Pareto vs MiniMax-M3.1-Flash vs Kimi K3.1 Pro
MiniMax-M3.1-Flash comes out ahead, 70 to 46 and 33 on our weighted score, and it is the cheaper option too.
Unbiased
Pareto
33/100- ECI—
- Price$2.57 / $7.72
- Context262K
- Our pick
MiniMaxMiniMax-M3.1-Flash
70/100- ECI—
- Price$0.15 / $0.60
- Context1M
Moonshot AIKimi K3.1 Pro
46/100- ECI—
- Price$2.00 / $10.00
- Context1.05M
MiniMax-M3.1-Flash is our pick
MiniMax-M3.1-Flash is the better all-round choice, scoring 70/100 against Kimi K3.1 Pro (46) and Pareto (33). It leads on price. Kimi K3.1 Pro wins on inputs & features. 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-M3.1-FlashMiniMax-M3.1-Flash $0.263 · Pareto $3.86 · Kimi K3.1 Pro $4.00 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
- Longest contextKimi K3.1 ProKimi K3.1 Pro 1,048,576 · MiniMax-M3.1-Flash 1,000,000 · Pareto 262,144 tokens
- Widest inputsMiniMax-M3.1-Flash and Kimi K3.1 ProPareto: Text, Images · MiniMax-M3.1-Flash: Text, Images, Video · Kimi K3.1 Pro: Text, Images, Video
- Self-hostingNo open weightsAll three are available only through APIs
| Measure | Weight | Pareto | MiniMax-M3.1-Flash | Kimi K3.1 Pro |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price | 50% | 21 | 74 | 20 |
| Inputs & features | 30% | 50 | 70 | 80 |
| Context window | 20% | 37 | 60 | 61 |
| Overall | 100% | 33/100 | 70/100 | 46/100 |
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 | ParetoUnbiased | MiniMax-M3.1-FlashMiniMax | Kimi K3.1 ProMoonshot AI |
|---|---|---|---|
| Capability | |||
| Capabilities Index (ECI) | — | — | — |
| ECI rank | — | — | — |
| Price per million tokens | |||
| Input | $2.57 | $0.15 (best) | $2.00 |
| Output | $7.72 | $0.60 (best) | $10.00 |
| Cached input | — | $0.015 (best) | $0.20 |
| Blended (3:1) | $3.86 | $0.263 (best) | $4.00 |
| Long-context rate | Same rate | Same rate | Same rate |
| Price source | Median of 2 providers | Official MiniMax (minimax.io) API | Official Moonshot AI API |
| Limits | |||
| Context window | 262,144 tokens | 1,000,000 tokens | 1,048,576 tokens (best) |
| Max output | 131,072 tokens | 512,000 tokens (best) | 131,072 tokens |
| Inputs and features | |||
| Text | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Images | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| PDFs | No | No | No |
| Audio | No | No | No |
| Video | No | Yes | Yes |
| Reasoning | No | Yeslow · medium · high · xhigh · max | Yeslow · high · max |
| Tool calling | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Structured output | No | No | Yes |
| Availability | |||
| Weights | Proprietary | Proprietary | Proprietary |
| API model ID | — | MiniMax-M3.1-Flash | kimi-k3.1-pro |
| API providers | 2 | 25 (best) | 17 |
| Released | Sep 17, 2026 | Oct 19, 2026 | Oct 23, 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.
- Pareto$41.16
- MiniMax-M3.1-Flash$2.70
- Kimi K3.1 Pro$40.00
Which should you choose?
Which is better: Pareto, MiniMax-M3.1-Flash or Kimi K3.1 Pro?
MiniMax-M3.1-Flash is the better all-round choice, scoring 70/100 against Kimi K3.1 Pro (46) and Pareto (33). It leads on price. Kimi K3.1 Pro wins on inputs & features. 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, Pareto, MiniMax-M3.1-Flash or Kimi K3.1 Pro?
MiniMax-M3.1-Flash is cheaper at $0.15 input / $0.60 output per million tokens (official MiniMax (minimax.io) API price). Pareto costs $2.57 input / $7.72 output per million tokens (median across 2 API providers); Kimi K3.1 Pro costs $2.00 input / $10.00 output per million tokens (official Moonshot AI API price). At a typical mix of three input tokens to one output token, that is $0.263 per million tokens for MiniMax-M3.1-Flash versus $3.86 for Pareto (15× as much) and $4.00 for Kimi K3.1 Pro (15× as much).
Which scores higher on benchmarks?
There is no independent benchmark that covers all three models yet. Pareto has not been scored yet, MiniMax-M3.1-Flash has not been scored yet and Kimi K3.1 Pro has not been scored yet.
Which is better for coding?
There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for Pareto, MiniMax-M3.1-Flash and Kimi K3.1 Pro yet, so there is no like-for-like coding score. Test both on a sample of your own tasks. All three support tool calling for agent workflows.
Which has the bigger context window?
Kimi K3.1 Pro has the largest context window at 1,048,576 tokens, against 1,000,000 for MiniMax-M3.1-Flash and 262,144 for Pareto. Maximum output per response: Pareto up to 131,072, MiniMax-M3.1-Flash up to 512,000, Kimi K3.1 Pro up to 131,072 tokens.
Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?
Pareto accepts text and images; MiniMax-M3.1-Flash accepts text, images and video; Kimi K3.1 Pro accepts text, images and video. MiniMax-M3.1-Flash handles the widest range of inputs.
Are any of these open source?
No. Pareto, MiniMax-M3.1-Flash and Kimi K3.1 Pro are proprietary and only available through APIs and apps.
Which is newer?
Kimi K3.1 Pro is the newest, released Oct 23, 2026. MiniMax-M3.1-Flash came out Oct 19, 2026; Pareto came out Sep 17, 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.
