GLM-5.2 (Max) vs MiniMax-M3
Which is better for the money: GLM-5.2 (Max) by Z AI or MiniMax-M3 by MiniMax? Intelligence, total benchmark cost, and end-to-end time from Artificial Analysis & other sources, snapshot 2026-10-24.
Trade-off
Verdict
Depends on your budget
GLM-5.2 (Max) scores 4.5 points higher (33.7 vs 29.2) but costs 3.9× as much to run the benchmark ($2097 vs $538; flagship vs premium cost classes). They are not alternatives at one budget: pick GLM-5.2 (Max) when you need intelligence above 29.2, and MiniMax-M3 when 29.2 is enough.
| Metric | GLM-5.2 (Max) | MiniMax-M3 | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Intelligence (higher is better) | 33.7 | 29.2 | −13.4% MiniMax-M3 is 13.4% less intelligent |
| Total AA cost (lower is better) | $2,097.29 | $537.98 | −74.3% MiniMax-M3 is 74.3% cheaper |
| End-to-end time (lower is better) | 30.10s | 26.74s | −11.2% MiniMax-M3 is 11.2% faster |
| Price per 1M tokens (in / out) | $1.40 / $4.40 | $0.30 / $1.20 | |
| Input modalities | Text | Text, Image, Video |
MiniMax-M3 vs GLM-5.2 (Max): 13.4% less intelligence, 74.3% less cost to run the AA benchmark, and 11.2% faster end-to-end.
Today's Pareto frontier
Against the frontier
- GLM-5.2 (Max) is off the frontier: at the same or lower cost, GPT-6.1 Sol (Max) scores 51.80 for $1082.
- MiniMax-M3 is off the frontier: at the same or lower cost, GPT-6.1 Sol (High) scores 50.20 for $521.
GLM-5.2 (Max)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/glm-5-2/minimax-m3 · Markdown: /api/v1/compare/glm-5-2/minimax-m3?format=md · llms.txt · agent skill