--- title: "Is MiniMax M3 still undominated? · Undominated.ai" canonical: https://undominated.ai/check/minimax__minimax-m3/ description: "MiniMax M3: whether it is still undominated. If anything in this catalogue is both better and cheaper, it is named, as of Oct 6, 2026. Unrated stays unrated." --- # Is MiniMax M3 still undominated? · Undominated.ai > MiniMax M3: whether it is still undominated. If anything in this catalogue is both better and cheaper, it is named, as of Oct 6, 2026. Unrated stays unrated. # Is MiniMax M3 a good deal? Whether anything in this catalogue beats MiniMax M3 on both quality and price, and what you give up if it does. A computation on the current catalogue, not an opinion. 12 undominated of 145 · Oct 6, 2026 [1 · Choose & set workload](#check-input)[2 · Read verdict](#check-verdict)[3 · Inspect alternatives](#check-options) As of Oct 6, 2026, MiniMax M3 is dominated for Balanced on LMArena. GLM 5.3 Flash scores 37.5 higher and costs 51% less, with a covering envelope. 12 of 145 rated, priced standard models are undominated. [Inspect model evidence](/models/minimax__minimax-m3/) [Compare differences & requirements](/compare/?models=minimax%2Fminimax-m3%2Cz-ai%2Fglm-5.3-flash) Current model MiniMax M3 Balanced 3 tokens in per 1 out Balanced Summarise Chat Code gen Agentic Monthly spend (USD) Used only to say how many months a named switching cost would take to earn back. Leave blank to skip. Switching cost (USD) GLM 5.3 Flash is both better and cheaper than MiniMax M3: 37.5 points higher on LMArena and 51% less per million tokens, $0.248 cheaper at this mix. [MiniMax M3](https://undominated.ai/models/minimax__minimax-m3/) LMArena Elo · higher is better Scale starts at 1040 Elo ** 1432.1 Effective $/M · Balanced · lower is better ** $0.485/M [GLM 5.3 Flash](https://undominated.ai/models/z-ai__glm-5.3-flash/) LMArena Elo · higher is better Scale starts at 1040 Elo ** 1469.6 Effective $/M · Balanced · lower is better ** $0.238/M MiniMax M3 takes text, image, video, returns up to 512,000 tokens from a 1,048,576-token context, and is listed by 13 sellers. Open weights, so it can also be self-hosted. Compared against 145 rated, priced models on this lens: 1 model dominates it and gives up nothing, 5 more dominate it but give something up. MiniMax M3 scores 1432.1 at $0.485 per million tokens for this mix. ## Envelope-safe replacements Each row scores at least as high, costs no more, and covers this model’s context, output, modalities, tools, and reasoning. A cheaper narrower model is not listed here. | Model | LMArena | Effective $/M | You save | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | [GLM 5.3 Flash](/models/z-ai__glm-5.3-flash/) | 1469.6 +37.5 | $0.238/M | 51% | ## Higher score, lower price, named losses Not a drop-in. The loss is why these are not a recommendation. | Model | LMArena | Effective $/M | You give up | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | [DeepSeek V4.1 Flash](/models/deepseek__deepseek-v4.1-flash/) | 1462.5 | $0.182/M | video | | [MiMo-V2.6-Flash](/models/xiaomi__mimo-v2.6-flash/) | 1456.4 | $0.175/M | max output | | [Gemma 4 31B](/models/google__gemma-4-31b-it/) | 1443.4 | $0.205/M | context, max output | | [Hy3](/models/tencent__hy3/) | 1440.7 | $0.231/M | context, max output, image, video | | [Gemma 4 26B A4B](/models/google__gemma-4-26b-a4b-it/) | 1433.9 | $0.127/M | context, max output | 145 rated, priced standard models. Chartreuse is the frontier. Cobalt is the model you named, when it is not on the staircase. Copy watch URL [Open the frontier](/frontier/) The link keeps the model and mix, using the current catalogue. Monthly spend and switching cost stay in this browser tab and are left out of the link. ## Saved decision references Save the model, workload, catalogue date and capability-preservation rule in this browser. Spend, switching cost and bill contents are not saved. No account or notifications. Constraint: replacements must preserve the model’s capabilities; any losses remain named trade-offs. Historical decisions cannot be fully replayed from saved references: past prices, scores and capability evidence are not stored. Save this reference ## Continue your investigation - [Build a shortlist](/compare/) - [Inspect alternatives](/alternatives/) - [Check billing conditions](/traps/) - [Read model evidence](/models/)