GPT-6 Astra (Max) vs MiniMax-M3
Which is better for the money: GPT-6 Astra (Max) by OpenAI 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
GPT-6 Astra (Max) scores 23.5 points higher (52.7 vs 29.2) but costs 9.9× as much to run the benchmark ($5324 vs $538; flagship vs premium cost classes). They are not alternatives at one budget: pick GPT-6 Astra (Max) when you need intelligence above 29.2, and MiniMax-M3 when 29.2 is enough.
| Metric | GPT-6 Astra (Max) | MiniMax-M3 | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Intelligence (higher is better) | 52.7 | 29.2 | −44.6% MiniMax-M3 is 44.6% less intelligent |
| Total AA cost (lower is better) | $5,324.10 | $537.98 | −89.9% MiniMax-M3 is 89.9% cheaper |
| End-to-end time (lower is better) | 280.51s | 24.85s | −91.1% MiniMax-M3 is 91.1% faster |
| Price per 1M tokens (in / out) | $10.0 / $50.0 | $0.30 / $1.20 | |
| Input modalities | Text, Image | Text, Image, Video |
MiniMax-M3 vs GPT-6 Astra (Max): 44.6% less intelligence, 89.9% less cost to run the AA benchmark, and 91.1% faster end-to-end.
Today's Pareto frontier
Against the frontier
- GPT-6 Astra (Max) is off the frontier: at the same or lower cost, Claude Opus 5.5 (Xhigh, Default Fallback) scores 56.00 for $4057.
- MiniMax-M3 is off the frontier: at the same or lower cost, GPT-6.1 Sol (High) scores 50.20 for $521.
GPT-6 Astra (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/gpt-6-astra/minimax-m3 · Markdown: /api/v1/compare/gpt-6-astra/minimax-m3?format=md · llms.txt · agent skill