Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite vs Step 5 Preview
Step 5 Preview leads Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite on coding, 61.1 to 49.0 on the Vibe Coding Index, at about the same output price ($2.70 vs $2.50 per million). Updated October 21, 2026; 45 benchmarks have a result for both.
Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite or Step 5 Preview: which to pick
Pick Step 5 Preview for coding: it scores 61.1 on the Vibe Coding Index against 49.0 for Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite.
Pick Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite for output tokens 1.1x cheaper ($2.50 vs $2.70 per million) and work measured by LMArena Vision: homework or LMArena Text: creative writing, where it leads.
- Shared results
- 45
- Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite only
- 40
- Step 5 Preview only
- 16
- Like-for-like categories
- 7 of 9
Only benchmarks that tested both models count toward a pick; a result only one model has is shown but not compared.
Which one for your work
Each card is decided by one number both models carry. Where only one has it, the card says so and makes no call.
Coding
Vibe Coding Index, six public coding benchmarks
Step 5 Preview
Step 5 Preview scores 61.1 against 49.0.
3 and 4 benchmarks behind the scores
Intelligence
AA Intelligence Index
Step 5 Preview
Step 5 Preview leads, 43.7 against 22.2.
Same board, both measured
Agentic work
AA Agentic Index
No call
Only Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite has a AA Agentic Index result, 14.3.
Directional only
Reasoning
GPQA Diamond
No call
Only Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite has a GPQA Diamond result, 83.8%.
Directional only
Knowledge
MMLU Pro
No call
Only Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite has a MMLU Pro result, 85.8%.
Directional only
Long documents
Listed context window
No call
Both take 1.05M tokens.
Listed by OpenRouter
Everyday cost
1K input + 500 output tokens
Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite
Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite $0.0015, Step 5 Preview $0.0024 per turn.
List prices
Cost per solved task
One SWE-bench Verified task, solved
No call
Only Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite has the number, $0.41.
Directional only
At a glance
- Coding index
- Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite 49.0 from 3 benchmarks, Step 5 Preview 61.1 from 4 benchmarks.
- Widest category
- Intelligence, 21.5 points apart on average over 1 shared benchmark.
- Widest single gap
- Vibe Code Bench (Vals AI): Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite 37.2% against Step 5 Preview 70.4%, 33.2 points apart on a 0 to 100 scale.
- Output price
- Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite $2.50 against Step 5 Preview $2.70 per million output tokens, 1.1x apart.
- Context window
- Both take 1.05M tokens.
Benchmark by benchmark
First the score: boards each model leads, per category, where both have a result. Then every board, a category to a fold; bars are each result on a 0 to 100 scale, so compare the two in a row, not one row with another.
| Category | Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite | Bars | Step 5 Preview | Ties |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Coding | 0 | 8 | ||
| Intelligence | 0 | 1 | ||
| Agentic work | 0 | 4 | ||
| Reasoning | 1 | 5 | ||
| Math | 0 | 3 | ||
| Knowledge | 0 | 4 | ||
| General | 9 | 10 | ||
| All shared boards | 10 | 35 |
CodingLike-for-likeSix of these boards feed the Vibe Coding Index08
| Benchmark | Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite | Step 5 Preview | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| LiveBench coding | Not measured | 85.6% | Only Step 5 Preview measured |
| LMArena WebDev | 1435 | 1567 | Step 5 Preview |
| AA Coding Index | 49.3 | Not measured | Only Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite measured |
| LiveCodeBench (Vals AI) | 79.0% | Not measured | Only Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite measured |
| SWE-bench Verified (Vals AI) | 75.0% | Not measured | Only Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite measured |
| Terminal-Bench 4 (Vals AI) | Not measured | 31.8% | Only Step 5 Preview measured |
| Vibe Code Bench (Vals AI) | 37.2% | 70.4% | Step 5 Preview |
| Code migration (Vals AI) | 6.2% | 39.0% | Step 5 Preview |
| ProgramBench (Vals AI) | 0.0% | Not measured | Only Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite measured |
| IOI (Vals AI) | Not measured | 38.1% | Only Step 5 Preview measured |
| Terminal-Bench 2.1 (Vals AI) | 50.2% | Not measured | Only Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite measured |
| SWE-bench Multimodal (Vals AI) | Not measured | 40.8% | Only Step 5 Preview measured |
| CyberBench (Vals AI) | 59.1% | Not measured | Only Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite measured |
| SciCode | 41.3% | 58.9% | Step 5 Preview |
| WeirdML | 39.0% | Not measured | Only Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite measured |
| ALE-Bench | 765.3 | Not measured | Only Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite measured |
| LMArena Text: coding | 1453 | 1485 | Step 5 Preview |
| LMArena Text: software and IT | 1451 | 1473 | Step 5 Preview |
| LMArena WebDev: React | 1408 | 1583 | Step 5 Preview |
| LMArena WebDev: HTML | Not measured | 1556 | Only Step 5 Preview measured |
| LMArena WebDev: from an image | 1448 | 1550 | Step 5 Preview |
| SciCode | 6.2% | Not measured | Only Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 17 boards here | |||
IntelligenceLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index01
| Benchmark | Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite | Step 5 Preview | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| AA Intelligence Index | 22.2 | 43.7 | Step 5 Preview |
