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MiniMax M3 vs Inkling

Updated October 21, 2026. 90 benchmarks have a result for both. Coding is ranked on the Vibe Coding Index; every other board is shown as published.

Replace MiniMax M3 Replace Inkling
MiniMax M3MiniMax
Coding
57.8
Overall
29.2
Output $/M
$1.20
56
T InklingThinking Machines
Coding
49.7
Overall
25.0
Output $/M
$4.05
34
vs boards won of 90 shared

Decision reading

Pick MiniMax M3 for coding: it scores 57.8 on the Vibe Coding Index against 49.7 for Inkling.

Pick Inkling when what matters is LiveCodeBench (Vals AI) or SWE-bench Verified (Vals AI), where it leads.

Model AMiniMax M3MiniMax57.8/1002 independent benchmarks$0.56 per solved taskModel BInklingThinking Machines49.7/1002 independent benchmarks$0.76 per solved task
Shared results
90
MiniMax M3 only
26
Inkling only
12
Like-for-like categories
8 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.

At a glance

Coding index
MiniMax M3 57.8 from 2 benchmarks, Inkling 49.7 from 2 benchmarks.
Widest category
Math, 11.5 points apart on average over 4 shared benchmarks.
Widest single gap
Vibe Code Bench (Vals AI): MiniMax M3 47.6% against Inkling 19.2%, 28.4 points apart on a 0 to 100 scale.
Output price
MiniMax M3 $1.20 against Inkling $4.05 per million output tokens, 3.4x apart.
Context window
MiniMax M3 takes 1.05M tokens, Inkling 524K.

