Mistral Medium 3.5 vs Step 3.5 Flash
| Spec | Mistral Medium 3.5 | Step 3.5 Flash |
|---|---|---|
| Respan Index | 26.6 (#94) | 26.5 (#95) |
| Blended price per 1M | $1.5 | $0.15 |
| Context window | 256K | 256K |
| Input / output per 1M | $0.75 / $3.75 | $0.1 / $0.3 |
| Max output | - | - |
| Input | text, vision | text |
| Released | 2026-04-28 | 2026-02-12 |
Respan Index by category
Each category is scored 0 to 100, and how far ahead the winner is. Leads under a point are close to even.
| Category | Mistral Medium 3.5 | Step 3.5 Flash |
|---|---|---|
| Coding | 7.1 Mistral Medium 3.5 | 10.7 Step 3.5 Flash |
| Agents | 43.7 Mistral Medium 3.5 | 23.9 Step 3.5 Flash |
| Reasoning | 20.5 Mistral Medium 3.5 | 34.6 Step 3.5 Flash |
| Knowledge & language | 17.7* Mistral Medium 3.5 | 24.8* Step 3.5 Flash |
| Human preference | 46.9 Mistral Medium 3.5 | 44.6 Step 3.5 Flash |
* Estimated: no published scores in that category. How the Respan Index works
Benchmarks both report
Mistral Medium 3.5 leads on 2 of the 2 benchmarks both report. Higher is better. Each score links to where it was published.
| Benchmark | Mistral Medium 3.5 | Step 3.5 Flash |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Elo | 1426 | 1393 |
| SWE-bench Verified | 77.6% | 74.4% |
FAQ
Is Mistral Medium 3.5 better than Step 3.5 Flash?
Mistral Medium 3.5 scores 26.6 on the Respan Index (#94), ahead of Step 3.5 Flash at 26.5 (#95). Mistral Medium 3.5 leads on 2 of the 2 benchmarks both report.
Which is cheaper, Mistral Medium 3.5 or Step 3.5 Flash?
Mistral Medium 3.5 lists at $0.75 input and $3.75 output per 1M tokens; Step 3.5 Flash at $0.1 and $0.3. Step 3.5 Flash is 10x cheaper per token at list price.
Which has the larger context window?
Both accept 256K tokens of context.