MiniMax-M3.1 Flash vs Gemini 3.8 Flash
Official MiniMax and Google API prices and LMArena scores, checked 2026-11-02. Add up to 2 more models to compare 4.
MiniMax-M3.1 Flash costs less; Gemini 3.8 Flash wins more LMArena tasks.
MiniMax-M3.1 Flash is 5x cheaper on input and 6.3x cheaper on output. Gemini 3.8 Flash scores 22 points higher for agent tasks. Across 2 shared LMArena tasks, Gemini 3.8 Flash leads 1 to 0 (1 tied). A medium month (20M input + 5M output tokens) costs $6 on MiniMax-M3.1 Flash and $33.75 on Gemini 3.8 Flash.
- Pick MiniMax-M3.1 Flash if you want the lower bill ($6 vs $33.75 for a medium month) or you reuse long prompts (cached input $0.015 vs $0.075).
- Pick Gemini 3.8 Flash if you care most about agent tasks (+22).
Medium: 20M input + 5M output tokens a month at list price (short-context rate, no caching or batch discounts).
Marked side is better: lower for prices, higher for context and scores. Bars are scaled to the larger of the two.
| Spec | MiniMax-M3.1 Flash | Gemini 3.8 Flash |
|---|---|---|
| Price per 1M tokens | ||
| Input | $0.15 | $0.75 |
| Cached input | $0.015 | $0.075 |
| Output | $0.60 | $3.75 |
| Blend 3:1 | $0.2625 | $1.50 |
| Sample month, medium | $6 | $33.75 |
| Context | ||
| Context window | Not published | 1M tokens |
| Quality (LMArena, out of 100) | ||
| Coding | 16/100 #26 of 50 | 16/100 #25 of 50 |
| Chat | Not ranked | 54/100 #5 of 51 |
| Creative writing | Not ranked | 56/100 #5 of 51 |
| Roleplay and characters | Not ranked | 46/100 #3 of 51 |
| Reasoning and math | Not ranked | 85/100 #3 of 51 |
| Vision | Not ranked | 80/100 #4 of 33 |
| Long documents | Not ranked | Not ranked |
| Cheap bulk and agents | 17/100 #29 of 37 | 39/100 #15 of 37 |
| Details | ||
| Provider | MiniMax | |
| API model id | minimax-m3.1-flash | gemini-3.8-flash |
| Notes | None | Through Dec 31, 2026. From Jan 1, 2027: $1.50 in, $7.50 out. |
| Sources | ||
| Last checked | 2026-11-02 | 2026-11-02 |
| Official pricing | MiniMax pricing | Google pricing |
Plans from data checked hourly against each vendor's official pricing page. Vendors state limits in different units, so we quote them as published. Team and enterprise plans are per seat.
API prices in USD per 1M tokens from each provider's official pricing page. Blend 3:1 = (3 x input + output) / 4. Sample month = stated input and output tokens at the list price, no caching. Quality: relative score out of 100 on each LMArena leaderboard (100 = top model we price on that board, n/a = not ranked there), data licensed CC BY 4.0. See how we pick.
Where each one ranks on LMArena
Relative score out of 100 on each leaderboard (100 = the top model we price there), with the rank among the models from our API price table that appear on that board.
- Coding (Code Arena): MiniMax-M3.1 Flash #26 of 50 (16/100), Gemini 3.8 Flash #25 of 50 (16/100)
- Chat (Text Arena): MiniMax-M3.1 Flash not ranked, Gemini 3.8 Flash #5 of 51 (54/100)
- Creative writing (Text Arena creative writing): MiniMax-M3.1 Flash not ranked, Gemini 3.8 Flash #5 of 51 (56/100)
- Roleplay and characters (Text Arena multi-turn): MiniMax-M3.1 Flash not ranked, Gemini 3.8 Flash #3 of 51 (46/100)
- Reasoning and math (Text Arena math): MiniMax-M3.1 Flash not ranked, Gemini 3.8 Flash #3 of 51 (85/100)
- Vision (Vision Arena): MiniMax-M3.1 Flash not ranked, Gemini 3.8 Flash #4 of 33 (80/100)
- Long documents (Document Arena): MiniMax-M3.1 Flash not ranked, Gemini 3.8 Flash not ranked
- Cheap bulk and agents (Agent Arena): MiniMax-M3.1 Flash #29 of 37 (17/100), Gemini 3.8 Flash #15 of 37 (39/100)
Pricing details from the official pages
MiniMax-M3.1 Flash lists $0.15 input, $0.60 output, $0.015 cached input per 1M tokens on MiniMax pricing. Gemini 3.8 Flash lists $0.75 input, $3.75 output, $0.075 cached input per 1M tokens on Google pricing. Prices checked 2026-11-02.
- Gemini 3.8 Flash: Through Dec 31, 2026. From Jan 1, 2027: $1.50 in, $7.50 out.
Sample monthly bill at list price, no caching: Light (2M input + 0.5M output tokens): $0.60 vs $3.38. Medium (20M input + 5M output tokens): $6 vs $33.75. Heavy (200M input + 50M output tokens): $60 vs $337.50.
FAQ
Is MiniMax-M3.1 Flash cheaper than Gemini 3.8 Flash?
MiniMax-M3.1 Flash costs $0.15 input and $0.60 output per 1M tokens; Gemini 3.8 Flash costs $0.75 and $3.75. For a medium month (20M input + 5M output tokens) MiniMax-M3.1 Flash is cheaper: $6 vs $33.75.
Which is better for coding, MiniMax-M3.1 Flash or Gemini 3.8 Flash?
On LMArena's Code Arena MiniMax-M3.1 Flash scores 16/100 (#26 of 50) and Gemini 3.8 Flash 16/100 (#25 of 50), so they tie.
Which has the bigger context window?
MiniMax-M3.1 Flash: n/a. Gemini 3.8 Flash: 1M tokens.
How much do MiniMax-M3.1 Flash and Gemini 3.8 Flash cost per month?
Light (2M input + 0.5M output tokens): $0.60 vs $3.38. Medium (20M input + 5M output tokens): $6 vs $33.75. Heavy (200M input + 50M output tokens): $60 vs $337.50. Pick your own token counts in the plan vs API calculator.
Where do these numbers come from?
Prices come from each provider's official pricing page, checked daily. Quality is the relative score on the LMArena leaderboard dataset, licensed CC BY 4.0. Where a model is not ranked we show n/a.
Sources
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