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
CategoryMiniMax M3BarsInklingTies
Coding154
Intelligence11
Agentic work82
Reasoning65
Math13
Knowledge37
Web design90
General1312
All shared boards5634
CodingLike-for-likeFour of these boards feed the Vibe Coding Index154
Coding benchmarks for MiniMax M3 and Inkling
BenchmarkMiniMax M3InklingLeader
LiveBench coding70.9%64.0%MiniMax M3
LMArena WebDev14821414MiniMax M3
AA Coding Index58.652.1MiniMax M3
LiveCodeBench (Vals AI)82.2%85.5%Inkling
SWE-bench Verified (Vals AI)75.0%77.6%Inkling
Terminal-Bench 4 (Vals AI)1.0%0.5%MiniMax M3
Vibe Code Bench (Vals AI)47.6%19.2%MiniMax M3
Code migration (Vals AI)19.9%11.8%MiniMax M3
ProgramBench (Vals AI)Not measured0.0%Only Inkling measured
IOI (Vals AI)Not measured14.9%Only Inkling measured
Terminal-Bench 2.1 (Vals AI)53.6%47.6%MiniMax M3
SWE-bench Multimodal (Vals AI)33.3%Not measuredOnly MiniMax M3 measured
Vibe Code Bench 1-100 (Vals AI)9.2%7.3%MiniMax M3
SkillsBench (Vals AI)51.5%26.1%MiniMax M3
CyberBench (Vals AI)65.0%66.8%Inkling
SciCode47.1%47.0%MiniMax M3
Terminal-Bench Hard (Artificial Analysis run)42.4%Not measuredOnly MiniMax M3 measured
FrontierCode14.7%14.0%MiniMax M3
FrontierSWENot measured4.1%Only Inkling measured
WeirdMLNot measured32.3%Only Inkling measured
ALE-Bench640.0946.0Inkling
LMArena Text: coding14701466MiniMax M3
LMArena Text: software and IT14661465MiniMax M3
LMArena WebDev: React14781404MiniMax M3
LMArena WebDev: HTML14551399MiniMax M3
LMArena WebDev: from an image1470Not measuredOnly MiniMax M3 measured
Neither model has a result on the other 12 boards here
IntelligenceLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index11
Intelligence benchmarks for MiniMax M3 and Inkling
BenchmarkMiniMax M3InklingLeader
AA Intelligence Index29.225.0MiniMax M3
Epoch Capabilities Index146.9148.4Inkling
Agentic workLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index82
Agentic work benchmarks for MiniMax M3 and Inkling
BenchmarkMiniMax M3InklingLeader
AA Agentic Index29.522.5MiniMax M3
Design Arena: agents building web apps12001196MiniMax M3
Design Arena: agents building full-stack apps1197Not measuredOnly MiniMax M3 measured
Design Arena: agents building mobile apps1169Not measuredOnly MiniMax M3 measured
Design Arena: agents building Android apps1164Not measuredOnly MiniMax M3 measured
Design Arena: agents building games1158Not measuredOnly MiniMax M3 measured
Design Arena: HTML slides1180Not measuredOnly MiniMax M3 measured
Design Arena: PowerPoint slides1205Not measuredOnly MiniMax M3 measured
Design Arena: spreadsheets1021Not measuredOnly MiniMax M3 measured
LiveBench research68.0%59.9%MiniMax M3
LiveBench browser8.0%16.0%Inkling
LiveBench long agentic12.4%14.1%Inkling
SREBench (Vals AI)Not measured0.0%Only Inkling measured
Finance Agent (Vals AI)48.3%46.6%MiniMax M3
Tax Agent Bench (Vals AI)20.6%15.3%MiniMax M3
Legal Research Bench (Vals AI)29.8%28.4%MiniMax M3
Harvey's Legal Agent Benchmark (Vals AI)Not measured3.8%Only Inkling measured
Excel Modeling Benchmark (Vals AI)47.8%38.4%MiniMax M3
τ²-Bench Telecom88.9%Not measuredOnly MiniMax M3 measured
APEX-Agents37.7%33.8%MiniMax M3
OSWorld 2.04.6%Not measuredOnly MiniMax M3 measured
Vending-Bench 2$2,158Not measuredOnly MiniMax M3 measured
Neither model has a result on the other 17 boards here
ReasoningLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index65
Reasoning benchmarks for MiniMax M3 and Inkling
BenchmarkMiniMax M3InklingLeader
GPQA Diamond92.7%87.1%MiniMax M3
LiveBench reasoning74.5%78.3%Inkling
MMMU Pro (Vals AI)81.2%78.5%MiniMax M3
GPQA Diamond (Artificial Analysis run)92.9%87.2%MiniMax M3
Humanity's Last Exam (Artificial Analysis run)39.0%31.9%MiniMax M3
GPQA Diamond (Epoch AI run)90.9%88.3%MiniMax M3
ARC-AGINot measured79.5%Only Inkling measured
ARC-AGI-2Not measured36.5%Only Inkling measured
SimpleBench45.8%50.0%Inkling
Chess puzzles13.0%21.0%Inkling
Mystery game puzzles8.0%Not measuredOnly MiniMax M3 measured
LMArena Text: hard prompts14471451Inkling
LMArena Text: expert14611466Inkling
LMArena Text: hard prompts in English14551448MiniMax M3
LMArena Vision: diagrams1266Not measuredOnly MiniMax M3 measured
LMArena Vision: homework1268Not measuredOnly MiniMax M3 measured
Neither model has a result on the other 5 boards here
MathLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index13
Math benchmarks for MiniMax M3 and Inkling
BenchmarkMiniMax M3InklingLeader
OTIS Mock AIME71.1%88.9%Inkling
FrontierMath, tiers 1 to 3Not measured33.3%Only Inkling measured
FrontierMath, tier 4Not measured4.9%Only Inkling measured
ProofBench18.0%0.0%MiniMax M3
LMArena Text: math14291479Inkling
LMArena Text: mathematical work14481460Inkling
Neither model has a result on the other 7 boards here
KnowledgeLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index37
Knowledge benchmarks for MiniMax M3 and Inkling
BenchmarkMiniMax M3InklingLeader
MMLU Pro84.2%86.3%Inkling
LegalBench (Vals AI)85.4%83.0%MiniMax M3
CorpFin (Vals AI)68.1%68.6%Inkling
TaxEval (Vals AI)72.7%75.3%Inkling
MortgageTax (Vals AI)68.4%64.0%MiniMax M3
MedCode (Vals AI)46.3%41.2%MiniMax M3
SimpleQA VerifiedNot measured40.3%Only Inkling measured
LMArena Text: science14521455Inkling
LMArena Text: medicine and healthcare14411447Inkling
LMArena Text: legal and government14371448Inkling
LMArena Text: business and finance14341438Inkling
Neither model has a result on the other 6 boards here
Web designLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index90
Web design benchmarks for MiniMax M3 and Inkling
BenchmarkMiniMax M3InklingLeader
Design Arena: websites12571224MiniMax M3
Design Arena: UI components12461200MiniMax M3
Design Arena: game dev12101166MiniMax M3
Design Arena: data viz12351160MiniMax M3
Design Arena: 3D12091161MiniMax M3
Design Arena: all code categories12471206MiniMax M3
Design Arena: SVG11611109MiniMax M3
Design Arena: ASCII art11611089MiniMax M3
LiveBench design66.2%58.3%MiniMax M3
GeneralLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index1312
General benchmarks for MiniMax M3 and Inkling
BenchmarkMiniMax M3InklingLeader
Vals IndexNot measured29.0%Only Inkling measured
LiveBench data analysis76.2%72.8%MiniMax M3
Public Benefits Bench (Vals AI)64.1%58.5%MiniMax M3
SAGE (Vals AI)50.6%36.5%MiniMax M3
MedScribe (Vals AI)87.3%85.4%MiniMax M3
Vals Multimodal Index60.0%49.4%MiniMax M3
IFBench82.9%Not measuredOnly MiniMax M3 measured
Long context reasoning (AA-LCR)83.0%77.3%MiniMax M3
DTBench78.9%87.5%Inkling
LMCA33.7%37.6%Inkling
Surface Evolver Bench55.0%Not measuredOnly MiniMax M3 measured
LMArena Text14331442Inkling
LMArena Text: instruction following14331425MiniMax M3
LMArena Text: creative writing14041390MiniMax M3
LMArena Vision1251Not measuredOnly MiniMax M3 measured
LMArena Text: English14431442MiniMax M3
LMArena Text: non-English14201434Inkling
LMArena Text: Chinese14661493Inkling
LMArena Text: German14281445Inkling
LMArena Text: Japanese13801429Inkling
LMArena Text: Korean13731403Inkling
LMArena Text: French14441455Inkling
LMArena Text: Spanish14331449Inkling
LMArena Text: Russian14261430Inkling
LMArena Text: Polish14231450Inkling
LMArena Text: multi-turn14431437MiniMax M3
LMArena Text: longer queries14461435MiniMax M3
LMArena Text: writing and language14191404MiniMax M3
LMArena Text: entertainment and media14031394MiniMax M3
LMArena Vision: English1263Not measuredOnly MiniMax M3 measured
LMArena Vision: Chinese1311Not measuredOnly MiniMax M3 measured
LMArena Vision: reading text1259Not measuredOnly MiniMax M3 measured
LMArena Vision: humor1235Not measuredOnly MiniMax M3 measured
LMArena Vision: recognizing things1197Not measuredOnly MiniMax M3 measured
LMArena Vision: creative writing1234Not measuredOnly MiniMax M3 measured
LMArena Document1435Not measuredOnly MiniMax M3 measured
Neither model has a result on the other 10 boards here
Image generationNot comparablePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index0 boards, none shared
Image generation benchmarks for MiniMax M3 and Inkling
BenchmarkMiniMax M3InklingLeader
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$0.0009Fits in one request
Inkling$0.0030Fits in one request

