Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite vs MiniMax M1
Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite leads MiniMax M1 on the Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index, 22.2 to 11.7, at about the same output price ($2.50 vs $2.20 per million). Updated October 23, 2026; 29 benchmarks have a result for both.
Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite or MiniMax M1: which to pick
Only Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite has a coding score, 48.9 on the Vibe Coding Index; MiniMax M1 has none, so the two cannot be ranked on coding.
Pick MiniMax M1 for output tokens 1.1x cheaper ($2.20 vs $2.50 per million).
- Shared results
- 29
- Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite only
- 56
- MiniMax M1 only
- 0
- Like-for-like categories
- 6 of 9
Only benchmarks that tested both models count toward a pick; a result only one model has is shown but not compared.
Which one for your work
Each card is decided by one number both models carry. Where only one has it, the card says so and makes no call.
Coding
Vibe Coding Index, six public coding benchmarks
No call
Only Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite has a coding score, so no call is made.
One side not measured
Intelligence
AA Intelligence Index
Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite
Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite leads, 22.2 against 11.7.
Same board, both measured
Agentic work
AA Agentic Index
No call
Only Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite has a AA Agentic Index result, 14.3.
Directional only
Reasoning
GPQA Diamond
No call
Only Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite has a GPQA Diamond result, 83.8%.
Directional only
Knowledge
MMLU Pro
No call
Only Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite has a MMLU Pro result, 85.8%.
Directional only
Long documents
Listed context window
Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite
Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite takes 1.05M tokens against 1M.
Listed by OpenRouter
Everyday cost
1K input + 500 output tokens
MiniMax M1
Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite $0.0015, MiniMax M1 $0.0015 per turn.
List prices
Cost per solved task
One SWE-bench Verified task, solved
No call
Only Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite has the number, $0.41.
Directional only
At a glance
- Coding index
- Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite 48.9 from 3 benchmarks, MiniMax M1 not benchmarked.
- Widest category
- General, 18.7 points apart on average over 17 shared benchmarks.
- Widest single gap
- LMArena Text: Japanese: Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite 1426 against MiniMax M1 1218, 34.7 points apart on a 0 to 100 scale.
- Output price
- Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite $2.50 against MiniMax M1 $2.20 per million output tokens, 1.1x apart.
- Context window
- Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite takes 1.05M tokens, MiniMax M1 1M.
Benchmark by benchmark
First the score: boards each model leads, per category, where both have a result. Then every board, a category to a fold; bars are each result on a 0 to 100 scale, so compare the two in a row, not one row with another.
| Category | Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite | Bars | MiniMax M1 | Ties |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Coding | 2 | 0 | ||
| Intelligence | 1 | 0 | ||
| Reasoning | 3 | 0 | ||
| Math | 2 | 0 | ||
| Knowledge | 4 | 0 | ||
| General | 17 | 0 | ||
| All shared boards | 29 | 0 |
CodingLike-for-likeSix of these boards feed the Vibe Coding Index20
| Benchmark | Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite | MiniMax M1 | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| LMArena WebDev | 1434 | Not measured | Only Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite measured |
| AA Coding Index | 49.3 | Not measured | Only Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite measured |
| LiveCodeBench (Vals AI) | 79.0% | Not measured | Only Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite measured |
| SWE-bench Verified (Vals AI) | 75.0% | Not measured | Only Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite measured |
| Vibe Code Bench (Vals AI) | 37.2% | Not measured | Only Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite measured |
| Code migration (Vals AI) | 6.2% | Not measured | Only Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite measured |
| ProgramBench (Vals AI) | 0.0% | Not measured | Only Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite measured |
| Terminal-Bench 2.1 (Vals AI) | 50.2% | Not measured | Only Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite measured |
| CyberBench (Vals AI) | 59.1% | Not measured | Only Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite measured |
| SciCode | 41.3% | Not measured | Only Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite measured |
| WeirdML | 39.0% | Not measured | Only Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite measured |
| ALE-Bench | 765.3 | Not measured | Only Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite measured |
| LMArena Text: coding | 1453 | 1359 | Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite |
| LMArena Text: software and IT | 1450 | 1359 | Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite |
| LMArena WebDev: React | 1406 | Not measured | Only Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite measured |
| LMArena WebDev: from an image | 1448 | Not measured | Only Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite measured |
| SciCode | 6.2% | Not measured | Only Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 26 boards here | |||
IntelligenceLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index10
