Mistral Medium 3.1 vs MiniMax-M2
Too close to call on our weighted score (Mistral Medium 3.1 50, MiniMax-M2 48). The right pick depends on what you value most.
Mistral AIMistral Medium 3.1
50/100- ECI—
- Price$0.40 / $2.00
- Context262K
MiniMaxMiniMax-M2
48/100- ECI—
- Price$0.30 / $1.20
- Context205K
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Make it a three-way comparison.
Too close to call
It is close. Our weighted score puts them within 1 points (Mistral Medium 3.1 50/100, MiniMax-M2 48/100), so choose by what matters most for your work: MiniMax-M2 on price and Mistral Medium 3.1 for long inputs. The score weighs price 50%, inputs & features 30%, context window 20%. None of the shared benchmarks cover every model here yet, so capability is left out of this verdict.
- CapabilityNot enough dataNo independent benchmark covers every model here yet
- Lowest priceMiniMax-M2MiniMax-M2 $0.525 · Mistral Medium 3.1 $0.80 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
- Longest contextMistral Medium 3.1Mistral Medium 3.1 262,144 · MiniMax-M2 204,800 tokens
- Widest inputsMistral Medium 3.1Mistral Medium 3.1: Text, Images · MiniMax-M2: Text
- Self-hostingMiniMax-M2Publishes downloadable weights
| Measure | Weight | Mistral Medium 3.1 | MiniMax-M2 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price | 50% | 54 | 63 |
| Inputs & features | 30% | 50 | 35 |
| Context window | 20% | 37 | 32 |
| Overall | 100% | 50/100 | 48/100 |
Left out because at least one model lacks the data: capability. The remaining weights were rescaled.
Every spec in one table
Highlighted cells lead their row. Dashes mean the data is not published.
| Specification | Mistral Medium 3.1Mistral AI | MiniMax-M2MiniMax |
|---|---|---|
| Capability | ||
| Capabilities Index (ECI) | — | — |
| ECI rank | — | — |
| Price per million tokens | ||
| Input | $0.40 | $0.30 (best) |
| Output | $2.00 | $1.20 (best) |
| Cached input | — | — |
| Blended (3:1) | $0.80 | $0.525 (best) |
| Long-context rate | Same rate | Same rate |
| Price source | Official Mistral API | Official MiniMax (minimax.io) API |
| Limits | ||
| Context window | 262,144 tokens (best) | 204,800 tokens |
| Max output | 262,144 tokens (best) | 131,072 tokens |
| Inputs and features | ||
| Text | Yes | Yes |
| Images | Yes | No |
| PDFs | No | No |
| Audio | No | No |
| Video | No | No |
| Reasoning | No | Yes |
| Tool calling | Yes | Yes |
| Structured output | No | No |
| Availability | ||
| Weights | Proprietary | Open |
| API model ID | mistral-medium-2508 | MiniMax-M2 |
| API providers | 1 | 13 (best) |
| Released | Aug 12, 2025 | Oct 27, 2025 |
| Knowledge cutoff | May 2025 | — |
What would a month cost?
Enter your expected volume in millions of tokens. List prices only; caching and batch discounts would lower these.
- Mistral Medium 3.1$8.00
- MiniMax-M2$5.40
Which should you choose?
Which is better: Mistral Medium 3.1 or MiniMax-M2?
It is close. Our weighted score puts them within 1 points (Mistral Medium 3.1 50/100, MiniMax-M2 48/100), so choose by what matters most for your work: MiniMax-M2 on price and Mistral Medium 3.1 for long inputs. The score weighs price 50%, inputs & features 30%, context window 20%. None of the shared benchmarks cover every model here yet, so capability is left out of this verdict.
Which is cheaper, Mistral Medium 3.1 or MiniMax-M2?
MiniMax-M2 is cheaper at $0.30 input / $1.20 output per million tokens (official MiniMax (minimax.io) API price). Mistral Medium 3.1 costs $0.40 input / $2.00 output per million tokens (official Mistral API price). At a typical mix of three input tokens to one output token, that is $0.525 per million tokens for MiniMax-M2 versus $0.80 for Mistral Medium 3.1 (1.5× as much).
Which scores higher on benchmarks?
There is no independent benchmark that covers both models yet. Mistral Medium 3.1 has not been scored yet and MiniMax-M2 has not been scored yet.
Which is better for coding?
There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for Mistral Medium 3.1 and MiniMax-M2 yet, so there is no like-for-like coding score. Test both on a sample of your own tasks. Both support tool calling for agent workflows.
Which has the bigger context window?
Mistral Medium 3.1 has the largest context window at 262,144 tokens, against 204,800 for MiniMax-M2. Maximum output per response: Mistral Medium 3.1 up to 262,144, MiniMax-M2 up to 131,072 tokens.
Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?
Mistral Medium 3.1 accepts text and images; MiniMax-M2 accepts text. Mistral Medium 3.1 handles the widest range of inputs.
Are any of these open source?
MiniMax-M2 publishes its weights and can be self-hosted; Mistral Medium 3.1 is proprietary.
Which is newer?
MiniMax-M2 is the newest, released Oct 27, 2025. Mistral Medium 3.1 came out Aug 12, 2025. Knowledge cutoff: Mistral Medium 3.1 May 2025.
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.
