Step 3.5 Flash vs Ministral 3 14B
Too close to call on our weighted score (Ministral 3 14B 63, Step 3.5 Flash 62). The right pick depends on what you value most.
StepFunStep 3.5 Flash
62/100- ECI—
- Price$0.10 / $0.30
- Context256K
Mistral AIMinistral 3 14B
63/100- ECI—
- Price$0.268 / $0.325
- Context262K
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Make it a three-way comparison.
Too close to call
It is close. Our weighted score puts them within 1 points (Ministral 3 14B 63/100, Step 3.5 Flash 62/100), so choose by what matters most for your work: Step 3.5 Flash on price and Ministral 3 14B for long inputs. The score weighs price 50%, inputs & features 30%, context window 20%. None of the shared benchmarks cover every model here yet, so capability is left out of this verdict.
- CapabilityNot enough dataNo independent benchmark covers every model here yet
- Lowest priceStep 3.5 FlashStep 3.5 Flash $0.15 · Ministral 3 14B $0.282 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
- Longest contextMinistral 3 14BMinistral 3 14B 262,144 · Step 3.5 Flash 256,000 tokens
- Widest inputsMinistral 3 14BStep 3.5 Flash: Text · Ministral 3 14B: Text, Images
- Self-hostingAll open weightsEvery model here can be downloaded and run on your own hardware
| Measure | Weight | Step 3.5 Flash | Ministral 3 14B |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price | 50% | 89 | 76 |
| Inputs & features | 30% | 35 | 60 |
| Context window | 20% | 36 | 37 |
| Overall | 100% | 62/100 | 63/100 |
Left out because at least one model lacks the data: capability. The remaining weights were rescaled.
Every spec in one table
Highlighted cells lead their row. Dashes mean the data is not published.
| Specification | Step 3.5 FlashStepFun | Ministral 3 14BMistral AI |
|---|---|---|
| Capability | ||
| Capabilities Index (ECI) | — | — |
| ECI rank | — | — |
| Price per million tokens | ||
| Input | $0.10 (best) | $0.268 |
| Output | $0.30 (best) | $0.325 |
| Cached input | $0.02 | — |
| Blended (3:1) | $0.15 (best) | $0.282 |
| Long-context rate | Same rate | Same rate |
| Price source | Official StepFun (Global) API | Median of 2 providers |
| Limits | ||
| Context window | 256,000 tokens | 262,144 tokens (best) |
| Max output | 256,000 tokens | 262,144 tokens (best) |
| Inputs and features | ||
| Text | Yes | Yes |
| Images | No | Yes |
| PDFs | No | No |
| Audio | No | No |
| Video | No | No |
| Reasoning | Yeslow · high | No |
| Tool calling | Yes | Yes |
| Structured output | No | Yes |
| Availability | ||
| Weights | Open | OpenApache 2.0 |
| API model ID | step-3.5-flash | — |
| API providers | 8 (best) | 2 |
| Released | Jan 29, 2026 | Dec 2, 2025 |
| Knowledge cutoff | Jan 2025 | — |
What would a month cost?
Enter your expected volume in millions of tokens. List prices only; caching and batch discounts would lower these.
- Step 3.5 Flash$1.60
- Ministral 3 14B$3.33
Which should you choose?
Which is better: Step 3.5 Flash or Ministral 3 14B?
It is close. Our weighted score puts them within 1 points (Ministral 3 14B 63/100, Step 3.5 Flash 62/100), so choose by what matters most for your work: Step 3.5 Flash on price and Ministral 3 14B for long inputs. The score weighs price 50%, inputs & features 30%, context window 20%. None of the shared benchmarks cover every model here yet, so capability is left out of this verdict.
Which is cheaper, Step 3.5 Flash or Ministral 3 14B?
Step 3.5 Flash is cheaper at $0.10 input / $0.30 output per million tokens (official StepFun (Global) API price). Ministral 3 14B costs $0.268 input / $0.325 output per million tokens (median across 2 API providers). At a typical mix of three input tokens to one output token, that is $0.15 per million tokens for Step 3.5 Flash versus $0.282 for Ministral 3 14B (1.9× as much).
Which scores higher on benchmarks?
There is no independent benchmark that covers both models yet. Step 3.5 Flash has not been scored yet and Ministral 3 14B has not been scored yet.
Which is better for coding?
There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for Step 3.5 Flash and Ministral 3 14B yet, so there is no like-for-like coding score. Test both on a sample of your own tasks. Both support tool calling for agent workflows.
Which has the bigger context window?
Ministral 3 14B has the largest context window at 262,144 tokens, against 256,000 for Step 3.5 Flash. Maximum output per response: Step 3.5 Flash up to 256,000, Ministral 3 14B up to 262,144 tokens.
Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?
Step 3.5 Flash accepts text; Ministral 3 14B accepts text and images. Ministral 3 14B handles the widest range of inputs.
Are any of these open source?
Yes, both publish their weights (Apache 2.0), so you can self-host them.
Which is newer?
Step 3.5 Flash is the newest, released Jan 29, 2026. Ministral 3 14B came out Dec 2, 2025. Knowledge cutoff: Step 3.5 Flash Jan 2025.
How do you decide the winner?
Each model gets a 0–100 score on capability (50%, independent benchmark results); price (25%, blended price per million tokens (3 input : 1 output), log scale); inputs & features (15%, image, PDF, audio and video input, tool calling, structured output and reasoning); context window (10%, maximum tokens per request, log scale). Dimensions missing for any model are dropped and the remaining weights rescaled, so every model is judged on the same evidence. Specs and prices come from public model listings and the labs’ own API pages; capability scores come from independent benchmark runs. Data updated Oct 4, 2026.
