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Gemini 3.6 Flash vs MiniMax M2

Gemini 3.6 Flash leads MiniMax M2 on the Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index, 34.0 to 18.6, and MiniMax M2 costs 3.7x less per output token ($1.02 vs $3.75 per million). Updated October 22, 2026; 38 benchmarks have a result for both.

Replace Gemini 3.6 Flash Replace MiniMax M2
Gemini 3.6 FlashGoogle
Coding
62.5
Overall
68.3
Output $/M
$3.75
38
MiniMax M2MiniMax
Coding
No data
Overall
No data
Output $/M
$1.02
0
vs boards won of 38 shared

Gemini 3.6 Flash or MiniMax M2: which to pick

Only Gemini 3.6 Flash has a coding score, 62.5 on the Vibe Coding Index; MiniMax M2 has none, so the two cannot be ranked on coding.

Pick MiniMax M2 for output tokens 3.7x cheaper ($1.02 vs $3.75 per million) and a lower cost per solved task ($0.702 against $1.49).

Model AGemini 3.6 FlashGoogle62.5/1004 independent benchmarks$1.49 per solved taskModel BMiniMax M2MiniMaxNot benchmarked1 independent benchmark$0.702 per solved task
Shared results
38
Gemini 3.6 Flash only
72
MiniMax M2 only
12
Like-for-like categories
7 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.

At a glance

Coding index
Gemini 3.6 Flash 62.5 from 4 benchmarks, MiniMax M2 not benchmarked.
Widest category
Coding, 28.7 points apart on average over 4 shared benchmarks.
Widest single gap
LMArena WebDev: HTML: Gemini 3.6 Flash 1547 against MiniMax M2 1306, 40.1 points apart on a 0 to 100 scale.
Output price
Gemini 3.6 Flash $3.75 against MiniMax M2 $1.02 per million output tokens, 3.7x apart.
Context window
Gemini 3.6 Flash takes 1.05M tokens, MiniMax M2 205K.

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.