| Epoch Capabilities Index | 144.9 | Not measured | Only Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite measured |
Agentic workLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index04
| Benchmark | Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite | Step 5 Preview | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| AA Agentic Index | 14.3 | Not measured | Only Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite measured |
| LiveBench research | Not measured | 72.8% | Only Step 5 Preview measured |
| LiveBench browser | Not measured | 24.0% | Only Step 5 Preview measured |
| LiveBench long agentic | Not measured | 27.5% | Only Step 5 Preview measured |
| SREBench (Vals AI) | Not measured | 0.4% | Only Step 5 Preview measured |
| Finance Agent (Vals AI) | 47.4% | 50.7% | Step 5 Preview |
| Tax Agent Bench (Vals AI) | 7.2% | 27.3% | Step 5 Preview |
| Legal Research Bench (Vals AI) | 13.9% | 40.4% | Step 5 Preview |
| Excel Modeling Benchmark (Vals AI) | 43.2% | 57.1% | Step 5 Preview |
| BioMysteryBench (Vals AI) | Not measured | 67.4% | Only Step 5 Preview measured |
| Terminal-Bench-Science (Vals AI) | Not measured | 2.9% | Only Step 5 Preview measured |
| Vals Science Index | Not measured | 29.6% | Only Step 5 Preview measured |
| APEX-Agents | 29.3% | Not measured | Only Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 28 boards here | |||
ReasoningLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index15
| Benchmark | Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite | Step 5 Preview | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| GPQA Diamond | 83.8% | Not measured | Only Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite measured |
| LiveBench reasoning | Not measured | 83.8% | Only Step 5 Preview measured |
| MysteryMechanism (Vals AI) | Not measured | 18.5% | Only Step 5 Preview measured |
| MMMU Pro (Vals AI) | 83.6% | Not measured | Only Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite measured |
| GPQA Diamond (Artificial Analysis run) | 83.8% | Not measured | Only Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite measured |
| Humanity's Last Exam (Artificial Analysis run) | 18.8% | 46.5% | Step 5 Preview |
| GPQA Diamond (Epoch AI run) | 83.3% | Not measured | Only Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite measured |
| ARC-AGI | 53.5% | Not measured | Only Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite measured |
| ARC-AGI-2 | 10.3% | Not measured | Only Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite measured |
| Chess puzzles | 21.0% | Not measured | Only Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite measured |
| Mystery game puzzles | 19.0% | Not measured | Only Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite measured |
| LMArena Text: hard prompts | 1441 | 1461 | Step 5 Preview |
| LMArena Text: expert | 1434 | 1485 | Step 5 Preview |
| LMArena Text: hard prompts in English | 1440 | 1454 | Step 5 Preview |
| LMArena Vision: diagrams | 1284 | 1308 | Step 5 Preview |
| LMArena Vision: homework | 1291 | 1265 | Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite |
| Neither model has a result on the other 6 boards here | |||
MathLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index03
| Benchmark | Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite | Step 5 Preview | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| OTIS Mock AIME | 71.1% | Not measured | Only Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite measured |
| FrontierMath, tiers 1 to 3 | 26.0% | Not measured | Only Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite measured |
| FrontierMath, tier 4 | 0.0% | Not measured | Only Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite measured |
| ProofBench | 13.0% | 42.0% | Step 5 Preview |
| LMArena Text: math | 1434 | 1458 | Step 5 Preview |
| LMArena Text: mathematical work | 1433 | 1460 | Step 5 Preview |
| Neither model has a result on the other 7 boards here | |||
KnowledgeLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index04
| Benchmark | Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite | Step 5 Preview | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| MMLU Pro | 85.8% | Not measured | Only Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite measured |
| LegalBench (Vals AI) | 84.1% | Not measured | Only Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite measured |
| CorpFin (Vals AI) | 60.7% | Not measured | Only Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite measured |
| TaxEval (Vals AI) | 72.6% | Not measured | Only Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite measured |
| MortgageTax (Vals AI) | 68.7% | Not measured | Only Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite measured |
| MedCode (Vals AI) | 43.5% | Not measured | Only Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite measured |
| LMArena Text: science | 1451 | 1454 | Step 5 Preview |
| LMArena Text: medicine and healthcare | 1438 | 1439 | Step 5 Preview |
| LMArena Text: legal and government | 1431 | 1437 | Step 5 Preview |
| LMArena Text: business and finance | 1423 | 1435 | Step 5 Preview |
| FACTS Benchmark Suite | 53.5% | Not measured | Only Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 7 boards here | |||
Web designDirectional onlyPublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index1 board, none shared
| Benchmark | Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite | Step 5 Preview | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| LiveBench design | Not measured | 76.9% | Only Step 5 Preview measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 8 boards here | |||
GeneralLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index910
