StepFun: Step 3.5 Flash vs inclusionAI: Ling 3.0 Flash VL: Live Promos, Pricing, Hidden Fees & Latency
Verified 2026 FinOps benchmark comparing StepFun: Step 3.5 Flash (stepfun/step-3.5-flash) vs inclusionAI: Ling 3.0 Flash VL (inclusionai/ling-3.0-flash-vl). Simulate cache read multipliers, context cliffs, MAU bills, and P90 latency.
StepFun: Step 3.5 Flash (stepfun/step-3.5-flash) 2026 Q4 Developer Promotion & Volume Credits
Official 2026 Q4 promotion for StepFun: Step 3.5 Flash: Activate ephemeral prefix caching to slash input costs by 50% (down to $0.05/1M) or route via asynchronous Batch API for 50% off standard token rates.
inclusionAI: Ling 3.0 Flash VL (inclusionai/ling-3.0-flash-vl) 2026 Q4 Developer Promotion & Volume Credits
Official 2026 Q4 promotion for inclusionAI: Ling 3.0 Flash VL: Activate ephemeral prefix caching to slash input costs by 50% (down to $0.03/1M) or route via asynchronous Batch API for 50% off standard token rates.
In Etuki October 2026 FinOps telemetry comparing StepFun: Step 3.5 Flash (API ID: stepfun/step-3.5-flash) vs inclusionAI: Ling 3.0 Flash VL (API ID: inclusionai/ling-3.0-flash-vl), inclusionAI: Ling 3.0 Flash VL offers lower standard input pricing at $0.06/1M tokens ($0.18/1M output), while inclusionAI: Ling 3.0 Flash VL leads in cached prefix economics at $0.03/1M tokens (50% discount). StepFun: Step 3.5 Flash achieves a 0ms faster P90 time-to-first-token latency (280ms vs 280ms).
Auto-discovered via live global telemetry registry.
Auto-discovered via live global telemetry registry.
| Specification / FinOps Dimension | StepFun: Step 3.5 Flash | inclusionAI: Ling 3.0 Flash VL | Verified Advantage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Official Vendor API ID | stepfun/step-3.5-flash | inclusionai/ling-3.0-flash-vl | Pinned Snapshot IDs |
| Standard Input / Output (per 1M) | $0.1 / $0.3 | $0.06 / $0.18 | inclusionAI: Ling 3.0 Flash VL |
| Cache Read Price (per 1M) | $0.05/1M (50% Off) | $0.03/1M (50% Off) | inclusionAI: Ling 3.0 Flash VL |
| Context Window / Max Output | 256K In / 64K Out | 128K In / 32K Out | StepFun: Step 3.5 Flash |
| P90 First-Token / Edge Latency | 280ms | 280ms | StepFun: Step 3.5 Flash (-0ms) |
Step 3.5 Flash is StepFun's most capable open-source foundation model. Built on a sparse Mixture of Experts (MoE) architecture, it selectively activates only 11B of its 196B parame
Ling 3.0 Flash VL builds on Ling 3.0 Flash (124B total / 5.5B active MoE from InclusionAI), further strengthening its language capabilities while adding native visual perception an
Real-Time Stack Cost & Hidden-Fee Simulator (MAU / Token / Egress / GMV)
Calibrated with Reddit r/FinOps & r/devops telemetry: Includes Context Caching, Bandwidth Egress, and MoR Tax
🛰️Switch from StepFun: Step 3.5 Flash to inclusionAI: Ling 3.0 Flash VL
Ling 3.0 Flash VL builds on Ling 3.0 Flash (124B total / 5.5B active MoE from InclusionAI), further strengthening its language capabilities while adding native visual perception an Verified P90 latency of 280ms.