MiniMax-M3.1-Flash vs Step 5 Preview
Which is better for the money: MiniMax-M3.1-Flash by MiniMax or Step 5 Preview by StepFun? 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
Step 5 Preview scores 1.0 points higher (43.7 vs 42.7) but costs 4.2× as much to run the benchmark ($1190 vs $283; premium vs mid-range cost classes). They are not alternatives at one budget: pick Step 5 Preview when you need intelligence above 42.7, and MiniMax-M3.1-Flash when 42.7 is enough.
| Metric | MiniMax-M3.1-Flash | Step 5 Preview | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Intelligence (higher is better) | 42.7 | 43.7 | +2.3% Step 5 Preview is 2.3% more intelligent |
| Total AA cost (lower is better) | $283.18 | $1,190.26 | +320.3% Step 5 Preview is 4.2× more expensive |
| End-to-end time (lower is better) | 25.34s | 12.06s | −52.4% Step 5 Preview is 52.4% faster |
| Price per 1M tokens (in / out) | $0.15 / $0.60 | $1.00 / $2.70 | |
| Input modalities | Text, Image | Text, Image |
Step 5 Preview vs MiniMax-M3.1-Flash: 2.3% more intelligence, 320.3% more cost to run the AA benchmark, and 52.4% faster end-to-end.
Today's Pareto frontier
Against the frontier
- MiniMax-M3.1-Flash is off the frontier: at the same or lower cost, MiMo-V2.6-Pro scores 46.30 for $207.
- Step 5 Preview is off the frontier: at the same or lower cost, GPT-6.1 Sol (Max) scores 51.80 for $1082.
MiniMax-M3.1-FlashStep 5 PreviewToday's Pareto frontierOpen-weights frontierEvery other model
Matchup
Compare something else
Agents:
Accept: text/markdown or ?format=md returns this page as Markdown. JSON: /api/v1/compare/minimax-m3-1-flash/step-5 · Markdown: /api/v1/compare/minimax-m3-1-flash/step-5?format=md · llms.txt · agent skill