MiniMax M2.5 vs MiniMax M3.1 Flash
MiniMax M3.1 Flash leads MiniMax M2.5 on coding, 59.0 to 37.2 on the Vibe Coding Index, and MiniMax M3.1 Flash costs 2.0x less per output token ($0.60 vs $1.20 per million). Updated October 22, 2026; 7 benchmarks have a result for both.
MiniMax M2.5 or MiniMax M3.1 Flash: which to pick
Pick MiniMax M3.1 Flash for coding: it scores 59.0 on the Vibe Coding Index against 37.2 for MiniMax M2.5.
MiniMax M2.5 is neither cheaper nor larger in context, and leads no benchmark both models were measured on.
- Shared results
- 7
- MiniMax M2.5 only
- 64
- MiniMax M3.1 Flash only
- 13
- Like-for-like categories
- 4 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
MiniMax M3.1 Flash
MiniMax M3.1 Flash scores 59.0 against 37.2.
3 and 4 benchmarks behind the scores
Intelligence
AA Intelligence Index
MiniMax M3.1 Flash
MiniMax M3.1 Flash leads, 42.7 against 22.8.
Same board, both measured
Reasoning
GPQA Diamond
No call
Only MiniMax M2.5 has a GPQA Diamond result, 82.1%.
Directional only
Math
AIME
No call
Only MiniMax M2.5 has a AIME result, 88.8%.
Directional only
Knowledge
MMLU Pro
No call
Only MiniMax M2.5 has a MMLU Pro result, 80.1%.
Directional only
Web design
Design Arena: websites
No call
Only MiniMax M2.5 has a Design Arena: websites result, 1222.
Directional only
General
Vals Index
No call
Only MiniMax M3.1 Flash has a Vals Index result, 53.8%.
Directional only
Long documents
Listed context window
MiniMax M3.1 Flash
MiniMax M3.1 Flash takes 1M tokens against 205K.
Listed by OpenRouter
Everyday cost
1K input + 500 output tokens
MiniMax M3.1 Flash
MiniMax M2.5 $0.0009, MiniMax M3.1 Flash $0.0004 per turn.
List prices
Cost per solved task
One SWE-bench Verified task, solved
No call
Only MiniMax M2.5 has the number, $0.62.
Directional only
At a glance
- Coding index
- MiniMax M2.5 37.2 from 3 benchmarks, MiniMax M3.1 Flash 59.0 from 4 benchmarks.
- Widest category
- Coding, 36.2 points apart on average over 4 shared benchmarks.
- Widest single gap
- Vibe Code Bench (Vals AI): MiniMax M2.5 14.8% against MiniMax M3.1 Flash 73.9%, 59.1 points apart on a 0 to 100 scale.
- Output price
- MiniMax M2.5 $1.20 against MiniMax M3.1 Flash $0.60 per million output tokens, 2.0x apart.
- Context window
- MiniMax M2.5 takes 205K tokens, MiniMax M3.1 Flash 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 | MiniMax M2.5 | Bars | MiniMax M3.1 Flash | Ties |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Coding | 0 | 4 | ||
| Intelligence | 0 | 1 | ||
| Reasoning | 0 | 1 | ||
| General | 0 | 1 | ||
| All shared boards | 0 | 7 |
CodingLike-for-likeSix of these boards feed the Vibe Coding Index04
| Benchmark | MiniMax M2.5 | MiniMax M3.1 Flash | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| SWE-bench Verified | 75.8% | Not measured | Only MiniMax M2.5 measured |
| SWE-bench Multilingual | 68.3% | Not measured | Only MiniMax M2.5 measured |
| LiveBench coding | Not measured | 83.9% | Only MiniMax M3.1 Flash measured |
| LMArena WebDev | 1386 | 1587 | MiniMax M3.1 Flash |
| LiveCodeBench (Vals AI) | 79.2% | Not measured | Only MiniMax M2.5 measured |
| SWE-bench Verified (Vals AI) | 74.2% | Not measured | Only MiniMax M2.5 measured |
| Terminal-Bench 4 (Vals AI) | Not measured | 25.3% | Only MiniMax M3.1 Flash measured |
| Vibe Code Bench (Vals AI) | 14.8% | 73.9% | MiniMax M3.1 Flash |
| SciCode | Not measured | 53.4% | Only MiniMax M3.1 Flash measured |
| Terminal-Bench Hard (Artificial Analysis run) | 34.8% | Not measured | Only MiniMax M2.5 measured |
| Terminal-Bench | 42.7% | Not measured | Only MiniMax M2.5 measured |
| ALE-Bench | 618.2 | Not measured | Only MiniMax M2.5 measured |
| LMArena Text: coding | 1380 | Not measured | Only MiniMax M2.5 measured |
| LMArena Text: software and IT | 1383 | Not measured | Only MiniMax M2.5 measured |
| LMArena WebDev: React | 1374 | 1609 | MiniMax M3.1 Flash |
| LMArena WebDev: HTML | 1414 | 1529 | MiniMax M3.1 Flash |
| SWE Atlas: Codebase QnA | 10.3% | Not measured | Only MiniMax M2.5 measured |
| SWE Atlas: Refactoring | 19.5% | Not measured | Only MiniMax M2.5 measured |
| SWE Atlas: Test Writing | 18.6% | Not measured | Only MiniMax M2.5 measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 24 boards here | |||
IntelligenceLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index01
