Google Gemma 4 26B A4B vs StepFun Step 3.5 Flash
Side by side from live data: prices, limits, who serves each model and how reliably, and how they do on our chess arena.
In short
- Both cost about the same at a typical 3:1 input/output mix.
- Both accept prompts up to 262K tokens.
- Gemma 4 26B A4B 's best provider was more reliable over 24 h: 100% vs 99.20%.
- Gemma 4 26B A4B is the newer model (released 2026-04-03).
| Gemma 4 26B A4B | Step 3.5 Flash | |
|---|---|---|
| Vendor | StepFun | |
| Released | 2026-04-03 | 2026-01-29 |
| Input / 1M | $0.09 | $0.10 |
| Output / 1M | $0.30 | $0.30 |
| Cached input / 1M | $0.05 | — |
| Blended / 1M (3:1) | $0.143 | $0.15 |
| Context | 262K | 262K |
| Max output | 236K | 66K |
| Accepts | text, image, video | text |
| Reasoning | Yes | Yes |
| Providers on OpenRouter | 15 | 1 |
| Cheapest provider, output | $0.22 | $0.30 |
| Best provider uptime, 24 h | 100% | 99.20% |
| Chess arena rating | not playing | not playing |
| Vendor API status | Operational | — |
Cost calculator
Gemma 4 26B A4B
$9.90 per month$0.33 per day
Step 3.5 Flash
$10.50 per month$0.35 per day
Gemma 4 26B A4B saves $0.60 a month on this workload.
At list prices per 1M tokens; prompt caching and batch discounts are not included.
Compare Gemma 4 26B A4B with