MiniMax M2.1 vs Nemotron 3 Ultra
Nemotron 3 Ultra leads MiniMax M2.1 on the Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index, 22.9 to 20.9, and MiniMax M2.1 costs 2.0x less per output token ($1.20 vs $2.40 per million). Updated October 23, 2026; 22 benchmarks have a result for both.
MiniMax M2.1 or Nemotron 3 Ultra: which to pick
Only Nemotron 3 Ultra has a coding score, 30.0 on the Vibe Coding Index; MiniMax M2.1 has none, so the two cannot be ranked on coding.
Pick MiniMax M2.1 for output tokens 2.0x cheaper ($1.20 vs $2.40 per million) and work measured by SWE-bench Verified (Vals AI) or τ²-Bench Telecom, where it leads.
- Shared results
- 22
- MiniMax M2.1 only
- 12
- Nemotron 3 Ultra only
- 49
- 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.
Coding
Vibe Coding Index, six public coding benchmarks
No call
Only Nemotron 3 Ultra has a coding score, so no call is made.
One side not measured
Intelligence
AA Intelligence Index
Nemotron 3 Ultra
Nemotron 3 Ultra leads, 22.9 against 20.9.
Same board, both measured
Agentic work
AA Agentic Index
No call
Only Nemotron 3 Ultra has a AA Agentic Index result, 20.1.
Directional only
Reasoning
GPQA Diamond
Nemotron 3 Ultra
Nemotron 3 Ultra leads, 86.1% against 78.5%.
Same board, both measured
Math
AIME
No call
Only MiniMax M2.1 has a AIME result, 77.9%.
Directional only
Knowledge
MMLU Pro
MiniMax M2.1
MiniMax M2.1 leads, 87.0% against 85.8%.
Same board, both measured
Web design
Design Arena: websites
MiniMax M2.1
MiniMax M2.1 leads, 1201 against 1145.
Same board, both measured
Long documents
Listed context window
Nemotron 3 Ultra
Nemotron 3 Ultra takes 262K tokens against 205K.
Listed by OpenRouter
Everyday cost
1K input + 500 output tokens
MiniMax M2.1
MiniMax M2.1 $0.0009, Nemotron 3 Ultra $0.0018 per turn.
List prices
Cost per solved task
One SWE-bench Verified task, solved
No call
Only MiniMax M2.1 has the number, $0.59.
Directional only
At a glance
- Coding index
- MiniMax M2.1 not benchmarked, Nemotron 3 Ultra 30.0 from 3 benchmarks.
- Widest category
- General, 11.6 points apart on average over 2 shared benchmarks.
- Widest single gap
- Long context reasoning (AA-LCR): MiniMax M2.1 67.7% against Nemotron 3 Ultra 79.3%, 11.7 points apart on a 0 to 100 scale.
- Output price
- MiniMax M2.1 $1.20 against Nemotron 3 Ultra $2.40 per million output tokens, 2.0x apart.
- Context window
- MiniMax M2.1 takes 205K tokens, Nemotron 3 Ultra 262K.
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 | MiniMax M2.1 | Bars | Nemotron 3 Ultra | Ties |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Coding | 1 | 2 | ||
| Intelligence | 0 | 1 | ||
| Agentic work | 1 | 0 | ||
| Reasoning | 0 | 3 | ||
| Knowledge | 1 | 4 | ||
| Web design | 6 | 1 | ||
| General | 0 | 2 | ||
| All shared boards | 9 | 13 |
CodingLike-for-likeSix of these boards feed the Vibe Coding Index12
| Benchmark | MiniMax M2.1 | Nemotron 3 Ultra | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| AA Coding Index | Not measured | 49.3 | Only Nemotron 3 Ultra measured |
| LiveCodeBench (Vals AI) | 81.8% | 86.0% | Nemotron 3 Ultra |
| SWE-bench Verified (Vals AI) | 74.8% | 69.0% | MiniMax M2.1 |
| Vibe Code Bench (Vals AI) | Not measured | 7.6% | Only Nemotron 3 Ultra measured |
| Code migration (Vals AI) | Not measured | 4.9% | Only Nemotron 3 Ultra measured |
| ProgramBench (Vals AI) | Not measured | 0.0% | Only Nemotron 3 Ultra measured |
| Terminal-Bench 2.1 (Vals AI) | Not measured | 50.9% | Only Nemotron 3 Ultra measured |
| LiveCodeBench (Artificial Analysis run) | 81.0% | Not measured | Only MiniMax M2.1 measured |
| SciCode | Not measured | 40.3% | Only Nemotron 3 Ultra measured |
| Terminal-Bench Hard (Artificial Analysis run) | 28.8% | 36.4% | Nemotron 3 Ultra |
| Terminal-Bench | 36.6% | Not measured | Only MiniMax M2.1 measured |
| FrontierCode | Not measured | 13.6% | Only Nemotron 3 Ultra measured |
| WeirdML | Not measured | 43.5% | Only Nemotron 3 Ultra measured |
| ALE-Bench | 623.8 | Not measured | Only MiniMax M2.1 measured |
| LMArena Text: coding | Not measured | 1467 | Only Nemotron 3 Ultra measured |
| LMArena Text: software and IT | Not measured | 1468 | Only Nemotron 3 Ultra measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 27 boards here | |||
IntelligenceLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index01
| Benchmark | MiniMax M2.1 | Nemotron 3 Ultra | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| AA Intelligence Index | 20.9 | 22.9 | Nemotron 3 Ultra |
| Epoch Capabilities Index | Not measured | 146.0 | Only Nemotron 3 Ultra measured |
Agentic workLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index10
| Benchmark | MiniMax M2.1 | Nemotron 3 Ultra | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| AA Agentic Index | Not measured | 20.1 | Only Nemotron 3 Ultra measured |
| Finance Agent (Vals AI) | Not measured | 37.7% | Only Nemotron 3 Ultra measured |
| Legal Research Bench (Vals AI) | Not measured | 15.4% | Only Nemotron 3 Ultra measured |
| Excel Modeling Benchmark (Vals AI) | Not measured | 31.7% | Only Nemotron 3 Ultra measured |
| τ²-Bench Telecom | 85.4% | 83.3% | MiniMax M2.1 |
| APEX-Agents | Not measured | 22.7% | Only Nemotron 3 Ultra measured |
| MCP Atlas | Not measured | 63.1% | Only Nemotron 3 Ultra measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 35 boards here | |||
ReasoningLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index03
| Benchmark | MiniMax M2.1 | Nemotron 3 Ultra | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| GPQA Diamond | 78.5% | 86.1% | Nemotron 3 Ultra |
| GPQA Diamond (Artificial Analysis run) | 83.0% | 86.7% | Nemotron 3 Ultra |
| Humanity's Last Exam (Artificial Analysis run) | 23.2% | 28.4% | Nemotron 3 Ultra |
| GPQA Diamond (Epoch AI run) | Not measured | 85.4% | Only Nemotron 3 Ultra measured |
| Mystery game puzzles | Not measured | 20.0% | Only Nemotron 3 Ultra measured |
| LMArena Text: hard prompts | Not measured | 1452 | Only Nemotron 3 Ultra measured |
| LMArena Text: expert | Not measured | 1472 | Only Nemotron 3 Ultra measured |
| LMArena Text: hard prompts in English | Not measured | 1453 | Only Nemotron 3 Ultra measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 15 boards here | |||
MathDirectional onlyPublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index9 boards, none shared
| Benchmark | MiniMax M2.1 | Nemotron 3 Ultra | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| AIME | 77.9% | Not measured | Only MiniMax M2.1 measured |
| MATH 500 (Vals AI) | 89.0% | Not measured | Only MiniMax M2.1 measured |
| MGSM (Vals AI) | 87.8% | Not measured | Only MiniMax M2.1 measured |
| AA Math Index | 82.7 | Not measured | Only MiniMax M2.1 measured |
| AIME 2025 (Artificial Analysis run) | 82.7% | Not measured | Only MiniMax M2.1 measured |
| OTIS Mock AIME | Not measured | 86.7% | Only Nemotron 3 Ultra measured |
| ProofBench | Not measured | 2.0% | Only Nemotron 3 Ultra measured |
| LMArena Text: math | Not measured | 1457 | Only Nemotron 3 Ultra measured |
| LMArena Text: mathematical work | Not measured | 1462 | Only Nemotron 3 Ultra measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 5 boards here | |||
KnowledgeLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index14
| Benchmark | MiniMax M2.1 | Nemotron 3 Ultra | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| MMLU Pro | 87.0% | 85.8% | MiniMax M2.1 |
| LegalBench (Vals AI) | 75.5% | 82.1% | Nemotron 3 Ultra |
| CaseLaw (Vals AI) | 55.8% | Not measured | Only MiniMax M2.1 measured |
| CorpFin (Vals AI) | 58.9% | 65.5% | Nemotron 3 Ultra |
| TaxEval (Vals AI) | 66.3% | 73.1% | Nemotron 3 Ultra |
| MedQA (Vals AI) | 91.2% | Not measured | Only MiniMax M2.1 measured |
| MedCode (Vals AI) | 34.1% | 38.6% | Nemotron 3 Ultra |
| MMLU Pro (Artificial Analysis run) | 87.5% | Not measured | Only MiniMax M2.1 measured |
| LMArena Text: science | Not measured | 1465 | Only Nemotron 3 Ultra measured |
| LMArena Text: medicine and healthcare | Not measured | 1455 | Only Nemotron 3 Ultra measured |
| LMArena Text: legal and government | Not measured | 1453 | Only Nemotron 3 Ultra measured |
| LMArena Text: business and finance | Not measured | 1435 | Only Nemotron 3 Ultra measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 8 boards here | |||
Web designLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index61
| Benchmark | MiniMax M2.1 | Nemotron 3 Ultra | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| Design Arena: websites | 1201 | 1145 | MiniMax M2.1 |