Boards won, where both have a result
CategoryGemini 3.6 FlashBarsMiniMax M2Ties
Coding40
Intelligence10
Reasoning50
Math20
Knowledge40
Web design60
General160
All shared boards380
CodingLike-for-likeSix of these boards feed the Vibe Coding Index40
Coding benchmarks for Gemini 3.6 Flash and MiniMax M2
BenchmarkGemini 3.6 FlashMiniMax M2Leader
SWE-bench VerifiedNot measured61.0%Only MiniMax M2 measured
LMArena WebDev15381297Gemini 3.6 Flash
AA Coding Index69.2Not measuredOnly Gemini 3.6 Flash measured
LiveCodeBench (Vals AI)88.1%Not measuredOnly Gemini 3.6 Flash measured
SWE-bench Verified (Vals AI)79.6%Not measuredOnly Gemini 3.6 Flash measured
Vibe Code Bench (Vals AI)64.0%Not measuredOnly Gemini 3.6 Flash measured
Code migration (Vals AI)30.9%Not measuredOnly Gemini 3.6 Flash measured
ProgramBench (Vals AI)0.0%Not measuredOnly Gemini 3.6 Flash measured
IOI (Vals AI)35.1%Not measuredOnly Gemini 3.6 Flash measured
Terminal-Bench 2.1 (Vals AI)73.8%Not measuredOnly Gemini 3.6 Flash measured
CyberBench (Vals AI)45.4%Not measuredOnly Gemini 3.6 Flash measured
LiveCodeBench (Artificial Analysis run)Not measured82.6%Only MiniMax M2 measured
SciCode53.4%Not measuredOnly Gemini 3.6 Flash measured
Terminal-Bench Hard (Artificial Analysis run)Not measured25.8%Only MiniMax M2 measured
Terminal-BenchNot measured30.0%Only MiniMax M2 measured
FrontierCode34.4%Not measuredOnly Gemini 3.6 Flash measured
WeirdML56.1%Not measuredOnly Gemini 3.6 Flash measured
ALE-Bench715.5Not measuredOnly Gemini 3.6 Flash measured
LMArena Text: coding14911371Gemini 3.6 Flash
LMArena Text: software and IT14921373Gemini 3.6 Flash
LMArena WebDev: React1528Not measuredOnly Gemini 3.6 Flash measured
LMArena WebDev: HTML15471306Gemini 3.6 Flash
LMArena WebDev: from an image1545Not measuredOnly Gemini 3.6 Flash measured
SciCode10.8%Not measuredOnly Gemini 3.6 Flash measured
Neither model has a result on the other 19 boards here
IntelligenceLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index10
Intelligence benchmarks for Gemini 3.6 Flash and MiniMax M2
BenchmarkGemini 3.6 FlashMiniMax M2Leader
AA Intelligence Index34.018.6Gemini 3.6 Flash
Epoch Capabilities Index154.5Not measuredOnly Gemini 3.6 Flash measured
Agentic workDirectional onlyPublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index18 boards, none shared
Agentic work benchmarks for Gemini 3.6 Flash and MiniMax M2
BenchmarkGemini 3.6 FlashMiniMax M2Leader
AA Agentic Index29.0Not measuredOnly Gemini 3.6 Flash measured
Design Arena: agents building web apps1197Not measuredOnly Gemini 3.6 Flash measured
Design Arena: agents building full-stack apps1181Not measuredOnly Gemini 3.6 Flash measured
Design Arena: agents building mobile apps1196Not measuredOnly Gemini 3.6 Flash measured
Design Arena: agents building Android apps1203Not measuredOnly Gemini 3.6 Flash measured
Design Arena: agents building games1180Not measuredOnly Gemini 3.6 Flash measured
Design Arena: HTML slides1088Not measuredOnly Gemini 3.6 Flash measured
Design Arena: PowerPoint slides1118Not measuredOnly Gemini 3.6 Flash measured
Design Arena: spreadsheets1072Not measuredOnly Gemini 3.6 Flash measured
Finance Agent (Vals AI)56.3%Not measuredOnly Gemini 3.6 Flash measured
Tax Agent Bench (Vals AI)18.0%Not measuredOnly Gemini 3.6 Flash measured
Legal Research Bench (Vals AI)25.0%Not measuredOnly Gemini 3.6 Flash measured
Excel Modeling Benchmark (Vals AI)65.4%Not measuredOnly Gemini 3.6 Flash measured
BioMysteryBench (Vals AI)58.5%Not measuredOnly Gemini 3.6 Flash measured
Terminal-Bench-Science (Vals AI)4.3%Not measuredOnly Gemini 3.6 Flash measured
τ²-Bench TelecomNot measured86.8%Only MiniMax M2 measured
APEX-Agents46.9%Not measuredOnly Gemini 3.6 Flash measured
Vending-Bench 2Not measured$161Only MiniMax M2 measured
Neither model has a result on the other 24 boards here
ReasoningLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index50
Reasoning benchmarks for Gemini 3.6 Flash and MiniMax M2
BenchmarkGemini 3.6 FlashMiniMax M2Leader
GPQA Diamond93.4%Not measuredOnly Gemini 3.6 Flash measured
MMMU Pro (Vals AI)88.4%Not measuredOnly Gemini 3.6 Flash measured
GPQA Diamond (Artificial Analysis run)92.8%77.7%Gemini 3.6 Flash
Humanity's Last Exam (Artificial Analysis run)40.8%13.7%Gemini 3.6 Flash
GPQA Diamond (Epoch AI run)94.1%Not measuredOnly Gemini 3.6 Flash measured
ARC-AGI91.2%Not measuredOnly Gemini 3.6 Flash measured
ARC-AGI-260.4%Not measuredOnly Gemini 3.6 Flash measured
Chess puzzles42.0%Not measuredOnly Gemini 3.6 Flash measured
Mystery game puzzles30.0%Not measuredOnly Gemini 3.6 Flash measured
LMArena Text: hard prompts14861357Gemini 3.6 Flash
LMArena Text: expert14901338Gemini 3.6 Flash
LMArena Text: hard prompts in English14841376Gemini 3.6 Flash
LMArena Vision: diagrams1314Not measuredOnly Gemini 3.6 Flash measured
LMArena Vision: homework1314Not measuredOnly Gemini 3.6 Flash measured
Kagi LLM BenchmarkNot measured57.8%Only MiniMax M2 measured
