MiniMax M2 vs Mixtral 8x22B Instruct
MiniMax M2 leads Mixtral 8x22B Instruct on the Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index, 18.6 to 5.7, and MiniMax M2 costs 5.9x less per output token ($1.02 vs $6.00 per million). Updated October 21, 2026; 5 benchmarks have a result for both.
MiniMax M2 or Mixtral 8x22B Instruct: which to pick
Neither model has a coding score yet, so the two cannot be ranked on coding.
Pick MiniMax M2 for output tokens 5.9x cheaper ($1.02 vs $6.00 per million) and a larger context window (205K against 66K tokens).
- Shared results
- 5
- MiniMax M2 only
- 45
- Mixtral 8x22B Instruct only
- 3
- 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
No call
Neither has a coding score yet.
One side not measured
Intelligence
AA Intelligence Index
MiniMax M2
MiniMax M2 leads, 18.6 against 5.7.
Same board, both measured
Web design
Design Arena: websites
No call
Only MiniMax M2 has a Design Arena: websites result, 1143.
Directional only
Long documents
Listed context window
MiniMax M2
MiniMax M2 takes 205K tokens against 66K.
Listed by OpenRouter
Everyday cost
1K input + 500 output tokens
MiniMax M2
MiniMax M2 $0.0008, Mixtral 8x22B Instruct $0.0050 per turn.
List prices
Cost per solved task
One SWE-bench Verified task, solved
No call
Only MiniMax M2 has the number, $0.702.
Directional only
At a glance
- Coding index
- MiniMax M2 not benchmarked, Mixtral 8x22B Instruct not benchmarked.
- Widest category
- Coding, 67.8 points apart on average over 1 shared benchmark.
- Widest single gap
- LiveCodeBench (Artificial Analysis run): MiniMax M2 82.6% against Mixtral 8x22B Instruct 14.8%, 67.8 points apart on a 0 to 100 scale.
- Output price
- MiniMax M2 $1.02 against Mixtral 8x22B Instruct $6.00 per million output tokens, 5.9x apart.
- Context window
- MiniMax M2 takes 205K tokens, Mixtral 8x22B Instruct 66K.
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 | Bars | Mixtral 8x22B Instruct | Ties |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Coding | 1 | 0 | ||
| Intelligence | 1 | 0 | ||
| Reasoning | 2 | 0 | ||
| Knowledge | 1 | 0 | ||
| All shared boards | 5 | 0 |
CodingLike-for-likeSix of these boards feed the Vibe Coding Index10
| Benchmark | MiniMax M2 | Mixtral 8x22B Instruct | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| SWE-bench Verified | 61.0% | Not measured | Only MiniMax M2 measured |
| LMArena WebDev | 1297 | Not measured | Only MiniMax M2 measured |
| LiveCodeBench (Artificial Analysis run) | 82.6% | 14.8% | MiniMax M2 |
| Terminal-Bench Hard (Artificial Analysis run) | 25.8% | Not measured | Only MiniMax M2 measured |
| Terminal-Bench | 30.0% | Not measured | Only MiniMax M2 measured |
| LMArena Text: coding | 1371 | Not measured | Only MiniMax M2 measured |
| LMArena Text: software and IT | 1373 | Not measured | Only MiniMax M2 measured |
| LMArena WebDev: HTML | 1306 | Not measured | Only MiniMax M2 measured |
| SciCode | Not measured | 0.0% | Only Mixtral 8x22B Instruct measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 30 boards here | |||
IntelligenceLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index10
| Benchmark | MiniMax M2 | Mixtral 8x22B Instruct | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| AA Intelligence Index | 18.6 | 5.7 | MiniMax M2 |
| Epoch Capabilities Index | Not measured | 122.0 | Only Mixtral 8x22B Instruct measured |
Agentic workDirectional onlyPublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index2 boards, none shared
| Benchmark | MiniMax M2 | Mixtral 8x22B Instruct | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| τ²-Bench Telecom | 86.8% | Not measured | Only MiniMax M2 measured |
| Vending-Bench 2 | $161 | Not measured | Only MiniMax M2 measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 39 boards here | |||
ReasoningLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index20
| Benchmark | MiniMax M2 | Mixtral 8x22B Instruct | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| GPQA Diamond (Artificial Analysis run) | 77.7% | 33.2% | MiniMax M2 |
| Humanity's Last Exam (Artificial Analysis run) | 13.7% | 4.0% | MiniMax M2 |
| LMArena Text: hard prompts | 1357 | Not measured | Only MiniMax M2 measured |
| LMArena Text: expert | 1338 | Not measured | Only MiniMax M2 measured |
| LMArena Text: hard prompts in English | 1376 | Not measured | Only MiniMax M2 measured |
| Kagi LLM Benchmark | 57.8% | Not measured | Only MiniMax M2 measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 16 boards here | |||
MathDirectional onlyPublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index4 boards, none shared
| Benchmark | MiniMax M2 | Mixtral 8x22B Instruct | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| AA Math Index | 78.3 | Not measured | Only MiniMax M2 measured |
| AIME 2025 (Artificial Analysis run) | 78.3% | Not measured | Only MiniMax M2 measured |
| LMArena Text: math | 1351 | Not measured | Only MiniMax M2 measured |
| LMArena Text: mathematical work | 1368 | Not measured | Only MiniMax M2 measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 9 boards here | |||
KnowledgeLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index10
| Benchmark | MiniMax M2 | Mixtral 8x22B Instruct | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| MMLU Pro (Artificial Analysis run) | 82.0% | 53.7% | MiniMax M2 |
| LMArena Text: science | 1348 | Not measured | Only MiniMax M2 measured |
| LMArena Text: medicine and healthcare | 1367 | Not measured | Only MiniMax M2 measured |
| LMArena Text: legal and government | 1349 | Not measured | Only MiniMax M2 measured |
| LMArena Text: business and finance | 1336 | Not measured | Only MiniMax M2 measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 13 boards here | |||
Web designDirectional onlyPublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index7 boards, none shared
| Benchmark | MiniMax M2 | Mixtral 8x22B Instruct | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| Design Arena: websites | 1143 | Not measured | Only MiniMax M2 measured |
| Design Arena: UI components | 1136 | Not measured | Only MiniMax M2 measured |
| Design Arena: game dev | 1118 | Not measured | Only MiniMax M2 measured |
| Design Arena: data viz | 1140 | Not measured | Only MiniMax M2 measured |
| Design Arena: 3D | 1098 | Not measured | Only MiniMax M2 measured |
| Design Arena: all code categories | 1135 | Not measured | Only MiniMax M2 measured |
| Design Arena: SVG | 1100 | Not measured | Only MiniMax M2 measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 2 boards here | |||
GeneralDirectional onlyPublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index18 boards, none shared
| Benchmark | MiniMax M2 | Mixtral 8x22B Instruct | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| IFBench | 72.3% | Not measured | Only MiniMax M2 measured |
| Long context reasoning (AA-LCR) | 64.3% | Not measured | Only MiniMax M2 measured |
| DTBench | Not measured | 55.1% | Only Mixtral 8x22B Instruct measured |
| LMArena Text | 1340 | Not measured | Only MiniMax M2 measured |
| LMArena Text: instruction following | 1329 | Not measured | Only MiniMax M2 measured |
| LMArena Text: creative writing | 1286 | Not measured | Only MiniMax M2 measured |
| LMArena Text: English | 1364 | Not measured | Only MiniMax M2 measured |
| LMArena Text: non-English | 1313 | Not measured | Only MiniMax M2 measured |
| LMArena Text: Chinese | 1366 | Not measured | Only MiniMax M2 measured |
| LMArena Text: German | 1357 | Not measured | Only MiniMax M2 measured |
| LMArena Text: French | 1336 | Not measured | Only MiniMax M2 measured |
| LMArena Text: Spanish | 1326 | Not measured | Only MiniMax M2 measured |
| LMArena Text: Russian | 1330 | Not measured | Only MiniMax M2 measured |
| LMArena Text: Polish | 1312 | Not measured | Only MiniMax M2 measured |
| LMArena Text: multi-turn | 1361 | Not measured | Only MiniMax M2 measured |
| LMArena Text: longer queries | 1331 | Not measured | Only MiniMax M2 measured |
| LMArena Text: writing and language | 1295 | Not measured | Only MiniMax M2 measured |
| LMArena Text: entertainment and media | 1298 | Not measured | Only MiniMax M2 measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 28 boards here | |||
Image generationNot comparablePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index0 boards, none shared
| Benchmark | MiniMax M2 | Mixtral 8x22B Instruct | 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 costs less
Repository review
50K input + 3K output tokens
MiniMax M2 costs less
Agent loop
200K input + 10K output tokens
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.
| Specification | MiniMax M2 | Mistral Mixtral 8x22B Instruct |
|---|---|---|
| Maker | MiniMax | Mistral AI |
| Weights | Open weights | Open weights |
| Released | October 23, 2025 | April 17, 2024 |
| Context window | 205K | 66K |
| Input $/Mtok | $0.255 | $2.00 |
| Output $/Mtok | $1.02 | $6.00 |
| Coding index | Not benchmarked | Not benchmarked |
| Independent measurements behind it | 1 | 0 |
| Cost per solved task | $0.702 | Not computable |
| Source | OpenRouter listing | OpenRouter listing |
Questions
Is MiniMax M2 better than Mixtral 8x22B Instruct for coding?
Neither model has a coding score yet, so the two cannot be ranked on coding. Pick MiniMax M2 for output tokens 5.9x cheaper ($1.02 vs $6.00 per million) and a larger context window (205K against 66K tokens).
Which is cheaper, MiniMax M2 or Mixtral 8x22B Instruct?
MiniMax M2 costs $0.255 per million input tokens and $1.02 per million output tokens; Mixtral 8x22B Instruct costs $2.00 and $6.00. Cost per solved task is known for MiniMax M2 only.
Which has the bigger context window, MiniMax M2 or Mixtral 8x22B Instruct?
MiniMax M2, with 205K tokens against 66K.
How many benchmarks is the MiniMax M2 vs Mixtral 8x22B Instruct comparison based on?
5 benchmarks have a result for both models as of October 21, 2026. MiniMax M2's coding index rests on 1 independent benchmark and Mixtral 8x22B Instruct's on 0. Where only one model has a result, the page says so instead of naming a winner.