| Benchmark | Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite | MiniMax M1 | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| AA Intelligence Index | 22.2 | 11.7 | Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite |
| Epoch Capabilities Index | 144.9 | Not measured | Only Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite measured |
Agentic workDirectional onlyPublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index6 boards, none shared
| Benchmark | Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite | MiniMax M1 | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| AA Agentic Index | 14.3 | Not measured | Only Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite measured |
| Finance Agent (Vals AI) | 47.4% | Not measured | Only Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite measured |
| Tax Agent Bench (Vals AI) | 7.2% | Not measured | Only Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite measured |
| Legal Research Bench (Vals AI) | 13.9% | Not measured | Only Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite measured |
| Excel Modeling Benchmark (Vals AI) | 43.2% | Not measured | Only Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite measured |
| APEX-Agents | 29.3% | Not measured | Only Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 36 boards here | |||
ReasoningLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index30
| Benchmark | Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite | MiniMax M1 | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| GPQA Diamond | 83.8% | Not measured | Only Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite measured |
| MMMU Pro (Vals AI) | 83.6% | Not measured | Only Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite measured |
| GPQA Diamond (Artificial Analysis run) | 83.8% | Not measured | Only Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite measured |
| Humanity's Last Exam (Artificial Analysis run) | 18.8% | Not measured | Only Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite measured |
| GPQA Diamond (Epoch AI run) | 83.3% | Not measured | Only Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite measured |
| ARC-AGI | 53.5% | Not measured | Only Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite measured |
| ARC-AGI-2 | 10.3% | Not measured | Only Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite measured |
| Chess puzzles | 21.0% | Not measured | Only Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite measured |
| Mystery game puzzles | 19.0% | Not measured | Only Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite measured |
| LMArena Text: hard prompts | 1441 | 1339 | Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite |
| LMArena Text: expert | 1433 | 1317 | Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite |
| LMArena Text: hard prompts in English | 1440 | 1353 | Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite |
| LMArena Vision: diagrams | 1284 | Not measured | Only Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite measured |
| LMArena Vision: homework | 1291 | Not measured | Only Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 9 boards here | |||
MathLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index20
| Benchmark | Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite | MiniMax M1 | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| OTIS Mock AIME | 71.1% | Not measured | Only Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite measured |
| FrontierMath, tiers 1 to 3 | 26.0% | Not measured | Only Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite measured |
| FrontierMath, tier 4 | 0.0% | Not measured | Only Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite measured |
| ProofBench | 13.0% | Not measured | Only Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite measured |
| LMArena Text: math | 1435 | 1361 | Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite |
| LMArena Text: mathematical work | 1433 | 1363 | Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite |
| Neither model has a result on the other 8 boards here | |||
KnowledgeLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index40
| Benchmark | Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite | MiniMax M1 | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| MMLU Pro | 85.8% | Not measured | Only Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite measured |
| LegalBench (Vals AI) | 84.1% | Not measured | Only Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite measured |
| CorpFin (Vals AI) | 60.7% | Not measured | Only Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite measured |
| TaxEval (Vals AI) | 72.6% | Not measured | Only Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite measured |
| MortgageTax (Vals AI) | 68.7% | Not measured | Only Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite measured |
| MedCode (Vals AI) | 43.5% | Not measured | Only Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite measured |
| LMArena Text: science | 1451 | 1354 | Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite |
| LMArena Text: medicine and healthcare | 1438 | 1355 | Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite |
| LMArena Text: legal and government | 1431 | 1337 | Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite |
| LMArena Text: business and finance | 1423 | 1319 | Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite |
| FACTS Benchmark Suite | 53.5% | Not measured | Only Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 9 boards here | |||
Web designNot comparablePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index0 boards, none shared
| Benchmark | Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite | MiniMax M1 | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| Neither model has a result on 9 boards here | |||
GeneralLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index170
