MiniMax M3
Where it stands
Quality in independent tests against price, next to 135 other models. Up means more capable, left means cheaper.
About this model
MiniMax M3 is an AI model from MiniMax, made available through the API on May 31, 2026. It can read up to 1,048,576 tokens in one request, roughly 1,966 pages of text, and write up to 512,000 tokens in a single answer. Besides text, it accepts images and video as input.
Through the API it costs $0.30 per million input tokens and $1.20 per million output tokens. Its pricing sits in the middle of the market.
It supports extended reasoning: it can "think" step by step before answering, which helps on maths, code and complex questions. It can call tools and functions, so developers can connect it to search, databases or other software. Its weights are openly published (MiniMaxAI/Minimax-M3), so it can also be downloaded and run on your own hardware.
Quality scores
Rankings →- GPQA DiamondVery hard multiple-choice questions in biology, physics and chemistry, written by PhD experts. Random guessing scores 25%.90.9%#24 of 116
- AIME mathCompetition-level math problems in the style of the American Invitational Mathematics Examination. Share solved.71.1%#74 of 112
Where to use it
Companies that serve this model through an API: 13. Prices per million tokens, cheapest first.
| Provider | Inputi | Outputi | Contexti | Uptime (24 h)i |
|---|---|---|---|---|
CoreWeaveCheapestfp4 | $0.23 | $0.96 | 256K | 99.0% |
GMICloudfp8 | $0.24 | $0.96 | 1M | 99.4% |
DeepInfrafp8 | $0.28 | $1.10 | 512K | 99.8% |
StreamLakefp8 | $0.30 | $1.20 | 1M | 98.8% |
Venicefp8 | $0.30 | $1.20 | 512K | 96.1% |
Together | $0.30 | $1.20 | 512K | 100.0% |
Parasailfp8 | $0.30 | $1.20 | 1M | 99.5% |
AtlasCloudfp8 | $0.30 | $1.20 | 524K | 98.1% |
Novitafp8 | $0.30 | $1.20 | 1M | 99.7% |
MinimaxOfficialfp8 | $0.30 | $1.20 | 512K | 99.9% |
Mara | $0.60 | $2.40 | 1M | 75.9% |
SambaNova | $0.60 | $2.40 | 1M | 94.1% |
ModelRunfp4 | $0.75 | $3 | 1M | 99.1% |
Availability and prices come from OpenRouter’s public API and are refreshed daily. Uptime is the share of successful requests over the last 24 hours. Some providers run a compressed version of open models (fp8, int4), which is cheaper but can be slightly less accurate.
Use it in your code
Call MiniMax M3 through OpenRouter’s OpenAI-compatible API: create a key on openrouter.ai, then run one of these examples.
curl https://openrouter.ai/api/v1/chat/completions \
-H "Authorization: Bearer $OPENROUTER_API_KEY" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{"model": "minimax/minimax-m3", "messages": [{"role": "user", "content": "Hello! What can you do?"}]}'import os
from openai import OpenAI
client = OpenAI(base_url="https://openrouter.ai/api/v1", api_key=os.environ["OPENROUTER_API_KEY"])
reply = client.chat.completions.create(
model="minimax/minimax-m3",
messages=[{"role": "user", "content": "Hello! What can you do?"}],
)
print(reply.choices[0].message.content)import OpenAI from "openai";
const client = new OpenAI({ baseURL: "https://openrouter.ai/api/v1", apiKey: process.env.OPENROUTER_API_KEY });
const reply = await client.chat.completions.create({
model: "minimax/minimax-m3",
messages: [{ role: "user", content: "Hello! What can you do?" }],
});
console.log(reply.choices[0].message.content);The same code works with every model on this site: only the model ID changes. Many labs also offer their own API and SDK.
What it costs in practice
- 1,000 chat replies$0.51
- Summarise a 100-page document$0.016
- An app with 10,000 requests a day for a month$234
Similar-priced alternatives
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|---|---|---|---|---|
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LongCat 2.0Meituan | $0.30 | $1.20 | 1M | Compare with ⇄ |
Qwen3.7 PlusAlibaba Qwen | $0.32 | $1.28 | 1M | Compare with ⇄ |
Muse Glimmer 30BMeta | $0.35 | $1.50 | 128K | Compare with ⇄ |
Frequently asked questions
- How much does MiniMax M3 cost?
- MiniMax M3 costs $0.30 per million input tokens and $1.20 per million output tokens through the API. For example, 1,000 chat replies of about 500 tokens in and 300 out cost around $0.51.
- What is the context window of MiniMax M3?
- MiniMax M3 can read up to 1,048,576 tokens in one request, about 1,966 pages of text. It can write up to 512,000 tokens in a single answer.
- Is MiniMax M3 open source?
- Yes. Its weights are published (MiniMaxAI/Minimax-M3), so you can download it and run it on your own hardware, or use it through one of 13 API providers.
- Who makes MiniMax M3?
- MiniMax M3 is made by MiniMax. It became available through the API on May 31, 2026.
- How good is MiniMax M3?
- MiniMax M3 has an overall index of 147.0 in Epoch AI’s independent tests, ranking #57 of 136 models we track.
- Can MiniMax M3 read images?
- Yes. Besides text, it accepts images and video as input.
- What are the alternatives to MiniMax M3?
- Models with a similar price from other companies include Command A+, DeepSeek V4.1 Flash and Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite. You can compare them side by side on this page.