MiniMax

Tier C · Situational tools.

MiniMax M3

A former daily burner that has fallen behind the August field.

Canonical model record

Current identity, limits, and pricing

Provider source · checked 2026-08-14 ↗
Status
Current
API model ID
MiniMax-M3
Context
1M
Max output
Not publicly verified
API price / 1M tokens
$0.3 input · $1.2 output

Rates shown apply through 512K input tokens; longer prompts use the provider's higher tier.

Suggested for this guide

MiniMax

Use the same MiniMax family tested on this page. Check the current plan and model access before subscribing.

Best for: Long-context work and cost-efficient execution

Check MiniMax plansPartner link. It supports Superbash Learn at no extra cost to you.

Visual prompt runs

Benchmark runs

Open each generated scene, or compare the same prompt across models.

11 runs

Mechanical Watch Simulator

Interactive watch movement testing mechanical legibility, accurate relative motion, and real-time 3D controls.

Stormwind Trebuchet Simulator

Counterweight siege simulation testing coupled mechanics, trajectory prediction, projectile cameras, and interactive tuning.

Superbash commentary

Our take

Back to the full tier list →

MiniMax M3 now sits in C tier. It was one of the team’s favorite cheap daily burners only a few months ago, but newer models widened the gap: M3 now needs more bug checking, can confidently claim work is fixed when it is not, and is neither as cheap as DeepSeek nor as capable as Kimi.

Best for

  • Low-stakes experiments
  • Existing MiniMax workflows with strong review
  • Cheap continuation work when newer options are unavailable

Watch out

  • Frequent bugs and false completion claims in team use
  • Has not received the same recent step-change as peers
  • Use a stronger reviewer for important work
  • Do not use it for consequential life decisions

Why it is ranked here

  1. The team used MiniMax M3 heavily for two to three months because it was cheap enough for speculative projects.
  2. By August, the team was spending too much time checking bugs and confident but inaccurate completion claims.
  3. DeepSeek now wins the price role and Kimi wins the capability role, leaving M3 as a situational C-tier option.

Evidence and commentary

2026-08-17

Superbash editorial model ranking

Takeaway: MiniMax M3 is currently placed in Tier C.

The August 2026 editorial roster places MiniMax M3 at rank 14.

Open source →
2026-06-17

NEW AI Model Tier List for Vibe Coding!

Takeaway: MiniMax M3 needs a strong harness and supervision; the August roster no longer treats it as a current workhorse.

The older source records why the team adopted M3, while the new recording explains why newer peers have overtaken it.

Open source →

Official benchmark profile

How MiniMax M3 scores beyond our visual tests.

MiniMax publishes M3 results across coding, browser work, tool use, spreadsheets, and computer control. Its strongest relative result in the official comparison chart is SVG-Bench; terminal and OS-control scores remain below the largest closed models.

MiniMax sourceJune 2026Source report →
Agentic coding

SWE-bench Pro

59.0%
Terminal agents

Terminal-Bench 2.1

66.0%
Full-stack coding

VIBE V2

50.1%
Full official benchmark table11 rows with source settings and peer charts
BenchmarkAreaScoreSetting / comparison
SWE-bench ProAgentic coding59.0%MiniMax infrastructure with Claude Code scaffolding and official-aligned evaluation logic.
Claude Opus 4.764.3%
MiniMax M359.0%
GPT-5.558.6%
Gemini 3.1 Pro54.2%
Terminal-Bench 2.1Terminal agents66.0%8C16G sandbox, two-hour timeout, 128K output cap, Terminus 2.
GPT-5.578.2%
Gemini 3.1 Pro70.0%
Claude Opus 4.766.1%
MiniMax M366.0%
VIBE V2Full-stack coding50.1%Internal build-from-scratch benchmark with Claude Code and a three-run average.
Claude Opus 4.755.8%
GPT-5.550.5%
MiniMax M350.1%
Gemini 3.1 Pro28.0%
SVG-BenchVisual coding63.7%Internal text/image build and edit tasks with VLM render verification; three-run average.
MiniMax M363.7%
Claude Opus 4.762.3%
Gemini 3.1 Pro59.2%
GPT-5.558.2%
KernelBench HardGPU kernels28.8%Claude Code on NVIDIA Blackwell sm_120; average submitted TFLOPs over theoretical peak across nine questions.
Claude Opus 4.730.7%
MiniMax M328.8%
GPT-5.520.9%
Gemini 3.1 Pro18.6%
BrowseCompWeb research83.5%WebExplorer agent framework with history discarded above 64K tokens.
Gemini 3.1 Pro85.9%
GPT-5.584.4%
MiniMax M383.5%
Claude Opus 4.779.3%
GDPval rubricsProfessional work74.7%Public GDPval cases and rubrics with pointwise scoring aligned to GDPval-AA.
GPT-5.580.6%
Claude Opus 4.779.8%
MiniMax M374.7%
Gemini 3.1 Pro57.8%
BankerToolBenchFinance tools76.1%Public dataset; Claude Code except GPT uses Codex; MiniMax M2.7 judge.
Claude Opus 4.781.3%
MiniMax M376.1%
GPT-5.570.0%
Gemini 3.1 Pro67.0%
MCP AtlasTool use74.2%Official public set and codebase with Gemini 2.5 Pro as judge.
Claude Opus 4.777.0%
GPT-5.575.3%
MiniMax M374.2%
Gemini 3.1 Pro69.2%
OSWorld-VerifiedComputer use75.2%361 samples, official codebase, 1920x1080, relative coordinates, and a 200-step cap.
Claude Opus 4.782.8%
GPT-5.578.7%
Gemini 3.1 Pro76.2%
MiniMax M375.2%
SWE-fficiencyCoding efficiency34.8%MiniMax open-source dataset and workflow with a two-hour timeout in Claude Code.