Beam 1.0 501B A23B vs Step 3.7 Flash
Beam 1.0 501B A23B and Step 3.7 Flash cost about the same per output token ($1.10 vs $1.15 per million). Updated October 21, 2026; 2 benchmarks have a result for both.
Beam 1.0 501B A23B or Step 3.7 Flash: which to pick
Neither model has a coding score yet, so the two cannot be ranked on coding.
Pick Beam 1.0 501B A23B for output tokens 1.0x cheaper ($1.10 vs $1.15 per million) and a larger context window (1.05M against 262K tokens).
- Shared results
- 2
- Beam 1.0 501B A23B only
- 26
- Step 3.7 Flash only
- 16
- Like-for-like categories
- 1 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
No call
Only Step 3.7 Flash has a AA Intelligence Index result, 19.5.
Directional only
Web design
Design Arena: websites
Beam 1.0 501B A23B
Beam 1.0 501B A23B leads, 1253 against 1196.
Same board, both measured
Long documents
Listed context window
Beam 1.0 501B A23B
Beam 1.0 501B A23B takes 1.05M tokens against 262K.
Listed by OpenRouter
Everyday cost
1K input + 500 output tokens
Step 3.7 Flash
Beam 1.0 501B A23B $0.0009, Step 3.7 Flash $0.0008 per turn.
List prices
At a glance
- Coding index
- Beam 1.0 501B A23B not benchmarked, Step 3.7 Flash not benchmarked.
- Widest category
- Web design, 8.3 points apart on average over 2 shared benchmarks.
- Widest single gap
- Design Arena: game dev: Beam 1.0 501B A23B 1233 against Step 3.7 Flash 1158, 9.4 points apart on a 0 to 100 scale.
- Output price
- Beam 1.0 501B A23B $1.10 against Step 3.7 Flash $1.15 per million output tokens, 1.0x apart.
- Context window
- Beam 1.0 501B A23B takes 1.05M tokens, Step 3.7 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 | Beam 1.0 501B A23B | Bars | Step 3.7 Flash | Ties |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Web design | 2 | 0 | ||
| All shared boards | 2 | 0 |
CodingDirectional onlySix of these boards feed the Vibe Coding Index9 boards, none shared
| Benchmark | Beam 1.0 501B A23B | Step 3.7 Flash | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| LMArena WebDev | 1437 | Not measured | Only Beam 1.0 501B A23B measured |
| AA Coding Index | Not measured | 39.6 | Only Step 3.7 Flash measured |
| SciCode | Not measured | 43.9% | Only Step 3.7 Flash measured |
| Terminal-Bench Hard (Artificial Analysis run) | Not measured | 35.6% | Only Step 3.7 Flash measured |
| ALE-Bench | Not measured | 694.1 | Only Step 3.7 Flash measured |
| LMArena Text: coding | 1473 | Not measured | Only Beam 1.0 501B A23B measured |
| LMArena Text: software and IT | 1461 | Not measured | Only Beam 1.0 501B A23B measured |
| LMArena WebDev: React | 1443 | Not measured | Only Beam 1.0 501B A23B measured |
| LMArena WebDev: HTML | 1436 | Not measured | Only Beam 1.0 501B A23B measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 29 boards here | |||
IntelligenceDirectional onlyPublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index1 board, none shared
| Benchmark | Beam 1.0 501B A23B | Step 3.7 Flash | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| AA Intelligence Index | Not measured | 19.5 | Only Step 3.7 Flash measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 1 board here | |||
Agentic workDirectional onlyPublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index1 board, none shared
| Benchmark | Beam 1.0 501B A23B | Step 3.7 Flash | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| τ²-Bench Telecom | Not measured | 98.5% | Only Step 3.7 Flash measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 38 boards here | |||
ReasoningDirectional onlyPublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index5 boards, none shared
| Benchmark | Beam 1.0 501B A23B | Step 3.7 Flash | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| GPQA Diamond (Artificial Analysis run) | Not measured | 80.9% | Only Step 3.7 Flash measured |
| Humanity's Last Exam (Artificial Analysis run) | Not measured | 21.4% | Only Step 3.7 Flash measured |
| LMArena Text: hard prompts | 1442 | Not measured | Only Beam 1.0 501B A23B measured |
| LMArena Text: expert | 1447 | Not measured | Only Beam 1.0 501B A23B measured |
| LMArena Text: hard prompts in English | 1451 | Not measured | Only Beam 1.0 501B A23B 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 | Beam 1.0 501B A23B | Step 3.7 Flash | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| LMArena Text: math | 1459 | Not measured | Only Beam 1.0 501B A23B measured |
