StepFun Step 3.5 Flash vs Topaz Labs
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
Topaz Labs
Desktop AI suite for photo and video enhancement -- upscaling, denoising, and sharpening that actually works
| Category | StepFun Step 3.5 Flash | Topaz Labs |
|---|---|---|
| Ease of Use | 6.0 | 7.0 |
| Output Quality | 8.0 | 9.0 |
| Value | 9.0 | 5.0 |
| Features | 8.0 | 8.0 |
| Overall | 7.8 | 7.3 |
Pricing Comparison
| Feature | StepFun Step 3.5 Flash | Topaz Labs |
|---|---|---|
| Free Tier | Yes | No |
| Starting Price | $0 | $199 |
Which Should You Pick?
Pick StepFun Step 3.5 Flash if...
- ✓Better value for money (9/10)
- ✓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 Topaz Labs if...
- ✓Higher output quality (9 vs 8)
- ✓Easier to use (7 vs 6)
Professional photographers and videographers who need the absolute best AI enhancement quality and process locally. If you shoot in low light or need to upscale old footage, nothing else comes close.
Visit Topaz LabsOur Verdict
StepFun Step 3.5 Flash edges out Topaz Labs with a 7.8 vs 7.3 overall score. Both are solid picks, but StepFun Step 3.5 Flash has the advantage in value.