MiniMax M3 costs less

Repository review

50K input + 3K output tokens

MiniMax M3$0.019Fits in one request
Inkling$0.062Fits in one request

MiniMax M3 costs less

Agent loop

200K input + 10K output tokens

MiniMax M3$0.072Fits in one request
Inkling$0.240Fits in one request

MiniMax M3 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 MiniMax M3 and Inkling
SpecificationMiniMax M3Thinking Machines Inkling
MakerMiniMaxThinking Machines
WeightsOpen weightsOpen weights
ReleasedMay 31, 2026July 17, 2026
Context window1.05M524K
Input $/Mtok$0.30$1.00
Output $/Mtok$1.20$4.05
Coding index57.849.7
Independent measurements behind it22
Cost per solved task$0.56$0.76
SourceOpenRouter listingOpenRouter listing

Questions

Is MiniMax M3 better than Inkling for coding?

Pick MiniMax M3 for coding: it scores 57.8 on the Vibe Coding Index against 49.7 for Inkling. Pick Inkling when what matters is LiveCodeBench (Vals AI) or SWE-bench Verified (Vals AI), where it leads.

Which is cheaper, MiniMax M3 or Inkling?

MiniMax M3 costs $0.30 per million input tokens and $1.20 per million output tokens; Inkling costs $1.00 and $4.05. Per solved SWE-bench Verified task, MiniMax M3 costs $0.56 and Inkling $0.76.

Which has the bigger context window, MiniMax M3 or Inkling?

MiniMax M3, with 1.05M tokens against 524K.

How many benchmarks is the MiniMax M3 vs Inkling comparison based on?

90 benchmarks have a result for both models as of October 21, 2026. MiniMax M3's coding index rests on 2 independent benchmarks and Inkling's on 2. Where only one model has a result, the page says so instead of naming a winner.

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<p style="font:13px/1.4 sans-serif;margin:6px 0 0">Source: <a href="https://llmbenchmark.ai/compare/minimax-minimax-m3-vs-thinkingmachines-inkling">LLMBenchmark.ai, MiniMax M3 vs Inkling</a></p>