StepFun Step 3.5 Flash vs Lyria 3 Pro (Google)
Which one should you pick? Here's the full breakdown.
StepFun Step 3.5 Flash
StepFun's (China) agent-focused open-weight model -- Step 3.5 Flash launched 2026-02-01. 196B sparse MoE, ~11B active. Benchmarks slightly ahead of DeepSeek V3.2 at over 3x smaller total size. Step 3 (321B / 38B active, Apache 2.0) and Step3-VL-10B multimodal also in the family
Lyria 3 Pro (Google)
Google DeepMind's music generation model -- 3-minute structured songs with intro, verse, chorus, and outro control
| Category | StepFun Step 3.5 Flash | Lyria 3 Pro (Google) |
|---|---|---|
| Ease of Use | 6.0 | 8.0 |
| Output Quality | 8.0 | 8.0 |
| Value | 9.0 | 7.0 |
| Features | 8.0 | 8.0 |
| Overall | 7.8 | 7.8 |
Pricing Comparison
| Feature | StepFun Step 3.5 Flash | Lyria 3 Pro (Google) |
|---|---|---|
| Free Tier | Yes | Yes |
| Starting Price | $0 | $0 |
Which Should You Pick?
Pick StepFun Step 3.5 Flash if...
- ✓Better value for money (9/10)
Teams building agent systems on Chinese open-weight foundations who want something other than DeepSeek or Qwen, especially if agentic tool-use is the primary workload. Also good for Chinese-market products where StepFun's domestic tuning advantages matter. And for anyone looking to add diversity to their open-weight evaluation matrix beyond the top-3 Chinese labs.
Visit StepFun Step 3.5 FlashPick Lyria 3 Pro (Google) if...
- ✓Easier to use (8 vs 6)
Content creators who already pay for a Gemini or Google AI subscription and want longer, more structured AI music. Also great for developers building music features into their own apps via the $0.08/song API.
Visit Lyria 3 Pro (Google)Our Verdict
StepFun Step 3.5 Flash and Lyria 3 Pro (Google) are extremely close overall. Your choice comes down to specific needs -- StepFun Step 3.5 Flash is better for teams building agent systems on chinese open-weight foundations who want something other than deepseek or qwen, especially if agentic tool-use is the primary workload, while Lyria 3 Pro (Google) works best for content creators who already pay for a gemini or google ai subscription and want longer, more structured ai music.