| LMArena Text: mathematical work | 1475 | Not measured | Only Beam 1.0 501B A23B 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 | Beam 1.0 501B A23B | Step 3.7 Flash | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| LMArena Text: science | 1430 | Not measured | Only Beam 1.0 501B A23B measured |
| LMArena Text: medicine and healthcare | 1376 | Not measured | Only Beam 1.0 501B A23B measured |
| LMArena Text: legal and government | 1433 | Not measured | Only Beam 1.0 501B A23B measured |
| LMArena Text: business and finance | 1430 | Not measured | Only Beam 1.0 501B A23B measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 13 boards here | |||
Web designLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index20
| Benchmark | Beam 1.0 501B A23B | Step 3.7 Flash | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| Design Arena: websites | 1253 | 1196 | Beam 1.0 501B A23B |
| Design Arena: UI components | Not measured | 1179 | Only Step 3.7 Flash measured |
| Design Arena: game dev | 1233 | 1158 | Beam 1.0 501B A23B |
| Design Arena: data viz | Not measured | 1172 | Only Step 3.7 Flash measured |
| Design Arena: 3D | Not measured | 1129 | Only Step 3.7 Flash measured |
| Design Arena: all code categories | Not measured | 1182 | Only Step 3.7 Flash measured |
| Design Arena: SVG | Not measured | 1085 | Only Step 3.7 Flash measured |
| Design Arena: ASCII art | Not measured | 1152 | Only Step 3.7 Flash measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 1 board here | |||
GeneralDirectional onlyPublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index14 boards, none shared
| Benchmark | Beam 1.0 501B A23B | Step 3.7 Flash | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| IFBench | Not measured | 67.3% | Only Step 3.7 Flash measured |
| Long context reasoning (AA-LCR) | Not measured | 73.7% | Only Step 3.7 Flash measured |
| LMArena Text | 1425 | Not measured | Only Beam 1.0 501B A23B measured |
| LMArena Text: instruction following | 1430 | Not measured | Only Beam 1.0 501B A23B measured |
| LMArena Text: creative writing | 1390 | Not measured | Only Beam 1.0 501B A23B measured |
| LMArena Text: English | 1436 | Not measured | Only Beam 1.0 501B A23B measured |
| LMArena Text: non-English | 1413 | Not measured | Only Beam 1.0 501B A23B measured |
| LMArena Text: Chinese | 1424 | Not measured | Only Beam 1.0 501B A23B measured |
| LMArena Text: French | 1461 | Not measured | Only Beam 1.0 501B A23B measured |
| LMArena Text: Russian | 1412 | Not measured | Only Beam 1.0 501B A23B measured |
| LMArena Text: multi-turn | 1414 | Not measured | Only Beam 1.0 501B A23B measured |
| LMArena Text: longer queries | 1429 | Not measured | Only Beam 1.0 501B A23B measured |
| LMArena Text: writing and language | 1400 | Not measured | Only Beam 1.0 501B A23B measured |
| LMArena Text: entertainment and media | 1399 | Not measured | Only Beam 1.0 501B A23B measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 32 boards here | |||
Image generationNot comparablePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index0 boards, none shared
| Benchmark | Beam 1.0 501B A23B | Step 3.7 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 3.7 Flash costs less
Repository review
50K input + 3K output tokens
Step 3.7 Flash costs less
Agent loop
200K input + 10K output tokens
Step 3.7 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 | Reflection Beam 1.0 501B A23B | StepFun Step 3.7 Flash |
|---|---|---|
| Maker | Reflection | StepFun |
| Weights | Open weights | Open weights |
| Released | October 16, 2026 | May 28, 2026 |
| Context window | 1.05M | 262K |
| Input $/Mtok | $0.35 | $0.20 |
| Output $/Mtok | $1.10 | $1.15 |
| 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 Beam 1.0 501B A23B better than Step 3.7 Flash for coding?
Neither model has a coding score yet, so the two cannot be ranked on coding. Pick Beam 1.0 501B A23B for output tokens 1.0x cheaper ($1.10 vs $1.15 per million) and a larger context window (1.05M against 262K tokens).
Which is cheaper, Beam 1.0 501B A23B or Step 3.7 Flash?
Beam 1.0 501B A23B costs $0.35 per million input tokens and $1.10 per million output tokens; Step 3.7 Flash costs $0.20 and $1.15. Cost per solved task is known for neither of them.
Which has the bigger context window, Beam 1.0 501B A23B or Step 3.7 Flash?
Beam 1.0 501B A23B, with 1.05M tokens against 262K.
How many benchmarks is the Beam 1.0 501B A23B vs Step 3.7 Flash comparison based on?
2 benchmarks have a result for both models as of October 21, 2026. Beam 1.0 501B A23B's coding index rests on 1 independent benchmark and Step 3.7 Flash's on 0. Where only one model has a result, the page says so instead of naming a winner.