Step 3.5 Flash vs Grok Code Fast 1

Side-by-side benchmark comparison across agentic, coding, multimodal, knowledge, reasoning, and math workflows.

Step 3.5 Flash is clearly ahead on the aggregate, 66 to 54. The gap is large enough that you do not need to squint at the spreadsheet to see the difference.

Step 3.5 Flash's sharpest advantage is in mathematics, where it averages 84.5 against 67.5. The single biggest benchmark swing on the page is MMMU-Pro, 64 to 40.

Quick Verdict

Pick Step 3.5 Flash if you want the stronger benchmark profile. Grok Code Fast 1 only becomes the better choice if its workflow or ecosystem matters more than the raw scoreboard.

Agentic

Step 3.5 Flash

Step 3.5 Flash

60.2

Grok Code Fast 1

55.7

62
Terminal-Bench 2.0
59
66
BrowseComp
57
54
OSWorld-Verified
51

Coding

Step 3.5 Flash

Step 3.5 Flash

47.1

Grok Code Fast 1

32.8

77
HumanEval
60
48
SWE-bench Verified
31
45
LiveCodeBench
24
49
SWE-bench Pro
42

Multimodal & Grounded

Step 3.5 Flash

Step 3.5 Flash

66.7

Grok Code Fast 1

50.4

64
MMMU-Pro
40
70
OfficeQA Pro
63

Reasoning

Step 3.5 Flash

Step 3.5 Flash

78.3

Grok Code Fast 1

63.7

82
SimpleQA
61
82
MuSR
59
83
BBH
75
74
LongBench v2
64
73
MRCRv2
66

Knowledge

Step 3.5 Flash

Step 3.5 Flash

60.8

Grok Code Fast 1

48

84
MMLU
64
83
GPQA
63
81
SuperGPQA
61
79
OpenBookQA
59
76
MMLU-Pro
65
12
HLE
7
71
FrontierScience
57

Instruction Following

Step 3.5 Flash

Step 3.5 Flash

87

Grok Code Fast 1

79

87
IFEval
79

Multilingual

Step 3.5 Flash

Step 3.5 Flash

82.8

Grok Code Fast 1

73.7

86
MGSM
75
81
MMLU-ProX
73

Mathematics

Step 3.5 Flash

Step 3.5 Flash

84.5

Grok Code Fast 1

67.5

85
AIME 2023
64
87
AIME 2024
66
86
AIME 2025
65
81
HMMT Feb 2023
60
83
HMMT Feb 2024
62
82
HMMT Feb 2025
61
84
BRUMO 2025
63
85
MATH-500
73

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is better, Step 3.5 Flash or Grok Code Fast 1?

Step 3.5 Flash is ahead overall, 66 to 54. The biggest single separator in this matchup is MMMU-Pro, where the scores are 64 and 40.

Which is better for knowledge tasks, Step 3.5 Flash or Grok Code Fast 1?

Step 3.5 Flash has the edge for knowledge tasks in this comparison, averaging 60.8 versus 48. Inside this category, MMLU is the benchmark that creates the most daylight between them.

Which is better for coding, Step 3.5 Flash or Grok Code Fast 1?

Step 3.5 Flash has the edge for coding in this comparison, averaging 47.1 versus 32.8. Inside this category, LiveCodeBench is the benchmark that creates the most daylight between them.

Which is better for math, Step 3.5 Flash or Grok Code Fast 1?

Step 3.5 Flash has the edge for math in this comparison, averaging 84.5 versus 67.5. Inside this category, AIME 2023 is the benchmark that creates the most daylight between them.

Which is better for reasoning, Step 3.5 Flash or Grok Code Fast 1?

Step 3.5 Flash has the edge for reasoning in this comparison, averaging 78.3 versus 63.7. Inside this category, MuSR is the benchmark that creates the most daylight between them.

Which is better for agentic tasks, Step 3.5 Flash or Grok Code Fast 1?

Step 3.5 Flash has the edge for agentic tasks in this comparison, averaging 60.2 versus 55.7. Inside this category, BrowseComp is the benchmark that creates the most daylight between them.

Which is better for multimodal and grounded tasks, Step 3.5 Flash or Grok Code Fast 1?

Step 3.5 Flash has the edge for multimodal and grounded tasks in this comparison, averaging 66.7 versus 50.4. Inside this category, MMMU-Pro is the benchmark that creates the most daylight between them.

Which is better for instruction following, Step 3.5 Flash or Grok Code Fast 1?

Step 3.5 Flash has the edge for instruction following in this comparison, averaging 87 versus 79. Inside this category, IFEval is the benchmark that creates the most daylight between them.

Which is better for multilingual tasks, Step 3.5 Flash or Grok Code Fast 1?

Step 3.5 Flash has the edge for multilingual tasks in this comparison, averaging 82.8 versus 73.7. Inside this category, MGSM is the benchmark that creates the most daylight between them.

Last updated: March 12, 2026

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