set workload](#check-input)[2 · Read verdict](#check-verdict)[3 · Inspect alternatives](#check-options) As of Oct 6, 2026, Step 3.5 Flash is dominated for Balanced on LMArena. Gemma 4 26B A4B scores 30.9 higher and costs 16% less, with a covering envelope. 12 of 145 rated, priced standard models are undominated. [Inspect model evidence](/models/stepfun__step-3.5-flash/) [Compare differences & requirements](/compare/?models=stepfun%2Fstep-3.5-flash%2Cgoogle%2Fgemma-4-26b-a4b-it) Current model Step 3.5 Flash Balanced 3 tokens in per 1 out Balanced Summarise Chat Code gen Agentic Monthly spend (USD) Used only to say how many months a named switching cost would take to earn back. Leave blank to skip. Switching cost (USD) Gemma 4 26B A4B is both better and cheaper than Step 3.5 Flash: 30.9 points higher on LMArena and 16% less per million tokens, $0.023 cheaper at this mix. [Step 3.5 Flash](https://undominated.ai/models/stepfun__step-3.5-flash/) LMArena Elo · higher is better Scale starts at 1040 Elo ** 1403.0 Effective $/M · Balanced · lower is better ** $0.150/M [Gemma 4 26B A4B](https://undominated.ai/models/google__gemma-4-26b-a4b-it/) LMArena Elo · higher is better Scale starts at 1040 Elo ** 1433.9 Effective $/M · Balanced · lower is better ** $0.127/M Step 3.5 Flash takes text, returns up to 65,536 tokens from a 262,144-token context, and is listed by 1 seller. Compared against 145 rated, priced models on this lens: 2 models dominate it and give up nothing, none does so with a trade-off. Step 3.5 Flash scores 1403 at $0.150 per million tokens for this mix. ## Envelope-safe replacements Each row scores at least as high, costs no more, and covers this model’s context, output, modalities, tools, and reasoning. A cheaper narrower model is not listed here. | Model | LMArena | Effective $/M | You save | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | [Gemma 4 26B A4B](/models/google__gemma-4-26b-a4b-it/) | 1433.9 +30.9 | $0.127/M | 16% | | [DeepSeek V4 Flash 0423](/models/deepseek__deepseek-v4-flash/) | 1432.1 +29.1 | $0.113/M | 25% | 145 rated, priced standard models. Chartreuse is the frontier. Cobalt is the model you named, when it is not on the staircase. Copy watch URL [Open the frontier](/frontier/) The link keeps the model and mix, using the current catalogue. Monthly spend and switching cost stay in this browser tab and are left out of the link. ## Saved decision references Save the model, workload, catalogue date and capability-preservation rule in this browser. Spend, switching cost and bill contents are not saved. No account or notifications. Constraint: replacements must preserve the model’s capabilities; any losses remain named trade-offs. Historical decisions cannot be fully replayed from saved references: past prices, scores and capability evidence are not stored. Save this reference ## Continue your investigation - [Build a shortlist](/compare/) - [Inspect alternatives](/alternatives/) - [Check billing conditions](/traps/) - [Read model evidence](/models/)