StepFun Step 3.5 Flash vs Sora (Discontinued)
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
Sora (Discontinued)
OpenAI's text-to-video model -- DISCONTINUED March 24, 2026. Web/app shuts down April 26, 2026. API sunsets September 24, 2026. See alternatives: Veo 3.1, Kling 3.0, Seedance 2.0
| Category | StepFun Step 3.5 Flash | Sora (Discontinued) |
|---|---|---|
| Ease of Use | 6.0 | 7.0 |
| Output Quality | 8.0 | 8.0 |
| Value | 9.0 | 1.0 |
| Features | 8.0 | 4.0 |
| Overall | 7.8 | 5.0 |
Pricing Comparison
| Feature | StepFun Step 3.5 Flash | Sora (Discontinued) |
|---|---|---|
| Free Tier | Yes | No |
| Starting Price | $0 | N/A |
Which Should You Pick?
Pick StepFun Step 3.5 Flash if...
- ✓Better value for money (9/10)
- ✓More features (8 vs 4)
- ✓Has a free tier
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 Sora (Discontinued) if...
- ✓Easier to use (7 vs 6)
Historical context. Anyone researching the AI-video space needs to understand why Sora failed -- it's a case study in how consumer-pricing + compute economics can kill a product even when the underlying tech is impressive. If you're looking for a working video generator today, skip Sora and go to Veo 3.1 (best quality, now free via Google Vids), Kling 3.0 (best value, free 66 credits/day), or Seedance 2.0 (best workflow if you already use CapCut).
Visit Sora (Discontinued)Our Verdict
StepFun Step 3.5 Flash is the clear winner here with 7.8/10 vs 5.0/10. Sora (Discontinued) isn't bad, but StepFun Step 3.5 Flash outperforms it across the board. Pick Sora (Discontinued) only if historical context.