Neither model has a result on the other 8 boards here
MathLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index20
Math benchmarks for Gemini 3.6 Flash and MiniMax M2
BenchmarkGemini 3.6 FlashMiniMax M2Leader
AA Math IndexNot measured78.3Only MiniMax M2 measured
AIME 2025 (Artificial Analysis run)Not measured78.3%Only MiniMax M2 measured
OTIS Mock AIME94.2%Not measuredOnly Gemini 3.6 Flash measured
FrontierMath, tiers 1 to 358.9%Not measuredOnly Gemini 3.6 Flash measured
FrontierMath, tier 422.0%Not measuredOnly Gemini 3.6 Flash measured
ProofBench36.0%Not measuredOnly Gemini 3.6 Flash measured
LMArena Text: math15081351Gemini 3.6 Flash
LMArena Text: mathematical work14921368Gemini 3.6 Flash
MathArena23.9%Not measuredOnly Gemini 3.6 Flash measured
Neither model has a result on the other 5 boards here
KnowledgeLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index40
Knowledge benchmarks for Gemini 3.6 Flash and MiniMax M2
BenchmarkGemini 3.6 FlashMiniMax M2Leader
MMLU Pro89.3%Not measuredOnly Gemini 3.6 Flash measured
LegalBench (Vals AI)86.7%Not measuredOnly Gemini 3.6 Flash measured
CorpFin (Vals AI)63.3%Not measuredOnly Gemini 3.6 Flash measured
TaxEval (Vals AI)74.9%Not measuredOnly Gemini 3.6 Flash measured
MortgageTax (Vals AI)67.6%Not measuredOnly Gemini 3.6 Flash measured
MedCode (Vals AI)53.1%Not measuredOnly Gemini 3.6 Flash measured
MMLU Pro (Artificial Analysis run)Not measured82.0%Only MiniMax M2 measured
SimpleQA Verified66.2%Not measuredOnly Gemini 3.6 Flash measured
LMArena Text: science14891348Gemini 3.6 Flash
LMArena Text: medicine and healthcare14691367Gemini 3.6 Flash
LMArena Text: legal and government14791349Gemini 3.6 Flash
LMArena Text: business and finance14641336Gemini 3.6 Flash
FACTS Benchmark Suite65.3%Not measuredOnly Gemini 3.6 Flash measured
Neither model has a result on the other 7 boards here
Web designLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index60
Web design benchmarks for Gemini 3.6 Flash and MiniMax M2
BenchmarkGemini 3.6 FlashMiniMax M2Leader
Design Arena: websites13001143Gemini 3.6 Flash
Design Arena: UI components12951134Gemini 3.6 Flash
Design Arena: game dev12631118Gemini 3.6 Flash
Design Arena: data viz12891140Gemini 3.6 Flash
Design Arena: 3D12711098Gemini 3.6 Flash
Design Arena: all code categories12891135Gemini 3.6 Flash
Design Arena: SVGNot measured1100Only MiniMax M2 measured
Design Arena: ASCII art1281Not measuredOnly Gemini 3.6 Flash measured
Neither model has a result on the other 1 board here
GeneralLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index160
General benchmarks for Gemini 3.6 Flash and MiniMax M2
BenchmarkGemini 3.6 FlashMiniMax M2Leader
Public Benefits Bench (Vals AI)56.6%Not measuredOnly Gemini 3.6 Flash measured
SAGE (Vals AI)48.7%Not measuredOnly Gemini 3.6 Flash measured
MedScribe (Vals AI)79.7%Not measuredOnly Gemini 3.6 Flash measured
Vals Multimodal Index65.1%Not measuredOnly Gemini 3.6 Flash measured
IFBenchNot measured72.3%Only MiniMax M2 measured
Long context reasoning (AA-LCR)80.0%64.3%Gemini 3.6 Flash
DTBench95.5%Not measuredOnly Gemini 3.6 Flash measured
LMCA44.9%Not measuredOnly Gemini 3.6 Flash measured
Furniture assembly23.3%Not measuredOnly Gemini 3.6 Flash measured
LMArena Text14801340Gemini 3.6 Flash
LMArena Text: instruction following14671329Gemini 3.6 Flash
LMArena Text: creative writing14661286Gemini 3.6 Flash
LMArena Vision1299Not measuredOnly Gemini 3.6 Flash measured
LMArena Text: English14821364Gemini 3.6 Flash
LMArena Text: non-English14701313Gemini 3.6 Flash
LMArena Text: Chinese15311366Gemini 3.6 Flash
LMArena Text: German14801357Gemini 3.6 Flash
LMArena Text: Japanese1475Not measuredOnly Gemini 3.6 Flash measured
LMArena Text: Korean1429Not measuredOnly Gemini 3.6 Flash measured
LMArena Text: French15031336Gemini 3.6 Flash
LMArena Text: Spanish14761326Gemini 3.6 Flash
LMArena Text: Russian14881330Gemini 3.6 Flash
LMArena Text: Polish14731312Gemini 3.6 Flash
LMArena Text: multi-turn14811361Gemini 3.6 Flash
LMArena Text: longer queries14751331Gemini 3.6 Flash
LMArena Text: writing and language14701295Gemini 3.6 Flash
LMArena Text: entertainment and media14561298Gemini 3.6 Flash
LMArena Vision: English1295Not measuredOnly Gemini 3.6 Flash measured
LMArena Vision: Chinese1357Not measuredOnly Gemini 3.6 Flash measured
LMArena Vision: reading text1312Not measuredOnly Gemini 3.6 Flash measured
LMArena Vision: humor1289Not measuredOnly Gemini 3.6 Flash measured
LMArena Vision: creative writing1278Not measuredOnly Gemini 3.6 Flash measured
LMArena Document1456Not measuredOnly Gemini 3.6 Flash measured
Neither model has a result on the other 15 boards here
Image generationNot comparablePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index0 boards, none shared
Image generation benchmarks for Gemini 3.6 Flash and MiniMax M2
BenchmarkGemini 3.6 FlashMiniMax M2Leader
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