| Design Arena: UI components | 1220 | 1135 | MiniMax M2.1 |
| Design Arena: game dev | 1134 | 1138 | Nemotron 3 Ultra |
| Design Arena: data viz | 1207 | 1142 | MiniMax M2.1 |
| Design Arena: 3D | 1166 | 1132 | MiniMax M2.1 |
| Design Arena: all code categories | 1190 | 1146 | MiniMax M2.1 |
| Design Arena: SVG | 1131 | 1069 | MiniMax M2.1 |
| Design Arena: ASCII art | Not measured | 1100 | Only Nemotron 3 Ultra measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 1 board here | |||
GeneralLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index02
| Benchmark | MiniMax M2.1 | Nemotron 3 Ultra | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| MedScribe (Vals AI) | 80.8% | Not measured | Only MiniMax M2.1 measured |
| IFBench | 69.9% | 81.4% | Nemotron 3 Ultra |
| Long context reasoning (AA-LCR) | 67.7% | 79.3% | Nemotron 3 Ultra |
| DTBench | Not measured | 90.1% | Only Nemotron 3 Ultra measured |
| LMCA | Not measured | 36.9% | Only Nemotron 3 Ultra measured |
| LMArena Text | Not measured | 1445 | Only Nemotron 3 Ultra measured |
| LMArena Text: instruction following | Not measured | 1418 | Only Nemotron 3 Ultra measured |
| LMArena Text: creative writing | Not measured | 1398 | Only Nemotron 3 Ultra measured |
| LMArena Text: English | Not measured | 1454 | Only Nemotron 3 Ultra measured |
| LMArena Text: non-English | Not measured | 1427 | Only Nemotron 3 Ultra measured |
| LMArena Text: Chinese | Not measured | 1498 | Only Nemotron 3 Ultra measured |
| LMArena Text: German | Not measured | 1474 | Only Nemotron 3 Ultra measured |
| LMArena Text: Korean | Not measured | 1385 | Only Nemotron 3 Ultra measured |
| LMArena Text: French | Not measured | 1473 | Only Nemotron 3 Ultra measured |
| LMArena Text: Spanish | Not measured | 1454 | Only Nemotron 3 Ultra measured |
| LMArena Text: Russian | Not measured | 1417 | Only Nemotron 3 Ultra measured |
| LMArena Text: Polish | Not measured | 1385 | Only Nemotron 3 Ultra measured |
| LMArena Text: multi-turn | Not measured | 1411 | Only Nemotron 3 Ultra measured |
| LMArena Text: longer queries | Not measured | 1437 | Only Nemotron 3 Ultra measured |
| LMArena Text: writing and language | Not measured | 1405 | Only Nemotron 3 Ultra measured |
| LMArena Text: entertainment and media | Not measured | 1397 | Only Nemotron 3 Ultra measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 27 boards here | |||
Image generationNot comparablePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index0 boards, none shared
| Benchmark | MiniMax M2.1 | Nemotron 3 Ultra | 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 M2.1 costs less
Repository review
50K input + 3K output tokens
MiniMax M2.1 costs less
Agent loop
200K input + 10K output tokens
MiniMax M2.1 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 | MiniMax M2.1 | NVIDIA Nemotron 3 Ultra |
|---|---|---|
| Maker | MiniMax | NVIDIA |
| Weights | Open weights | Open weights |
| Released | December 23, 2025 | June 4, 2026 |
| Context window | 205K | 262K |
| Input $/Mtok | $0.30 | $0.60 |
| Output $/Mtok | $1.20 | $2.40 |
| Coding index | Not benchmarked | 30.0 |
| Independent measurements behind it | 1 | 3 |
| Cost per solved task | $0.59 | Not computable |
| Source | OpenRouter listing | OpenRouter listing |
Questions
Is MiniMax M2.1 better than Nemotron 3 Ultra for coding?
Only Nemotron 3 Ultra has a coding score, 30.0 on the Vibe Coding Index; MiniMax M2.1 has none, so the two cannot be ranked on coding. Pick MiniMax M2.1 for output tokens 2.0x cheaper ($1.20 vs $2.40 per million) and work measured by SWE-bench Verified (Vals AI) or τ²-Bench Telecom, where it leads.
Which is cheaper, MiniMax M2.1 or Nemotron 3 Ultra?
MiniMax M2.1 costs $0.30 per million input tokens and $1.20 per million output tokens; Nemotron 3 Ultra costs $0.60 and $2.40. Cost per solved task is known for MiniMax M2.1 only.
Which has the bigger context window, MiniMax M2.1 or Nemotron 3 Ultra?
Nemotron 3 Ultra, with 262K tokens against 205K.
How many benchmarks is the MiniMax M2.1 vs Nemotron 3 Ultra comparison based on?
22 benchmarks have a result for both models as of October 23, 2026. MiniMax M2.1's coding index rests on 1 independent benchmark and Nemotron 3 Ultra's on 3. Where only one model has a result, the page says so instead of naming a winner.