Qwen3.8 27B vs MiniMax-M3
Too close to call on our weighted score (MiniMax-M3 69, Qwen3.8 27B 67). The right pick depends on what you value most.
Alibaba (Qwen)Qwen3.8 27B
67/100- ECI149.4
- Price$0.40 / $2.50
- Context262K
MiniMaxMiniMax-M3
69/100- ECI147.0
- Price$0.30 / $1.20
- Context1.05M
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Make it a three-way comparison.
Too close to call
It is close. Our weighted score puts them within 2 points (MiniMax-M3 69/100, Qwen3.8 27B 67/100), so choose by what matters most for your work: Qwen3.8 27B for raw capability, MiniMax-M3 on price and MiniMax-M3 for long inputs. The score weighs capability 50%, price 25%, inputs & features 15%, context window 10%.
- CapabilityQwen3.8 27BCapabilities Index (ECI): Qwen3.8 27B 149.4 · MiniMax-M3 147.0
- Lowest priceMiniMax-M3MiniMax-M3 $0.525 · Qwen3.8 27B $0.925 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
- Longest contextMiniMax-M3MiniMax-M3 1,048,576 · Qwen3.8 27B 262,144 tokens
- Widest inputsSame inputsQwen3.8 27B: Text, Images, Video · MiniMax-M3: Text, Images, Video
- Self-hostingAll open weightsEvery model here can be downloaded and run on your own hardware
| Measure | Weight | Qwen3.8 27B | MiniMax-M3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| CapabilityCapabilities Index (ECI) | 50% | 77 | 74 |
| Price | 25% | 51 | 63 |
| Inputs & features | 15% | 80 | 70 |
| Context window | 10% | 37 | 61 |
| Overall | 100% | 67/100 | 69/100 |
Every spec in one table
Highlighted cells lead their row. Dashes mean the data is not published.
| Specification | Qwen3.8 27BAlibaba (Qwen) | MiniMax-M3MiniMax |
|---|---|---|
| Capability | ||
| Capabilities Index (ECI) | 149.4 (best) | 147.0 |
| ECI rank | #53 of 148 (best) | #62 of 148 |
| GPQA DiamondGraduate-level science questions | — | 90.9% |
| OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025Competition mathematics | — | 71.1% |
| Price per million tokens | ||
| Input | $0.40 | $0.30 (best) |
| Output | $2.50 | $1.20 (best) |
| Cached input | — | $0.06 |
| Blended (3:1) | $0.925 | $0.525 (best) |
| Long-context rate | Same rate | Over 512K: $0.60 / $2.40 |
| Price source | Median of 39 providers | Official MiniMax (minimax.io) API |
| Limits | ||
| Context window | 262,144 tokens | 1,048,576 tokens (best) |
| Max output | 32,768 tokens | 512,000 tokens (best) |
| Inputs and features | ||
| Text | Yes | Yes |
| Images | Yes | Yes |
| PDFs | No | No |
| Audio | No | No |
| Video | Yes | Yes |
| Reasoning | Yes | Yes |
| Tool calling | Yes | Yes |
| Structured output | Yes | No |
| Availability | ||
| Weights | Open | Open |
| API model ID | — | MiniMax-M3 |
| API providers | 41 | 42 (best) |
| Released | Aug 14, 2026 | Jun 1, 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.
- Qwen3.8 27B$9.00
- MiniMax-M3$5.40
Which should you choose?
Which is better: Qwen3.8 27B or MiniMax-M3?
It is close. Our weighted score puts them within 2 points (MiniMax-M3 69/100, Qwen3.8 27B 67/100), so choose by what matters most for your work: Qwen3.8 27B for raw capability, MiniMax-M3 on price and MiniMax-M3 for long inputs. The score weighs capability 50%, price 25%, inputs & features 15%, context window 10%.
Which is cheaper, Qwen3.8 27B or MiniMax-M3?
MiniMax-M3 is cheaper at $0.30 input / $1.20 output per million tokens (official MiniMax (minimax.io) API price). Qwen3.8 27B costs $0.40 input / $2.50 output per million tokens (median across 39 API providers). At a typical mix of three input tokens to one output token, that is $0.525 per million tokens for MiniMax-M3 versus $0.925 for Qwen3.8 27B (1.8× as much).
Which scores higher on benchmarks?
Qwen3.8 27B scores higher on the Capabilities Index (ECI): Qwen3.8 27B 149.4 (#53 of 148) and MiniMax-M3 147.0 (#62 of 148). The confidence ranges of the top two overlap (147.5–151.6 vs 142.7–149.8), so treat the gap as small.
Which is better for coding?
There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for Qwen3.8 27B and MiniMax-M3 yet, so there is no like-for-like coding score. On overall capability, Qwen3.8 27B 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 Qwen3.8 27B. Maximum output per response: Qwen3.8 27B up to 32,768, MiniMax-M3 up to 512,000 tokens.
Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?
Qwen3.8 27B accepts text, images and video; MiniMax-M3 accepts text, images and video. They handle the same number of input types.
Are any of these open source?
Yes, both publish their weights, so you can self-host them.
Which is newer?
Qwen3.8 27B is the newest, released Aug 14, 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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