# Arete-27B vs Step 3.7 Flash (slim)

> Step 3.7 Flash scores 59.8 (C) to Arete-27B's 55.1 (C) for open-weight models you run yourself. Prices, MCP, x402, uptime and agent notes side by side.

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Step 3.7 Flash scores 59.8 (C) on agent readiness against Arete-27B's 55.1 (C), and leads in 2 of 4 scored categories. Arete-27B leads on risk and documentation and upkeep. Both do open-weight models you run yourself.

- Arete-27B: C 55.1, rank #123 of 160 open-weight models · https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/arete-27b.min.md
- Step 3.7 Flash: C 59.8, rank #93 of 160 open-weight models · https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/step-3-7-flash.min.md
- Arete-27B, good for Agents that want Qwen3.8-27B's coding and tool use without its handling of politically sensitive topics, on a 24 GB card or a 128 GB machine Ahead on Risk, 55 against 45; Documentation and upkeep, 63 against 39.
- Step 3.7 Flash, good for Teams with a GPU server or a provider account that want an open, long-context agent model with vision Ahead on Reach, 70 against 50; Agent interface, 85 against 60.

| Category | Arete-27B | Step 3.7 Flash |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Capability (35%) | pending | pending |
| Reach (25%) | 50 | 70 |
| Risk (20%) | 55 | 45 |
| Agent interface (10%) | 60 | 85 |
| Documentation and upkeep (10%) | 63 | 39 |

| Fact (where they differ) | Arete-27B | Step 3.7 Flash |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Vendor | Nous Research | StepFun |
| Licence | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 (metadata and card; no LICENSE file) |
| Last release | 2026-11-06 | 2026-06-03 |

Why the edge:
- Agent interface, Step 3.7 Flash +25: Arete-27B 60 (Chat template 20, a Jinja file in the repository.); Step 3.7 Flash 85 (Chat template 20, chat_template.jinja in the repository (5,723 characters).)
- Documentation and upkeep, Arete-27B +24: Arete-27B 63 (Model card 8, no limitations, context length, languages or cut-off.); Step 3.7 Flash 39 (Model card 14, Intended use, the architecture, the parameters, the context and the language (in the metadata) are on the card.)
- Reach, Step 3.7 Flash +20: Arete-27B 50 (Memory 10, the only build from Nous Research is the 54.7 GB BF16 release, which needs about 66 GB and fits the reference machine.); Step 3.7 Flash 70 (Memory 5, the smallest build at 4 bits is StepFun's IQ4_XS GGUF, 104.99 GB with the 3.97 GB projector, and 108.96 GB × 1.2 = 130.8 GB, over what the reference m…)
- Risk, Arete-27B +10: Arete-27B 55 (File safety 25, safetensors only and no remote code.); Step 3.7 Flash 45 (File safety 15, safetensors and GGUF only, no .bin, .pt or .pth files (25).)