Nemotron 3.5 Super VL vs Step 3.5 Flash
Nemotron 3.5 Super VL leads Step 3.5 Flash on the Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index, 26.5 to 17.0, and Step 3.5 Flash costs 1.7x less per output token ($0.30 vs $0.50 per million). Updated October 22, 2026; 3 benchmarks have a result for both.
Nemotron 3.5 Super VL or Step 3.5 Flash: which to pick
Neither model has a coding score yet, so the two cannot be ranked on coding.
Pick Nemotron 3.5 Super VL for a larger context window (1.05M against 262K tokens).
- Shared results
- 3
- Nemotron 3.5 Super VL only
- 13
- Step 3.5 Flash only
- 32
- Like-for-like categories
- 3 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
No call
Neither has a coding score yet.
One side not measured
Intelligence
AA Intelligence Index
Nemotron 3.5 Super VL
Nemotron 3.5 Super VL leads, 26.5 against 17.0.
Same board, both measured
Web design
Design Arena: websites
No call
Only Nemotron 3.5 Super VL has a Design Arena: websites result, 1172.
Directional only
Long documents
Listed context window
Nemotron 3.5 Super VL
Nemotron 3.5 Super VL takes 1.05M tokens against 262K.
Listed by OpenRouter
Everyday cost
1K input + 500 output tokens
Step 3.5 Flash
Nemotron 3.5 Super VL $0.0004, Step 3.5 Flash $0.0003 per turn.
List prices
At a glance
- Coding index
- Nemotron 3.5 Super VL not benchmarked, Step 3.5 Flash not benchmarked.
- Widest category
- Intelligence, 9.5 points apart on average over 1 shared benchmark.
- Widest single gap
- AA Intelligence Index: Nemotron 3.5 Super VL 26.5 against Step 3.5 Flash 17.0, 9.5 points apart on a 0 to 100 scale.
- Output price
- Nemotron 3.5 Super VL $0.50 against Step 3.5 Flash $0.30 per million output tokens, 1.7x apart.
- Context window
- Nemotron 3.5 Super VL takes 1.05M tokens, Step 3.5 Flash 262K.
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 | Nemotron 3.5 Super VL | Bars | Step 3.5 Flash | Ties |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Intelligence | 1 | 0 | ||
| Reasoning | 1 | 0 | ||
| General | 1 | 0 | ||
| All shared boards | 3 | 0 |
CodingDirectional onlySix of these boards feed the Vibe Coding Index5 boards, none shared
| Benchmark | Nemotron 3.5 Super VL | Step 3.5 Flash | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| LiveBench coding | 65.5% | Not measured | Only Nemotron 3.5 Super VL measured |
| SciCode | 47.8% | Not measured | Only Nemotron 3.5 Super VL measured |
| Terminal-Bench Hard (Artificial Analysis run) | Not measured | 32.6% | Only Step 3.5 Flash measured |
| LMArena Text: coding | Not measured | 1436 | Only Step 3.5 Flash measured |
| LMArena Text: software and IT | Not measured | 1434 | Only Step 3.5 Flash measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 34 boards here | |||
IntelligenceLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index10
| Benchmark | Nemotron 3.5 Super VL | Step 3.5 Flash | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| AA Intelligence Index | 26.5 | 17.0 | Nemotron 3.5 Super VL |
| Neither model has a result on the other 1 board here | |||
Agentic workDirectional onlyPublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index4 boards, none shared
| Benchmark | Nemotron 3.5 Super VL | Step 3.5 Flash | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| LiveBench research | 70.9% | Not measured | Only Nemotron 3.5 Super VL measured |
| LiveBench browser | 4.0% | Not measured | Only Nemotron 3.5 Super VL measured |
| LiveBench long agentic | 15.8% | Not measured | Only Nemotron 3.5 Super VL measured |
| τ²-Bench Telecom | Not measured | 94.4% | Only Step 3.5 Flash measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 37 boards here | |||
ReasoningLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index10
| Benchmark | Nemotron 3.5 Super VL | Step 3.5 Flash | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| LiveBench reasoning | 78.8% | Not measured | Only Nemotron 3.5 Super VL measured |
| GPQA Diamond (Artificial Analysis run) | Not measured | 83.1% | Only Step 3.5 Flash measured |
| Humanity's Last Exam (Artificial Analysis run) | 30.7% | 24.5% | Nemotron 3.5 Super VL |
| LMArena Text: hard prompts | Not measured | 1411 | Only Step 3.5 Flash measured |
| LMArena Text: expert | Not measured | 1421 | Only Step 3.5 Flash measured |
| LMArena Text: hard prompts in English | Not measured | 1421 | Only Step 3.5 Flash measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 16 boards here | |||
MathDirectional onlyPublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index2 boards, none shared
| Benchmark | Nemotron 3.5 Super VL | Step 3.5 Flash | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| LMArena Text: math | Not measured | 1408 | Only Step 3.5 Flash measured |
| LMArena Text: mathematical work | Not measured | 1421 | Only Step 3.5 Flash measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 11 boards here | |||
KnowledgeDirectional onlyPublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index4 boards, none shared