| Benchmark | Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite | MiniMax M1 | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| Public Benefits Bench (Vals AI) | 51.8% | Not measured | Only Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite measured |
| SAGE (Vals AI) | 47.3% | Not measured | Only Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite measured |
| MedScribe (Vals AI) | 70.9% | Not measured | Only Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite measured |
| Long context reasoning (AA-LCR) | 76.0% | Not measured | Only Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite measured |
| DTBench | 83.5% | Not measured | Only Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite measured |
| LMCA | 37.6% | Not measured | Only Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite measured |
| LMArena Text | 1435 | 1343 | Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite |
| LMArena Text: instruction following | 1419 | 1312 | Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite |
| LMArena Text: creative writing | 1421 | 1297 | Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite |
| LMArena Vision | 1269 | Not measured | Only Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite measured |
| LMArena Text: English | 1438 | 1363 | Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite |
| LMArena Text: non-English | 1427 | 1319 | Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite |
| LMArena Text: Chinese | 1467 | 1360 | Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite |
| LMArena Text: German | 1454 | 1350 | Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite |
| LMArena Text: Japanese | 1426 | 1218 | Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite |
| LMArena Text: Korean | 1407 | 1266 | Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite |
| LMArena Text: French | 1450 | 1370 | Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite |
| LMArena Text: Spanish | 1442 | 1353 | Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite |
| LMArena Text: Russian | 1444 | 1329 | Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite |
| LMArena Text: Polish | 1437 | 1329 | Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite |
| LMArena Text: multi-turn | 1445 | 1335 | Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite |
| LMArena Text: longer queries | 1435 | 1326 | Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite |
| LMArena Text: writing and language | 1427 | 1311 | Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite |
| LMArena Text: entertainment and media | 1415 | 1303 | Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite |
| LMArena Vision: English | 1269 | Not measured | Only Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite measured |
| LMArena Vision: Chinese | 1311 | Not measured | Only Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite measured |
| LMArena Vision: reading text | 1280 | Not measured | Only Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite measured |
| LMArena Vision: humor | 1287 | Not measured | Only Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite measured |
| LMArena Vision: creative writing | 1260 | Not measured | Only Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 19 boards here | |||
Image generationNot comparablePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index0 boards, none shared
| Benchmark | Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite | MiniMax M1 | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| Neither model has a result on 5 boards here | |||
What each workload costs
Three fixed token mixes at each model's listed price, so per-token rates become a bill.
Chat turn
1K input + 500 output tokens
MiniMax M1 costs less
Repository review
50K input + 3K output tokens
Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite costs less
Agent loop
200K input + 10K output tokens
Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite costs less
Listed OpenRouter rates, without cache or batch discounts. A workload that does not fit a model's context window would need splitting.
Specification differences
The leading value in a row is marked; a row with a missing value names no leader. Our two rows are marked in red.
| Specification | Google Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite | MiniMax M1 |
|---|---|---|
| Maker | MiniMax | |
| Weights | No public weights listed | No public weights listed |
| Released | July 21, 2026 | June 17, 2025 |
| Context window | 1.05M | 1M |
| Input $/Mtok | $0.30 | $0.40 |
| Output $/Mtok | $2.50 | $2.20 |
| Coding index | 48.9 | Not benchmarked |
| Independent measurements behind it | 3 | 0 |
| Cost per solved task | $0.41 | Not computable |
| Source | OpenRouter listing | OpenRouter listing |
Questions
Is Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite better than MiniMax M1 for coding?
Only Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite has a coding score, 48.9 on the Vibe Coding Index; MiniMax M1 has none, so the two cannot be ranked on coding. Pick MiniMax M1 for output tokens 1.1x cheaper ($2.20 vs $2.50 per million).
Which is cheaper, Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite or MiniMax M1?
Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite costs $0.30 per million input tokens and $2.50 per million output tokens; MiniMax M1 costs $0.40 and $2.20. Cost per solved task is known for Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite only.
Which has the bigger context window, Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite or MiniMax M1?
Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite, with 1.05M tokens against 1M.
How many benchmarks is the Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite vs MiniMax M1 comparison based on?
29 benchmarks have a result for both models as of October 23, 2026. Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite's coding index rests on 3 independent benchmarks and MiniMax M1's on 0. Where only one model has a result, the page says so instead of naming a winner.