| Benchmark | MiniMax M2.5 | MiniMax M3.1 Flash | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| AA Intelligence Index | 22.8 | 42.7 | MiniMax M3.1 Flash |
| Epoch Capabilities Index | 146.6 | Not measured | Only MiniMax M2.5 measured |
Agentic workDirectional onlyPublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index8 boards, none shared
| Benchmark | MiniMax M2.5 | MiniMax M3.1 Flash | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| LiveBench research | Not measured | 72.7% | Only MiniMax M3.1 Flash measured |
| LiveBench browser | Not measured | 92.0% | Only MiniMax M3.1 Flash measured |
| LiveBench long agentic | Not measured | 34.7% | Only MiniMax M3.1 Flash measured |
| Tax Agent Bench (Vals AI) | Not measured | 32.1% | Only MiniMax M3.1 Flash measured |
| Legal Research Bench (Vals AI) | Not measured | 34.1% | Only MiniMax M3.1 Flash measured |
| Harvey's Legal Agent Benchmark (Vals AI) | Not measured | 7.5% | Only MiniMax M3.1 Flash measured |
| τ²-Bench Telecom | 95.3% | Not measured | Only MiniMax M2.5 measured |
| Vending-Bench 2 | -$23 | Not measured | Only MiniMax M2.5 measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 34 boards here | |||
ReasoningLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index01
| Benchmark | MiniMax M2.5 | MiniMax M3.1 Flash | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| GPQA Diamond | 82.1% | Not measured | Only MiniMax M2.5 measured |
| LiveBench reasoning | Not measured | 82.9% | Only MiniMax M3.1 Flash measured |
| GPQA Diamond (Artificial Analysis run) | 84.8% | Not measured | Only MiniMax M2.5 measured |
| Humanity's Last Exam (Artificial Analysis run) | 20.5% | 48.0% | MiniMax M3.1 Flash |
| ARC-AGI | 63.7% | Not measured | Only MiniMax M2.5 measured |
| ARC-AGI-2 | 4.9% | Not measured | Only MiniMax M2.5 measured |
| LMArena Text: hard prompts | 1372 | Not measured | Only MiniMax M2.5 measured |
| LMArena Text: expert | 1378 | Not measured | Only MiniMax M2.5 measured |
| LMArena Text: hard prompts in English | 1384 | Not measured | Only MiniMax M2.5 measured |
| Kagi LLM Benchmark | 55.2% | Not measured | Only MiniMax M2.5 measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 13 boards here | |||
MathDirectional onlyPublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index4 boards, none shared
| Benchmark | MiniMax M2.5 | MiniMax M3.1 Flash | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| AIME | 88.8% | Not measured | Only MiniMax M2.5 measured |
| ProofBench | 4.0% | Not measured | Only MiniMax M2.5 measured |
| LMArena Text: math | 1378 | Not measured | Only MiniMax M2.5 measured |
| LMArena Text: mathematical work | 1378 | Not measured | Only MiniMax M2.5 measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 10 boards here | |||
KnowledgeDirectional onlyPublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index10 boards, none shared
| Benchmark | MiniMax M2.5 | MiniMax M3.1 Flash | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| MMLU Pro | 80.1% | Not measured | Only MiniMax M2.5 measured |
| LegalBench (Vals AI) | 80.0% | Not measured | Only MiniMax M2.5 measured |
| CaseLaw (Vals AI) | 53.5% | Not measured | Only MiniMax M2.5 measured |
| CorpFin (Vals AI) | 59.6% | Not measured | Only MiniMax M2.5 measured |
| TaxEval (Vals AI) | 68.2% | Not measured | Only MiniMax M2.5 measured |
| MedQA (Vals AI) | 92.5% | Not measured | Only MiniMax M2.5 measured |
| LMArena Text: science | 1369 | Not measured | Only MiniMax M2.5 measured |
| LMArena Text: medicine and healthcare | 1357 | Not measured | Only MiniMax M2.5 measured |
| LMArena Text: legal and government | 1366 | Not measured | Only MiniMax M2.5 measured |
| LMArena Text: business and finance | 1356 | Not measured | Only MiniMax M2.5 measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 10 boards here | |||
Web designDirectional onlyPublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index8 boards, none shared
| Benchmark | MiniMax M2.5 | MiniMax M3.1 Flash | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| Design Arena: websites | 1222 | Not measured | Only MiniMax M2.5 measured |
| Design Arena: UI components | 1170 | Not measured | Only MiniMax M2.5 measured |
| Design Arena: game dev | 1176 | Not measured | Only MiniMax M2.5 measured |
