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Comparison · 2 models · Updated Nov 2, 2026

Gemma 4 26B A4B IT vs MiniMax-M3

Too close to call on our weighted score (MiniMax-M3 68, Gemma 4 26B A4B IT 68). The right pick depends on what you value most.

  1. Google

    Gemma 4 26B A4B IT

    Released Apr 2, 2026

    68/100
    • ECI142.0
    • Price$0.112 / $0.40
    • Context262K
    Full specs Remove Gemma 4 26B A4B IT

  2. MiniMax

    MiniMax-M3

    Released Jun 1, 2026

    68/100
    • ECI146.9
    • Price$0.30 / $1.20
    • Context1.05M
    Full specs Remove MiniMax-M3

  3. Add a model

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01 — Verdict

Too close to call

It is close. Our weighted score puts them within a point (MiniMax-M3 68/100, Gemma 4 26B A4B IT 68/100), so choose by what matters most for your work: MiniMax-M3 for raw capability and Gemma 4 26B A4B IT on price. The score weighs capability 50%, price 25%, inputs & features 15%, context window 10%.

  • CapabilityMiniMax-M3Capabilities Index (ECI): MiniMax-M3 146.9 · Gemma 4 26B A4B IT 142.0
  • Lowest priceGemma 4 26B A4B ITGemma 4 26B A4B IT $0.184 · MiniMax-M3 $0.525 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
  • Longest contextMiniMax-M3MiniMax-M3 1,048,576 · Gemma 4 26B A4B IT 262,144 tokens
  • Widest inputsMiniMax-M3Gemma 4 26B A4B IT: Text, Images · MiniMax-M3: Text, Images, Video
  • Self-hostingAll open weightsEvery model here can be downloaded and run on your own hardware
How the score is built
MeasureWeightGemma 4 26B A4B ITMiniMax-M3
CapabilityCapabilities Index (ECI)50%6773
Price25%8160
Inputs & features15%7070
Context window10%3761
Overall100%68/10068/100
02 — Side by side

Every spec in one table

Highlighted cells lead their row. Dashes mean the data is not published.

Gemma 4 26B A4B IT vs MiniMax-M3 specifications side by side
SpecificationGemma 4 26B A4B ITGoogleMiniMax-M3MiniMax
Capability
Capabilities Index (ECI)142.0146.9 (best)
ECI rank#103 of 165#72 of 165 (best)
GPQA DiamondGraduate-level science questions73.2%90.9% (best)
OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025Competition mathematics82.2% (best)71.1%
Price per million tokens
Input$0.112 (best)$0.30
Output$0.40 (best)$1.20
Cached input—$0.06
Blended (3:1)$0.184 (best)$0.525
Long-context rateSame rateOver 512K: $0.60 / $2.40
Price sourceMedian of 26 providersOfficial MiniMax (minimax.io) API
Limits
Context window262,144 tokens1,048,576 tokens (best)
Max output32,768 tokens512,000 tokens (best)
Inputs and features
TextYesYes
ImagesYesYes
PDFsNoNo
AudioNoNo
VideoNoYes
ReasoningYesYes
Tool callingYesYes
Structured outputYesNo
Availability
WeightsOpenOpen
API model IDgemma-4-26b-a4b-itMiniMax-M3
API providers2950 (best)
ReleasedApr 2, 2026Jun 1, 2026
Knowledge cutoff——
03 — Cost

What would a month cost?

Enter your expected volume in millions of tokens. List prices only; caching and batch discounts would lower these.

  • Gemma 4 26B A4B IT$1.92
  • MiniMax-M3$5.40
04 — Questions

Which should you choose?

Which is better: Gemma 4 26B A4B IT or MiniMax-M3?

It is close. Our weighted score puts them within a point (MiniMax-M3 68/100, Gemma 4 26B A4B IT 68/100), so choose by what matters most for your work: MiniMax-M3 for raw capability and Gemma 4 26B A4B IT on price. The score weighs capability 50%, price 25%, inputs & features 15%, context window 10%.

Which is cheaper, Gemma 4 26B A4B IT or MiniMax-M3?

Gemma 4 26B A4B IT is cheaper at $0.112 input / $0.40 output per million tokens (median across 26 API providers). MiniMax-M3 costs $0.30 input / $1.20 output per million tokens (official MiniMax (minimax.io) API price). At a typical mix of three input tokens to one output token, that is $0.184 per million tokens for Gemma 4 26B A4B IT versus $0.525 for MiniMax-M3 (2.9× as much).

Which scores higher on benchmarks?

MiniMax-M3 scores higher on the Capabilities Index (ECI): MiniMax-M3 146.9 (#72 of 165) and Gemma 4 26B A4B IT 142.0 (#103 of 165). The confidence ranges of the top two overlap (142.4–150.3 vs 139.0–143.7), so treat the gap as small. On individual benchmarks: GPQA Diamond — MiniMax-M3 90.9%, Gemma 4 26B A4B IT 73.2%; OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025 — Gemma 4 26B A4B IT 82.2%, MiniMax-M3 71.1%.

Which is better for coding?

There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for Gemma 4 26B A4B IT and MiniMax-M3 yet, so there is no like-for-like coding score. On overall capability, MiniMax-M3 leads, which tends to carry over to coding, but test on your own codebase. Both support tool calling for agent workflows.

Which has the bigger context window?

MiniMax-M3 has the largest context window at 1,048,576 tokens, against 262,144 for Gemma 4 26B A4B IT. Maximum output per response: Gemma 4 26B A4B IT up to 32,768, MiniMax-M3 up to 512,000 tokens.

Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?

Gemma 4 26B A4B IT accepts text and images; MiniMax-M3 accepts text, images and video. MiniMax-M3 handles the widest range of inputs.

Are any of these open source?

Yes, both publish their weights, so you can self-host them.

Which is newer?

MiniMax-M3 is the newest, released Jun 1, 2026. Gemma 4 26B A4B IT came out Apr 2, 2026.

How do you decide the winner?

Each model gets a 0–100 score on capability (50%, independent benchmark results); price (25%, blended price per million tokens (3 input : 1 output), log scale); inputs & features (15%, image, PDF, audio and video input, tool calling, structured output and reasoning); context window (10%, maximum tokens per request, log scale). Dimensions missing for any model are dropped and the remaining weights rescaled, so every model is judged on the same evidence. Specs and prices come from public model listings and the labs’ own API pages; capability scores come from independent benchmark runs. Data updated Nov 2, 2026.

05 — Keep comparing

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