| Benchmark | Nemotron 3.5 Super VL | Step 3.5 Flash | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| LMArena Text: science | Not measured | 1415 | Only Step 3.5 Flash measured |
| LMArena Text: medicine and healthcare | Not measured | 1408 | Only Step 3.5 Flash measured |
| LMArena Text: legal and government | Not measured | 1408 | Only Step 3.5 Flash measured |
| LMArena Text: business and finance | Not measured | 1394 | Only Step 3.5 Flash measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 14 boards here | |||
Web designDirectional onlyPublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index6 boards, none shared
| Benchmark | Nemotron 3.5 Super VL | Step 3.5 Flash | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| Design Arena: websites | 1172 | Not measured | Only Nemotron 3.5 Super VL measured |
| Design Arena: UI components | 1153 | Not measured | Only Nemotron 3.5 Super VL measured |
| Design Arena: game dev | 1110 | Not measured | Only Nemotron 3.5 Super VL measured |
| Design Arena: 3D | 1127 | Not measured | Only Nemotron 3.5 Super VL measured |
| Design Arena: all code categories | 1155 | Not measured | Only Nemotron 3.5 Super VL measured |
| LiveBench design | 60.7% | Not measured | Only Nemotron 3.5 Super VL measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 3 boards here | |||
GeneralLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index10
| Benchmark | Nemotron 3.5 Super VL | Step 3.5 Flash | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| LiveBench data analysis | 64.6% | Not measured | Only Nemotron 3.5 Super VL measured |
| IFBench | Not measured | 66.5% | Only Step 3.5 Flash measured |
| Long context reasoning (AA-LCR) | 69.0% | 63.0% | Nemotron 3.5 Super VL |
| LMArena Text | Not measured | 1403 | Only Step 3.5 Flash measured |
| LMArena Text: instruction following | Not measured | 1385 | Only Step 3.5 Flash measured |
| LMArena Text: creative writing | Not measured | 1357 | Only Step 3.5 Flash measured |
| LMArena Text: English | Not measured | 1417 | Only Step 3.5 Flash measured |
| LMArena Text: non-English | Not measured | 1385 | Only Step 3.5 Flash measured |
| LMArena Text: Chinese | Not measured | 1446 | Only Step 3.5 Flash measured |
| LMArena Text: German | Not measured | 1405 | Only Step 3.5 Flash measured |
| LMArena Text: Japanese | Not measured | 1353 | Only Step 3.5 Flash measured |
| LMArena Text: Korean | Not measured | 1351 | Only Step 3.5 Flash measured |
| LMArena Text: French | Not measured | 1421 | Only Step 3.5 Flash measured |
| LMArena Text: Spanish | Not measured | 1419 | Only Step 3.5 Flash measured |
| LMArena Text: Russian | Not measured | 1385 | Only Step 3.5 Flash measured |
| LMArena Text: Polish | Not measured | 1389 | Only Step 3.5 Flash measured |
| LMArena Text: multi-turn | Not measured | 1404 | Only Step 3.5 Flash measured |
| LMArena Text: longer queries | Not measured | 1402 | Only Step 3.5 Flash measured |
| LMArena Text: writing and language | Not measured | 1372 | Only Step 3.5 Flash measured |
| LMArena Text: entertainment and media | Not measured | 1360 | Only Step 3.5 Flash measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 26 boards here | |||
Image generationNot comparablePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index0 boards, none shared
| Benchmark | Nemotron 3.5 Super VL | Step 3.5 Flash | 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
Step 3.5 Flash costs less
Repository review
50K input + 3K output tokens
Step 3.5 Flash costs less
Agent loop
200K input + 10K output tokens
Step 3.5 Flash 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 | NVIDIA Nemotron 3.5 Super VL | StepFun Step 3.5 Flash |
|---|---|---|
| Maker | NVIDIA | StepFun |
| Weights | Open weights | Open weights |
| Released | October 15, 2026 | January 29, 2026 |
| Context window | 1.05M | 262K |
| Input $/Mtok | $0.15 | $0.10 |
| Output $/Mtok | $0.50 | $0.30 |
| Coding index | Not benchmarked | Not benchmarked |
| Independent measurements behind it | 1 | 0 |
| Cost per solved task | Not computable | Not computable |
| Source | OpenRouter listing | OpenRouter listing |
Questions
Is Nemotron 3.5 Super VL better than Step 3.5 Flash for coding?
Neither model has a coding score yet, so the two cannot be ranked on coding. Pick Nemotron 3.5 Super VL for a larger context window (1.05M against 262K tokens).
Which is cheaper, Nemotron 3.5 Super VL or Step 3.5 Flash?
Nemotron 3.5 Super VL costs $0.15 per million input tokens and $0.50 per million output tokens; Step 3.5 Flash costs $0.10 and $0.30. Cost per solved task is known for neither of them.
Which has the bigger context window, Nemotron 3.5 Super VL or Step 3.5 Flash?
Nemotron 3.5 Super VL, with 1.05M tokens against 262K.
How many benchmarks is the Nemotron 3.5 Super VL vs Step 3.5 Flash comparison based on?
3 benchmarks have a result for both models as of October 22, 2026. Nemotron 3.5 Super VL's coding index rests on 1 independent benchmark and Step 3.5 Flash's on 0. Where only one model has a result, the page says so instead of naming a winner.