Gemini 3.6 Flash$0.0026Fits in one request
MiniMax M2$0.0008Fits in one request

MiniMax M2 costs less

Repository review

50K input + 3K output tokens

Gemini 3.6 Flash$0.049Fits in one request
MiniMax M2$0.016Fits in one request

MiniMax M2 costs less

Agent loop

200K input + 10K output tokens

Gemini 3.6 Flash$0.188Fits in one request
MiniMax M2$0.061Exceeds the context window

MiniMax M2 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.

Specifications of Gemini 3.6 Flash and MiniMax M2
SpecificationGoogle Gemini 3.6 FlashMiniMax M2
MakerGoogleMiniMax
WeightsNo public weights listedOpen weights
ReleasedJuly 21, 2026October 23, 2025
Context window1.05M205K
Input $/Mtok$0.75$0.255
Output $/Mtok$3.75$1.02
Coding index62.5Not benchmarked
Independent measurements behind it41
Cost per solved task$1.49$0.702
SourceOpenRouter listingOpenRouter listing

Questions

Is Gemini 3.6 Flash better than MiniMax M2 for coding?

Only Gemini 3.6 Flash has a coding score, 62.5 on the Vibe Coding Index; MiniMax M2 has none, so the two cannot be ranked on coding. Pick MiniMax M2 for output tokens 3.7x cheaper ($1.02 vs $3.75 per million) and a lower cost per solved task ($0.702 against $1.49).

Which is cheaper, Gemini 3.6 Flash or MiniMax M2?

Gemini 3.6 Flash costs $0.75 per million input tokens and $3.75 per million output tokens; MiniMax M2 costs $0.255 and $1.02. Per solved SWE-bench Verified task, Gemini 3.6 Flash costs $1.49 and MiniMax M2 $0.702.

Which has the bigger context window, Gemini 3.6 Flash or MiniMax M2?

Gemini 3.6 Flash, with 1.05M tokens against 205K.

How many benchmarks is the Gemini 3.6 Flash vs MiniMax M2 comparison based on?

38 benchmarks have a result for both models as of October 22, 2026. Gemini 3.6 Flash's coding index rests on 4 independent benchmarks and MiniMax M2's on 1. Where only one model has a result, the page says so instead of naming a winner.

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