Model Comparison
Qwen3.6 Plus
vs. Step 3.5 Flash
Comparing 2 AI models · 7 benchmarks · Alibaba, StepFun
Recommended Pick
Al Qwen3.6 Plus 10 metric wins Strongest on: Reasoning, Intelligence, Coding
Best Value
Step 3.5 Flash
100.0 value score
46.7 reasoning / $0.15/1M
Lowest Price
Step 3.5 Flash
$0.10/1M input price
Best Reasoning
Qwen3.6 Plus
54.6 reasoning score
Blends available reasoning benchmarks
Best for Coding
Qwen3.6 Plus
42.9 coding index
Composite Indices
Higher is better; speed and price are normalized
Standard Benchmarks
Only benchmarks with data are shown
Differences That Matter
Best value
Step 3.5 Flash has the strongest quality-to-price mix at 100.0 out of 100 value points.
Price gap
Step 3.5 Flash is 5.0x cheaper on input tokens than Qwen3.6 Plus.
Speed gap
Step 3.5 Flash generates about 3.4x as many tokens per second as Qwen3.6 Plus.
Reasoning gap
Qwen3.6 Plus leads Step 3.5 Flash by 8.0 points on reasoning.
Coding gap
Qwen3.6 Plus leads Step 3.5 Flash by 11.3 points on coding.
Response Face-Off
Run one prompt through the selected models and compare response quality with live speed and cost context.
Qwen3.6 Plus
Alibaba
TTFT
—
Time
—
tok/s
—
Tokens
—
Cost
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Step 3.5 Flash
StepFun
TTFT
—
Time
—
tok/s
—
Tokens
—
Cost
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Which answer was more useful?
Full Comparison
| Metric | Top Pick Al Qwen3.6 Plus | St Step 3.5 Flash |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing per 1M tokens | ||
| Input Cost | $0.50/1M | $0.10/1M |
| Output Cost | $3.00/1M | $0.30/1M |
| Blended (3:1) | $1.13/1M | $0.15/1M |
| Specifications | ||
| Organization | Alibaba | StepFun |
| Release Date | Apr 2, 2026 | Feb 2, 2026 |
| Performance & Speed | ||
| Throughput | 52.7 tok/s | 180.4 tok/s |
| TTFT | 1758ms | 1180ms |
| Latency | 107110ms | 12265ms |
| Composite Indices | ||
| Value Score | 15.6 | 100.0 |
| Reasoning Score | 54.6 | 46.7 |
| Intelligence | 50.0 | 37.8 |
| Coding | 42.9 | 31.6 |
| Standard Benchmarks | ||
| GPQA | 88.2% | 83.1% |
| HLE | 25.7% | 19.1% |
| SciCode | 40.7% | 40.4% |
| LCR | 69.7% | 43.0% |
| IFBench | 75.2% | 64.6% |
| TAU-bench v2 | 97.7% | 94.4% |
| TerminalBench Hard | 43.9% | 27.3% |
Key Takeaways
Step 3.5 Flash offers the best value at $0.10/1M, making it ideal for high-volume applications and cost-conscious projects.
Qwen3.6 Plus has the strongest reasoning profile with a 54.6 reasoning score, combining the available reasoning-heavy benchmarks.
Qwen3.6 Plus reaches a 42.9 coding index, making it the top choice for software development and code generation tasks.
All models support context windows of ∞+ tokens, suitable for processing lengthy documents and maintaining extended conversations.
When to Choose Each Model
Qwen3.6 Plus
- Complex reasoning tasks
- Research & analysis
- Code generation
- Software development
Step 3.5 Flash
- Cost-sensitive applications
- High-volume processing
