Claude Opus 4.8 vs MiniMax M3
API pricing, context window and capabilities for Claude Opus 4.8 and MiniMax M3, side by side. Prices are the cheapest listed serving route per 1M tokens, from LiteLLM and OpenRouter.
Verdict
computed from the published numbersClaude Opus 4.8 wins on Terminal-Bench and on intelligence. MiniMax M3 wins on price.
Price
MiniMax M3
Terminal-Bench
Claude Opus 4.8
Intelligence
Claude Opus 4.8
Context window
Tied
Key takeaways
who wins on what, from the published numbersClaude Opus 4.8 wins
- Has web search
MiniMax M3 wins
- Cheaper input ($5.00 vs $0.23 /1M)
- Cheaper output ($25.00 vs $0.96 /1M)
- Higher max output (128K vs 1M)
- More serving providers (8 vs 11)
Cheaper overall
MiniMax M3
$0.23 + $0.96 /1M
Larger context
Tied
More providers
MiniMax M3
11 providers
Pricing & specs
cheapest listed route · per 1M tokensOn-demand listed rates, OpenRouter routed quotes and Vercel reseller quotes. Enterprise commitments can be materially lower.
| Claude Opus 4.8 | MiniMax M3 | |
|---|---|---|
| Input $/1M | $5.00via Anthropic | $0.23via Wandb best |
| Output $/1M | $25.00via Anthropic | $0.96via Wandb best |
| Context window | 1M | 1M |
| Max output | 128K | 1M best |
| Serving providers | 8 | 11 best |
| Date | Released May 28, 2026 | Released Jun 1, 2026 |
Benchmarks
Benchmark scores, side by side| Claude Opus 4.8 | MiniMax M3 | |
|---|---|---|
| Intelligence | 41.8 best | 29.2 |
| Terminal-Bench | 85% best | 65% |
| GPQA Diamond | 92% | 93% best |
| Output speed | 62 t/s | 107 t/s best |
| Latency (TTFT) | 56.16s | 1.21s best |
Cost calculator
choose a serving route for each sideInput tokens / month
Output tokens / month
Claude Opus 4.8
via Azure
$50
MiniMax M3
via Wandb
$2.11
Capabilities
feature support, side by side| Feature | Claude Opus 4.8 | MiniMax M3 |
|---|---|---|
| Vision | ✓ | ✓ |
| Tool use | ✓ | ✓ |
| Reasoning | ✓ | ✓ |
| Audio | — | — |
| Prompt caching | ✓ | ✓ |
| Structured output | ✓ | ✓ |
| Web search | ✓ | — |
Related comparisons
Frequently asked questions
Which is cheaper, Claude Opus 4.8 or MiniMax M3?
MiniMax M3 is cheaper for input ($5.00 vs $0.23 per 1M tokens) from Wandb. MiniMax M3 is cheaper for output ($25.00 vs $0.96 per 1M tokens) from Wandb.
What is the context window difference between Claude Opus 4.8 and MiniMax M3?
Both Claude Opus 4.8 and MiniMax M3 have about a 1M-token context window.
How do Claude Opus 4.8 and MiniMax M3 compare on benchmarks?
On the tracked benchmarks, Claude Opus 4.8 leads on Terminal-Bench, and Claude Opus 4.8 leads on intelligence.
Listed prices from LiteLLM, OpenRouter and Vercel · last checked Oct 14, 2026
Every weekday
AI moves fast. Here's your debrief.
News, analysis, tools, and more.
For people who build with AI