API cost decision in 10 seconds

Step 3.5 Flash vs Nova Micro 1.0

Pick Nova Micro 1.0 for lower cost; pick Step 3.5 Flash only if the larger context window matters more.

Page updated: 2026-05-26T15:08:08Z Data confirmed: 2026-05-26T20:08:05Z Prices normalized to USD per 1M tokens Sample workload: 1M input + 500K output

Budget verdict

Pick Nova Micro 1.0 for lower cost; pick Step 3.5 Flash only if the larger context window matters more.

On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, Nova Micro 1.0 is estimated at $0.11 vs $0.24 for Step 3.5 Flash, saving $0.13 (56.2% lower).

Cost-first pickNova Micro 1.0

Context-first pickStep 3.5 Flash

Sample savings$0.1356.2%

10x traffic gap$1.35

Step 3.5 Flash has more context, but Nova Micro 1.0 saves $0.13 on the standard workload. At 10x that traffic, the same price gap is about $1.35. Use the calculator below to replace the sample workload with your own token volume.

Cost sensitivity

Workload Sensitivity

Same prices, different token mixes.

Nova Micro 1.0 stays cheaper across input-heavy, balanced, and output-heavy sample workloads.

Workload shape	Token mix	Better pick	Step 3.5 Flash	Nova Micro 1.0
Input-heavy / RAG	5M input + 500K output	Nova Micro 1.0	$0.6	$0.25
Balanced workload	1M input + 1M output	Nova Micro 1.0	$0.39	$0.18
Output-heavy chatbot	1M input + 5M output	Nova Micro 1.0	$1.59	$0.74

Cheaper input Nova Micro 1.0 $0.09 vs $0.035 / 1M

Nova Micro 1.0 is $0.05 cheaper per 1M input tokens (61.1% lower; 2.57x difference).

Cheaper output Nova Micro 1.0 $0.3 vs $0.14 / 1M

Nova Micro 1.0 is $0.16 cheaper per 1M output tokens (53.3% lower; 2.14x difference).

Larger context Step 3.5 Flash 262.14K vs 128K

Step 3.5 Flash has 134.14K more context (2.05x larger).

Sample workload Nova Micro 1.0 $0.24 vs $0.11

Nova Micro 1.0 is $0.13 cheaper on the standard workload (56.2% lower).

Estimate your workload cost

Your Workload Cost

Prices are normalized to USD per 1M tokens.

Monthly input tokens Monthly output tokens

Step 3.5 Flash Calculating… Estimated API cost

Nova Micro 1.0 Calculating… Estimated API cost

Cheaper for this workload Calculating… Difference: calculating…

This estimate uses normalized public API pricing per 1M tokens. It is a planning aid, not a billing quote. Verify provider pricing, limits, and terms before production use.

Quick Decision

Verdict

Nova Micro 1.0 has the lower input price; Nova Micro 1.0 has the lower output price; Step 3.5 Flash offers the larger context window. For the 1M input plus 500K output sample, Nova Micro 1.0 is cheaper for the standard workload.

For a 1M input token plus 500K output token workload, the estimated API cost is $0.24 for Step 3.5 Flash and $0.11 for Nova Micro 1.0.

Best Fit

Choose Step 3.5 Flash when you care most about larger context window.

Choose Nova Micro 1.0 when you care most about lower input-token price, and lower output-token price.

Decision Notes

On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, Nova Micro 1.0 is estimated at $0.11 vs $0.24 for Step 3.5 Flash, saving $0.13 (56.2% lower).
Nova Micro 1.0 is $0.13 cheaper on the standard workload (56.2% lower).
Nova Micro 1.0 is $0.05 cheaper per 1M input tokens (61.1% lower; 2.57x difference).
Nova Micro 1.0 is $0.16 cheaper per 1M output tokens (53.3% lower; 2.14x difference).
Step 3.5 Flash has 134.14K more context (2.05x larger).

Head-to-Head Specs

Feature	Step 3.5 Flash (StepFun)	Nova Micro 1.0 (Amazon)
Input Price prompt tokens per 1M	$0.09	$0.035
Completion Price per 1M tokens	$0.3	$0.14
Sample Workload Cost 1M input + 500K output	$0.24	$0.11
Context Window	262.14K	128K
Release Date	2026-01-29	2024-12-05
Popularity	#43	#146

Use-Case Decision Matrix

Use case	Better pick	Why
Budget-constrained production	Nova Micro 1.0	On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, Nova Micro 1.0 is estimated at $0.11 vs $0.24 for Step 3.5 Flash, saving $0.13 (56.2% lower).
High-volume input processing	Nova Micro 1.0	Lower prompt-token price matters most when prompts, retrieved passages, or documents dominate the bill.
Long responses and chatbots	Nova Micro 1.0	Lower output-token price matters most when assistants generate many completion tokens.
RAG or long-document work	Step 3.5 Flash	A larger context window leaves more room for retrieved passages, conversation history, or source files.

Related Alternatives

Same-provider lower-cost swaps

No lower-cost same-provider swap is currently tracked for this pair.

Larger context near this budget

Llama 4 Scout offers 10M context with $0.23 sample workload cost.
Owl Alpha offers 1.05M context with $0 sample workload cost.
DeepSeek V4 Flash offers 1.05M context with $0.2 sample workload cost.
MiMo-V2.5 offers 1.05M context with $0.28 sample workload cost.

Popular competitors

DeepSeek V4 Flash · DeepSeek · #1
Hy3 preview · Tencent · #2
Claude Opus 4.7 · Anthropic · #3
Claude Sonnet 4.6 · Anthropic · #4

Cheaper alternatives

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Larger context alternatives

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Provider catalogs

Compare models within provider hubs before choosing a final API vendor.

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StepFun catalog

Review all tracked StepFun models before deciding whether this matchup is the right shortlist.

Open StepFun models

Amazon catalog

Check other Amazon models with comparable pricing, context, or release timing.

Open Amazon models

Step 3.5 Flash

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 parameters per token....

Nova Micro 1.0

Amazon Nova Micro 1.0 is a text-only model that delivers the lowest latency responses in the Amazon Nova family of models at a very low cost. With a context length...