MiniMax-M3 vs Nemotron 3 Ultra 550B A55B
MiniMax-M3 comes out ahead, 69 to 62 on our weighted score, and it is the cheaper option too.
- Our pick
MiniMaxMiniMax-M3
69/100- ECI147.0
- Price$0.30 / $1.20
- Context1.05M
NVIDIANemotron 3 Ultra 550B A55B
62/100- ECI146.2
- Price$0.50 / $2.50
- Context1M
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Make it a three-way comparison.
MiniMax-M3 is our pick
MiniMax-M3 is the better all-round choice, scoring 69/100 against Nemotron 3 Ultra 550B A55B (62). It leads on price and inputs & features. The score weighs capability 50%, price 25%, inputs & features 15%, context window 10%.
- CapabilityMiniMax-M3Capabilities Index (ECI): MiniMax-M3 147.0 · Nemotron 3 Ultra 550B A55B 146.2
- Lowest priceMiniMax-M3MiniMax-M3 $0.525 · Nemotron 3 Ultra 550B A55B $1.00 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
- Longest contextMiniMax-M3MiniMax-M3 1,048,576 · Nemotron 3 Ultra 550B A55B 1,000,000 tokens
- Widest inputsMiniMax-M3MiniMax-M3: Text, Images, Video · Nemotron 3 Ultra 550B A55B: Text
- Self-hostingAll open weightsEvery model here can be downloaded and run on your own hardware
| Measure | Weight | MiniMax-M3 | Nemotron 3 Ultra 550B A55B |
|---|---|---|---|
| CapabilityCapabilities Index (ECI) | 50% | 74 | 73 |
| Price | 25% | 63 | 50 |
| Inputs & features | 15% | 70 | 45 |
| Context window | 10% | 61 | 60 |
| Overall | 100% | 69/100 | 62/100 |
Every spec in one table
Highlighted cells lead their row. Dashes mean the data is not published.
| Specification | MiniMax-M3MiniMax | Nemotron 3 Ultra 550B A55BNVIDIA |
|---|---|---|
| Capability | ||
| Capabilities Index (ECI) | 147.0 (best) | 146.2 |
| ECI rank | #62 of 148 (best) | #70 of 148 |
| GPQA DiamondGraduate-level science questions | 90.9% (best) | 85.4% |
| OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025Competition mathematics | 71.1% | 86.7% (best) |
| Price per million tokens | ||
| Input | $0.30 (best) | $0.50 |
| Output | $1.20 (best) | $2.50 |
| Cached input | $0.06 (best) | $0.15 |
| Blended (3:1) | $0.525 (best) | $1.00 |
| Long-context rate | Over 512K: $0.60 / $2.40 | Same rate |
| Price source | Official MiniMax (minimax.io) API | Official Nvidia API |
| Limits | ||
| Context window | 1,048,576 tokens (best) | 1,000,000 tokens |
| Max output | 512,000 tokens (best) | 128,000 tokens |
| Inputs and features | ||
| Text | Yes | Yes |
| Images | Yes | No |
| PDFs | No | No |
| Audio | No | No |
| Video | Yes | No |
| Reasoning | Yes | Yes |
| Tool calling | Yes | Yes |
| Structured output | No | Yes |
| Availability | ||
| Weights | Open | Open |
| API model ID | MiniMax-M3 | nvidia/nemotron-3-ultra-550b-a55b |
| API providers | 42 (best) | 21 |
| Released | Jun 1, 2026 | Jun 4, 2026 |
| Knowledge cutoff | — | — |
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
- Nemotron 3 Ultra 550B A55B$10.00
Which should you choose?
Which is better: MiniMax-M3 or Nemotron 3 Ultra 550B A55B?
MiniMax-M3 is the better all-round choice, scoring 69/100 against Nemotron 3 Ultra 550B A55B (62). It leads on price and inputs & features. The score weighs capability 50%, price 25%, inputs & features 15%, context window 10%.
Which is cheaper, MiniMax-M3 or Nemotron 3 Ultra 550B A55B?
MiniMax-M3 is cheaper at $0.30 input / $1.20 output per million tokens (official MiniMax (minimax.io) API price). Nemotron 3 Ultra 550B A55B costs $0.50 input / $2.50 output per million tokens (official Nvidia API price). At a typical mix of three input tokens to one output token, that is $0.525 per million tokens for MiniMax-M3 versus $1.00 for Nemotron 3 Ultra 550B A55B (1.9× as much).
Which scores higher on benchmarks?
MiniMax-M3 scores higher on the Capabilities Index (ECI): MiniMax-M3 147.0 (#62 of 148) and Nemotron 3 Ultra 550B A55B 146.2 (#70 of 148). The confidence ranges of the top two overlap (142.7–149.8 vs 143.9–148.1), so treat the gap as small. On individual benchmarks: GPQA Diamond — MiniMax-M3 90.9%, Nemotron 3 Ultra 550B A55B 85.4%; OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025 — Nemotron 3 Ultra 550B A55B 86.7%, MiniMax-M3 71.1%.
Which is better for coding?
There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for MiniMax-M3 and Nemotron 3 Ultra 550B A55B 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 1,000,000 for Nemotron 3 Ultra 550B A55B. Maximum output per response: MiniMax-M3 up to 512,000, Nemotron 3 Ultra 550B A55B up to 128,000 tokens.
Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?
MiniMax-M3 accepts text, images and video; Nemotron 3 Ultra 550B A55B accepts text. 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?
Nemotron 3 Ultra 550B A55B is the newest, released Jun 4, 2026. MiniMax-M3 came out Jun 1, 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.
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