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Head-to-head comparison

MiniMax M3.1 Flash vs GPT-5.6 Terra

MiniMax M3.1 Flash (MiniMax) and GPT-5.6 Terra (OpenAI) compared on the ModelCap Index, API price, context window, provider availability, weight access and every public benchmark board they share. Figures are the same ones shown on the live rankings; nothing here is a hidden score.

Snapshot as of 23 October 2026

As of 23 October 2026, MiniMax M3.1 Flash holds the stronger ModelCap Index position (#22 vs #29); and MiniMax M3.1 Flash is 20× cheaper per output token ($0.60/1M vs $12.00/1M).

Which should you choose?

Choose MiniMax M3.1 Flash if…

  • you want the stronger overall ModelCap Index position — #22 against #29 (77.4 vs 75.4 points).
  • API cost matters — $0.60/1M output tokens against $12.00/1M, about 20× cheaper.
  • your workload is prompt-heavy — input tokens cost $0.15/1M against $2.00/1M.
  • you want provider choice — 5 listed API providers against 3.
  • AA Intelligence Index is your yardstick — 42.7 against 42.1.
  • AA Humanity's Last Exam is your yardstick — 48.0% against 42.9%.
  • you want the more recently listed model — MiniMax M3.1 Flash was listed 19 October 2026, GPT-5.6 Terra 9 July 2026.

Choose GPT-5.6 Terra if…

  • ModelCap publishes no field on which GPT-5.6 Terra leads MiniMax M3.1 Flash for this pair.

MiniMax M3.1 Flash vs GPT-5.6 Terra: specs, pricing and context

Specification comparison of MiniMax M3.1 Flash and GPT-5.6 Terra
FieldMiniMax M3.1 FlashMiniMaxGPT-5.6 TerraOpenAI
ModelCap Index position#22#29
Index score77.475.4
EvidenceEstimatedMeasured
Input price / 1M tokens$0.15$2.00
Output price / 1M tokens$0.60$12.00
Context window1M tokens1M tokens
Declared route output cap524K128K
API providers listed53
Weight accessRestricted licenseNo linked weights
Input modalitiesText, Image, VideoFile, Image, Text
First listed19 October 20269 July 2026
PublisherMiniMaxOpenAI

Evidence: publisher-corpus-prior over 211 held-out anchors (6%); launch card against 5 resolved peers on 6 rows (94%); optimism haircut 0 from cross-lab-probe; shrunk 1.9 toward the measured corpus · 5 public benchmark observations across 5 boards. Prices are the lowest listed API offer per million tokens observed on the OpenRouter catalogue.

Benchmark scores: MiniMax M3.1 Flash vs GPT-5.6 Terra

Public benchmark boards where MiniMax M3.1 Flash or GPT-5.6 Terra has a published result
BoardMiniMax M3.1 FlashGPT-5.6 TerraLeads
Arena textArena (LMArena)—14671463–1471X-HighOnly one result
Arena codingArena (LMArena)—15181511–1524X-HighOnly one result
LMArena AgentLMArena—0.5%-0.8%–1.8%X-HighOnly one result
ARC-AGI-2ARC Prize Foundation—83.9%MaxOnly one result
ARC-AGI-3ARC Prize Foundation—0.8%MaxOnly one result
AA Intelligence IndexArtificial Analysis42.7Reasoning42.1MaxMiniMax M3.1 Flash
AA Terminal-Bench 2.1Artificial Analysis—88.0%MaxOnly one result
AA τ²-Bench TelecomArtificial Analysis—86.3%MaxOnly one result
AA Humanity's Last ExamArtificial Analysis48.0%Reasoning42.9%MaxMiniMax M3.1 Flash
Terminal-Bench 4.0Terminal-Bench (Laude Institute)—21.5%18.3%–24.8%Codex · MaxOnly one result

Scores are the sources' own published figures for each model's best evaluated configuration; ModelCap never re-runs a benchmark.

Want a different pairing? Open the interactive comparison tool to swap either model for any current ranked language model.

MiniMax M3.1 Flash vs GPT-5.6 Terra: common questions

Is MiniMax M3.1 Flash better than GPT-5.6 Terra?

MiniMax M3.1 Flash ranks higher on the ModelCap Index as of 23 October 2026: #22 against #29. That is a capability ranking built from public benchmark evidence with published uncertainty; whether it is "better" for you also depends on price, context and where you can run it. Their published uncertainty intervals overlap, so the rank difference alone does not establish a reliable capability advantage for your workload.

Is MiniMax M3.1 Flash cheaper than GPT-5.6 Terra?

MiniMax M3.1 Flash is cheaper on output tokens: $0.60/1M against $12.00/1M. Input tokens are $0.15/1M for MiniMax M3.1 Flash and $2.00/1M for GPT-5.6 Terra. Prices are the lowest listed API offer ModelCap observed, in USD per million tokens. For 1,000 requests with 2,000 input and 500 output tokens each (2M input + 0.5M output), the listed-rate estimate is $0.60 for MiniMax M3.1 Flash versus $10.00 for GPT-5.6 Terra. MiniMax M3.1 Flash costs 94.0% less in this scenario. This excludes caching, batch discounts, prompt-length tiers, tool charges and retries; verify the selected endpoint before budgeting.

Which has the bigger context window, MiniMax M3.1 Flash or GPT-5.6 Terra?

Both publish a 1M-token context window. OpenRouter catalogue or provider-endpoint declaration. Limits can vary by provider and prompt length; a model-wide maximum has not been independently verified.

Which is better for coding, MiniMax M3.1 Flash or GPT-5.6 Terra?

The two models do not share a coding benchmark board on ModelCap yet, so no head-to-head coding score is published; the ModelCap Index position is the closest overall signal.

Are MiniMax M3.1 Flash and GPT-5.6 Terra open-weight models?

MiniMax M3.1 Flash: Restricted license. GPT-5.6 Terra: No linked weights. Open weights mean the checkpoint can be downloaded and self-hosted under its licence. A missing weight link does not identify every API or chat product that offers a model.

Where can I run MiniMax M3.1 Flash and GPT-5.6 Terra?

ModelCap currently lists 5 API providers for MiniMax M3.1 Flash and 3 for GPT-5.6 Terra, from the OpenRouter catalogue snapshot the site serves; each model page lists the providers and their prices.

How current is this MiniMax M3.1 Flash vs GPT-5.6 Terra comparison?

Every figure and ModelCap Index position comes from the same published snapshot dated 23 October 2026. Publication and page updates happen separately; use the snapshot date shown on the page.

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