| Design Arena: data viz | 1172 | Not measured | Only MiniMax M2.5 measured |
| Design Arena: 3D | 1170 | Not measured | Only MiniMax M2.5 measured |
| Design Arena: all code categories | 1207 | Not measured | Only MiniMax M2.5 measured |
| Design Arena: SVG | 1150 | Not measured | Only MiniMax M2.5 measured |
| LiveBench design | Not measured | 74.0% | Only MiniMax M3.1 Flash measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 1 board here | |||
GeneralLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index01
| Benchmark | MiniMax M2.5 | MiniMax M3.1 Flash | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| Vals Index | Not measured | 53.8% | Only MiniMax M3.1 Flash measured |
| LiveBench data analysis | Not measured | 71.4% | Only MiniMax M3.1 Flash measured |
| IFBench | 71.6% | Not measured | Only MiniMax M2.5 measured |
| Long context reasoning (AA-LCR) | 73.3% | 79.7% | MiniMax M3.1 Flash |
| CL-bench | 11.4% | Not measured | Only MiniMax M2.5 measured |
| CL-bench Life | 6.3% | Not measured | Only MiniMax M2.5 measured |
| LMArena Text | 1359 | Not measured | Only MiniMax M2.5 measured |
| LMArena Text: instruction following | 1353 | Not measured | Only MiniMax M2.5 measured |
| LMArena Text: creative writing | 1331 | Not measured | Only MiniMax M2.5 measured |
| LMArena Text: English | 1380 | Not measured | Only MiniMax M2.5 measured |
| LMArena Text: non-English | 1338 | Not measured | Only MiniMax M2.5 measured |
| LMArena Text: Chinese | 1393 | Not measured | Only MiniMax M2.5 measured |
| LMArena Text: German | 1361 | Not measured | Only MiniMax M2.5 measured |
| LMArena Text: Japanese | 1171 | Not measured | Only MiniMax M2.5 measured |
| LMArena Text: Korean | 1233 | Not measured | Only MiniMax M2.5 measured |
| LMArena Text: French | 1363 | Not measured | Only MiniMax M2.5 measured |
| LMArena Text: Spanish | 1353 | Not measured | Only MiniMax M2.5 measured |
| LMArena Text: Russian | 1359 | Not measured | Only MiniMax M2.5 measured |
| LMArena Text: Polish | 1334 | Not measured | Only MiniMax M2.5 measured |
| LMArena Text: multi-turn | 1364 | Not measured | Only MiniMax M2.5 measured |
| LMArena Text: longer queries | 1366 | Not measured | Only MiniMax M2.5 measured |
| LMArena Text: writing and language | 1345 | Not measured | Only MiniMax M2.5 measured |
| LMArena Text: entertainment and media | 1329 | Not measured | Only MiniMax M2.5 measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 25 boards here | |||
Image generationNot comparablePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index0 boards, none shared
| Benchmark | MiniMax M2.5 | MiniMax M3.1 Flash | 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 M3.1 Flash costs less
Repository review
50K input + 3K output tokens
MiniMax M3.1 Flash costs less
Agent loop
200K input + 10K output tokens
MiniMax M3.1 Flash 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 M2.5 | MiniMax M3.1 Flash |
|---|---|---|
| Maker | MiniMax | MiniMax |
| Weights | Open weights | No public weights listed |
| Released | February 12, 2026 | October 19, 2026 |
| Context window | 205K | 1M |
| Input $/Mtok | $0.30 | $0.15 |
| Output $/Mtok | $1.20 | $0.60 |
| Coding index | 37.2 | 59.0 |
| Independent measurements behind it | 3 | 4 |
| Cost per solved task | $0.62 | Not computable |
| Source | OpenRouter listing | OpenRouter listing |
Questions
Is MiniMax M2.5 better than MiniMax M3.1 Flash for coding?
Pick MiniMax M3.1 Flash for coding: it scores 59.0 on the Vibe Coding Index against 37.2 for MiniMax M2.5. MiniMax M2.5 is neither cheaper nor larger in context, and leads no benchmark both models were measured on.
Which is cheaper, MiniMax M2.5 or MiniMax M3.1 Flash?
MiniMax M2.5 costs $0.30 per million input tokens and $1.20 per million output tokens; MiniMax M3.1 Flash costs $0.15 and $0.60. Cost per solved task is known for MiniMax M2.5 only.
Which has the bigger context window, MiniMax M2.5 or MiniMax M3.1 Flash?
MiniMax M3.1 Flash, with 1M tokens against 205K.
How many benchmarks is the MiniMax M2.5 vs MiniMax M3.1 Flash comparison based on?
7 benchmarks have a result for both models as of October 22, 2026. MiniMax M2.5's coding index rests on 3 independent benchmarks and MiniMax M3.1 Flash's on 4. Where only one model has a result, the page says so instead of naming a winner.