MiniMax M2 vs Qwen3.8 Flash
Updated October 21, 2026. 0 benchmarks have a result for both. Coding is ranked on the Vibe Coding Index; every other board is shown as published.
Decision reading
MiniMax M2 scores 45.3 and Qwen3.8 Flash 87.4 on the Vibe Coding Index, but no coding benchmark measured both, so the gap is directional, not a ranking.
Pick Qwen3.8 Flash when output tokens cost 2.2x less, or when the context window is larger, 1M against 205K tokens.
- Shared results
- 0
- MiniMax M2 only
- 49
- Qwen3.8 Flash only
- 7
- Like-for-like categories
- 0 of 9
Shared results can support a head-to-head reading. Results only one model has describe coverage, not superiority.
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, four public coding benchmarks
No call
45.3 against 87.4, from different benchmarks with none in common.
Directional only
Intelligence
AA Intelligence Index
No call
Only MiniMax M2 has a AA Intelligence Index result, 18.6.
Directional only
Web design
Design Arena: websites
No call
Only MiniMax M2 has a Design Arena: websites result, 1144.
Directional only
Long documents
Listed context window
Qwen3.8 Flash
Qwen3.8 Flash takes 1M tokens against 205K.
Listed by OpenRouter
Everyday cost
1K input + 500 output tokens
Qwen3.8 Flash
MiniMax M2 $0.0008, Qwen3.8 Flash $0.0004 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 45.3 from 2 benchmarks, Qwen3.8 Flash 87.4 from 1 benchmark.
- Widest category
- No category has a result for both models.
- Widest single gap
- No benchmark has a result for both models.
- Output price
- MiniMax M2 $1.02 against Qwen3.8 Flash $0.47 per million output tokens, 2.2x apart.
- Context window
- MiniMax M2 takes 205K tokens, Qwen3.8 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.
CodingDirectional onlyFour of these boards feed the Vibe Coding Index9 boards, none shared
| Benchmark | MiniMax M2 | Qwen3.8 Flash | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| SWE-bench Verified | 61.0% | Not measured | Only MiniMax M2 measured |
| LiveBench coding | Not measured | 87.4% | Only Qwen3.8 Flash measured |
| LMArena WebDev | 1297 | Not measured | Only MiniMax M2 measured |
| LiveCodeBench (Artificial Analysis run) | 82.6% | Not measured | Only MiniMax M2 measured |
| 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 |
| Neither model has a result on the other 29 boards here | |||
IntelligenceDirectional onlyPublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index1 board, none shared
| Benchmark | MiniMax M2 | Qwen3.8 Flash | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| AA Intelligence Index | 18.6 | Not measured | Only MiniMax M2 measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 1 board here | |||
Agentic workDirectional onlyPublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index5 boards, none shared
| Benchmark | MiniMax M2 | Qwen3.8 Flash | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| LiveBench research | Not measured | 74.6% | Only Qwen3.8 Flash measured |
| LiveBench browser | Not measured | 48.0% | Only Qwen3.8 Flash measured |
| LiveBench long agentic | Not measured | 37.1% | Only Qwen3.8 Flash measured |
| 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 34 boards here | |||
ReasoningDirectional onlyPublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index6 boards, none shared
| Benchmark | MiniMax M2 | Qwen3.8 Flash | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| LiveBench reasoning | Not measured | 87.4% | Only Qwen3.8 Flash measured |
| GPQA Diamond (Artificial Analysis run) | 77.7% | Not measured | Only MiniMax M2 measured |
| Humanity's Last Exam (Artificial Analysis run) | 13.7% | Not measured | Only MiniMax M2 measured |
| 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 |
| Neither model has a result on the other 15 boards here | |||
MathDirectional onlyPublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index4 boards, none shared
| Benchmark | MiniMax M2 | Qwen3.8 Flash | 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 | |||
KnowledgeDirectional onlyPublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index5 boards, none shared
| Benchmark | MiniMax M2 | Qwen3.8 Flash | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| MMLU Pro (Artificial Analysis run) | 82.0% | Not measured | Only MiniMax M2 measured |
| 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 12 boards here | |||
Web designDirectional onlyPublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index8 boards, none shared
| Benchmark | MiniMax M2 | Qwen3.8 Flash | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| Design Arena: websites | 1144 | Not measured | Only MiniMax M2 measured |
| Design Arena: UI components | 1136 | Not measured | Only MiniMax M2 measured |
| Design Arena: game dev | 1119 | 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 | 1098 | Not measured | Only MiniMax M2 measured |
| LiveBench design | Not measured | 72.8% | Only Qwen3.8 Flash measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 1 board here | |||
GeneralDirectional onlyPublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index18 boards, none shared
| Benchmark | MiniMax M2 | Qwen3.8 Flash | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| LiveBench data analysis | Not measured | 74.2% | Only Qwen3.8 Flash measured |
| IFBench | 72.3% | Not measured | Only MiniMax M2 measured |
| Long context reasoning (AA-LCR) | 64.3% | Not measured | Only MiniMax M2 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 | Qwen3.8 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
Qwen3.8 Flash costs less
Repository review
50K input + 3K output tokens
Qwen3.8 Flash costs less
Agent loop
200K input + 10K output tokens
Qwen3.8 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 | Qwen3.8 Flash |
|---|---|---|
| Maker | MiniMax | Qwen |
| Weights | Open weights | Open weights |
| Released | October 23, 2025 | August 26, 2026 |
| Context window | 205K | 1M |
| Input $/Mtok | $0.255 | $0.15 |
| Output $/Mtok | $1.02 | $0.47 |
| Coding index | 45.3 | 87.4 |
| Independent measurements behind it | 2 | 1 |
| Cost per solved task | $0.702 | Not computable |
| Source | OpenRouter listing | OpenRouter listing |
Questions
Is MiniMax M2 better than Qwen3.8 Flash for coding?
MiniMax M2 scores 45.3 and Qwen3.8 Flash 87.4 on the Vibe Coding Index, but no coding benchmark measured both, so the gap is directional, not a ranking. Pick Qwen3.8 Flash when output tokens cost 2.2x less, or when the context window is larger, 1M against 205K tokens.
Which is cheaper, MiniMax M2 or Qwen3.8 Flash?
MiniMax M2 costs $0.255 per million input tokens and $1.02 per million output tokens; Qwen3.8 Flash costs $0.15 and $0.47. Cost per solved task is known for MiniMax M2 only.
Which has the bigger context window, MiniMax M2 or Qwen3.8 Flash?
Qwen3.8 Flash, with 1M tokens against 205K.
How many benchmarks is the MiniMax M2 vs Qwen3.8 Flash comparison based on?
0 benchmarks have a result for both models as of October 21, 2026. MiniMax M2's coding index rests on 2 independent benchmarks and Qwen3.8 Flash's on 1. Where only one model has a result, the page says so instead of naming a winner.