| Benchmark | Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite | Step 5 Preview | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| LiveBench data analysis | Not measured | 63.5% | Only Step 5 Preview measured |
| Public Benefits Bench (Vals AI) | 51.8% | 58.1% | Step 5 Preview |
| SAGE (Vals AI) | 47.3% | Not measured | Only Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite measured |
| MedScribe (Vals AI) | 70.9% | Not measured | Only Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite measured |
| Long context reasoning (AA-LCR) | 76.0% | 88.3% | Step 5 Preview |
| DTBench | 83.5% | Not measured | Only Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite measured |
| LMCA | 37.6% | Not measured | Only Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite measured |
| LMArena Text | 1435 | 1440 | Step 5 Preview |
| LMArena Text: instruction following | 1419 | 1438 | Step 5 Preview |
| LMArena Text: creative writing | 1421 | 1409 | Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite |
| LMArena Vision | 1269 | 1265 | Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite |
| LMArena Text: English | 1438 | 1447 | Step 5 Preview |
| LMArena Text: non-English | 1427 | 1428 | Step 5 Preview |
| LMArena Text: Chinese | 1468 | 1500 | Step 5 Preview |
| LMArena Text: German | 1454 | Not measured | Only Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite measured |
| LMArena Text: Japanese | 1426 | 1383 | Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite |
| LMArena Text: Korean | 1407 | Not measured | Only Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite measured |
| LMArena Text: French | 1451 | 1438 | Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite |
| LMArena Text: Spanish | 1441 | 1441 | Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite |
| LMArena Text: Russian | 1443 | 1433 | Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite |
| LMArena Text: Polish | 1437 | Not measured | Only Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite measured |
| LMArena Text: multi-turn | 1445 | 1437 | Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite |
| LMArena Text: longer queries | 1435 | 1449 | Step 5 Preview |
| LMArena Text: writing and language | 1428 | 1425 | Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite |
| LMArena Text: entertainment and media | 1414 | 1412 | Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite |
| LMArena Vision: English | 1269 | 1290 | Step 5 Preview |
| LMArena Vision: Chinese | 1311 | Not measured | Only Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite measured |
| LMArena Vision: reading text | 1280 | 1282 | Step 5 Preview |
| LMArena Vision: humor | 1287 | Not measured | Only Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite measured |
| LMArena Vision: creative writing | 1260 | Not measured | Only Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 16 boards here | |||
Image generationNot comparablePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index0 boards, none shared
| Benchmark | Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite | Step 5 Preview | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| Neither model has a result on 5 boards here | |||
What each workload costs
Three fixed token mixes at each model's listed price, so per-token rates become a bill.
Chat turn
1K input + 500 output tokens
Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite costs less
Repository review
50K input + 3K output tokens
Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite costs less
Agent loop
200K input + 10K output tokens
Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite costs less
Listed OpenRouter rates, without cache or batch discounts. A workload that does not fit a model's context window would need splitting.
Specification differences
The leading value in a row is marked; a row with a missing value names no leader. Our two rows are marked in red.
| Specification | Google Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite | StepFun Step 5 Preview |
|---|---|---|
| Maker | StepFun | |
| Weights | No public weights listed | Open weights |
| Released | July 21, 2026 | October 8, 2026 |
| Context window | 1.05M | 1.05M |
| Input $/Mtok | $0.30 | $1.00 |
| Output $/Mtok | $2.50 | $2.70 |
| Coding index | 49.0 | 61.1 |
| Independent measurements behind it | 3 | 4 |
| Cost per solved task | $0.41 | Not computable |
| Source | OpenRouter listing | OpenRouter listing |
Questions
Is Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite better than Step 5 Preview for coding?
Pick Step 5 Preview for coding: it scores 61.1 on the Vibe Coding Index against 49.0 for Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite. Pick Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite for output tokens 1.1x cheaper ($2.50 vs $2.70 per million) and work measured by LMArena Vision: homework or LMArena Text: creative writing, where it leads.
Which is cheaper, Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite or Step 5 Preview?
Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite costs $0.30 per million input tokens and $2.50 per million output tokens; Step 5 Preview costs $1.00 and $2.70. Cost per solved task is known for Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite only.
Which has the bigger context window, Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite or Step 5 Preview?
Neither: both take 1.05M tokens.
How many benchmarks is the Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite vs Step 5 Preview comparison based on?
45 benchmarks have a result for both models as of October 21, 2026. Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite's coding index rests on 3 independent benchmarks and Step 5 Preview's on 4. Where only one model has a result, the page says so instead of naming a winner.