DeepSeek V4.1 Flash (Non-reasoning) vs MiniMax-M3
Which is better for the money: DeepSeek V4.1 Flash (Non-reasoning) by DeepSeek or MiniMax-M3 by MiniMax? Intelligence, total benchmark cost, and end-to-end time from Artificial Analysis & other sources, snapshot 2026-10-25.
Trade-off
Verdict
Depends on your budget
MiniMax-M3 scores 4.5 points higher (29.2 vs 24.7) but costs 2.3× as much to run the benchmark ($538 vs $239; premium vs mid-range cost classes). Pick MiniMax-M3 when the extra intelligence is worth the premium, otherwise DeepSeek V4.1 Flash (Non-reasoning).
| Metric | DeepSeek V4.1 Flash (Non-reasoning) | MiniMax-M3 | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Intelligence (higher is better) | 24.7 | 29.2 | +18.2% MiniMax-M3 is 18.2% more intelligent |
| Total AA cost (lower is better) | $238.91 | $537.98 | +125.2% MiniMax-M3 is 2.3× more expensive |
| End-to-end time (lower is better) | 2.71s | 25.47s | +839.9% MiniMax-M3 is 839.9% slower |
| Price per 1M tokens (in / out) | $0.30 / $1.20 | $0.30 / $1.20 | |
| Input modalities | Text, Image | Text, Image, Video |
MiniMax-M3 vs DeepSeek V4.1 Flash (Non-reasoning): 18.2% more intelligence, 125.2% more cost to run the AA benchmark, and 839.9% slower end-to-end.
Today's Pareto frontier
Against the frontier
- DeepSeek V4.1 Flash (Non-reasoning) is off the frontier: at the same or lower cost, MiMo-V2.6-Pro scores 46.30 for $207.
- MiniMax-M3 is off the frontier: at the same or lower cost, GPT-6.1 Sol (High) scores 50.20 for $521.
DeepSeek V4.1 Flash (Non-reasoning)MiniMax-M3Today's Pareto frontierOpen-weights frontierEvery other model
Matchup
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Accept: text/markdown or ?format=md returns this page as Markdown. JSON: /api/v1/compare/deepseek-v4-1-flash-non-reasoning/minimax-m3 · Markdown: /api/v1/compare/deepseek-v4-1-flash-non-reasoning/minimax-m3?format=md · llms.txt · agent skill