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Comparison · 2 models · Updated Oct 4, 2026

MiniMax-M3 vs Gemma 4 31B IT

Too close to call on our weighted score (MiniMax-M3 69, Gemma 4 31B IT 69). The right pick depends on what you value most.

  1. MiniMax

    MiniMax-M3

    Released Jun 1, 2026

    69/100
    • ECI147.0
    • Price$0.30 / $1.20
    • Context1.05M
    Full specs Remove MiniMax-M3

  2. Google

    Gemma 4 31B IT

    Released Apr 2, 2026

    69/100
    • ECI142.8
    • Price$0.14 / $0.40
    • Context262K
    Full specs Remove Gemma 4 31B IT

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01 — Verdict

Too close to call

It is close. Our weighted score puts them within a point (MiniMax-M3 69/100, Gemma 4 31B IT 69/100), so choose by what matters most for your work: MiniMax-M3 for raw capability and Gemma 4 31B IT on price. The score weighs capability 50%, price 25%, inputs & features 15%, context window 10%.

  • CapabilityMiniMax-M3Capabilities Index (ECI): MiniMax-M3 147.0 · Gemma 4 31B IT 142.8
  • Lowest priceGemma 4 31B ITGemma 4 31B IT $0.205 · MiniMax-M3 $0.525 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
  • Longest contextMiniMax-M3MiniMax-M3 1,048,576 · Gemma 4 31B IT 262,144 tokens
  • Widest inputsMiniMax-M3MiniMax-M3: Text, Images, Video · Gemma 4 31B IT: Text, Images
  • Self-hostingAll open weightsEvery model here can be downloaded and run on your own hardware
How the score is built
MeasureWeightMiniMax-M3Gemma 4 31B IT
CapabilityCapabilities Index (ECI)50%7469
Price25%6383
Inputs & features15%7070
Context window10%6137
Overall100%69/10069/100
02 — Side by side

Every spec in one table

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

MiniMax-M3 vs Gemma 4 31B IT specifications side by side
SpecificationMiniMax-M3MiniMaxGemma 4 31B ITGoogle
Capability
Capabilities Index (ECI)147.0 (best)142.8
ECI rank#62 of 148 (best)#86 of 148
GPQA DiamondGraduate-level science questions90.9% (best)75.8%
OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025Competition mathematics71.1%73.3% (best)
SimpleQA VerifiedShort factual questions—10.4%
Price per million tokens
Input$0.30$0.14 (best)
Output$1.20$0.40 (best)
Cached input$0.06—
Blended (3:1)$0.525$0.205 (best)
Long-context rateOver 512K: $0.60 / $2.40Same rate
Price sourceOfficial MiniMax (minimax.io) APIMedian of 30 providers
Limits
Context window1,048,576 tokens (best)262,144 tokens
Max output512,000 tokens (best)32,768 tokens
Inputs and features
TextYesYes
ImagesYesYes
PDFsNoNo
AudioNoNo
VideoYesNo
ReasoningYesYes
Tool callingYesYes
Structured outputNoYes
Availability
WeightsOpenOpen
API model IDMiniMax-M3gemma-4-31b-it
API providers42 (best)38
ReleasedJun 1, 2026Apr 2, 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.

  • MiniMax-M3$5.40
  • Gemma 4 31B IT$2.20
04 — Questions

Which should you choose?

Which is better: MiniMax-M3 or Gemma 4 31B IT?

It is close. Our weighted score puts them within a point (MiniMax-M3 69/100, Gemma 4 31B IT 69/100), so choose by what matters most for your work: MiniMax-M3 for raw capability and Gemma 4 31B IT on price. The score weighs capability 50%, price 25%, inputs & features 15%, context window 10%.

Which is cheaper, MiniMax-M3 or Gemma 4 31B IT?

Gemma 4 31B IT is cheaper at $0.14 input / $0.40 output per million tokens (median across 30 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 $0.205 per million tokens for Gemma 4 31B IT versus $0.525 for MiniMax-M3 (2.6× as much).

Which scores higher on benchmarks?

MiniMax-M3 scores higher on the Capabilities Index (ECI): MiniMax-M3 147.0 (#62 of 148) and Gemma 4 31B IT 142.8 (#86 of 148). The confidence ranges of the top two overlap (142.7–149.8 vs 140.3–144.9), so treat the gap as small. On individual benchmarks: GPQA Diamond — MiniMax-M3 90.9%, Gemma 4 31B IT 75.8%; OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025 — Gemma 4 31B IT 73.3%, MiniMax-M3 71.1%.

Which is better for coding?

There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for MiniMax-M3 and Gemma 4 31B IT 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 31B IT. Maximum output per response: MiniMax-M3 up to 512,000, Gemma 4 31B IT up to 32,768 tokens.

Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?

MiniMax-M3 accepts text, images and video; Gemma 4 31B IT accepts text and images. 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 31B 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 Oct 4, 2026.

05 — Keep comparing

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