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Comparison · 2 models · Updated Oct 4, 2026

Qwen3 8B vs MiniMax-M2.7

MiniMax-M2.7 comes out ahead, 61 to 56 on our weighted score, though Qwen3 8B is 41% cheaper per token.

  1. Alibaba (Qwen)

    Qwen3 8B

    Released Apr 28, 2025

    56/100
    • ECI136.2
    • Price$0.18 / $0.70
    • Context131K
    Full specs Remove Qwen3 8B
  2. Our pick

    MiniMax

    MiniMax-M2.7

    Released Mar 18, 2026

    61/100
    • ECI145.9
    • Price$0.30 / $1.20
    • Context205K
    Full specs Remove MiniMax-M2.7

  3. Add a model

    Make it a three-way comparison.

01 — Verdict

MiniMax-M2.7 is our pick

MiniMax-M2.7 is the better all-round choice, scoring 61/100 against Qwen3 8B (56). It leads on capability and context window. Qwen3 8B wins on price. The score weighs capability 50%, price 25%, inputs & features 15%, context window 10%.

  • CapabilityMiniMax-M2.7Capabilities Index (ECI): MiniMax-M2.7 145.9 · Qwen3 8B 136.2
  • Lowest priceQwen3 8BQwen3 8B $0.31 · MiniMax-M2.7 $0.525 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
  • Longest contextMiniMax-M2.7MiniMax-M2.7 204,800 · Qwen3 8B 131,072 tokens
  • Widest inputsSame inputsQwen3 8B: Text · MiniMax-M2.7: Text
  • Self-hostingAll open weightsEvery model here can be downloaded and run on your own hardware
How the score is built
MeasureWeightQwen3 8BMiniMax-M2.7
CapabilityCapabilities Index (ECI)50%6173
Price25%7463
Inputs & features15%3535
Context window10%2432
Overall100%56/10061/100
02 — Side by side

Every spec in one table

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

Qwen3 8B vs MiniMax-M2.7 specifications side by side
SpecificationQwen3 8BAlibaba (Qwen)MiniMax-M2.7MiniMax
Capability
Capabilities Index (ECI)136.2145.9 (best)
ECI rank#113 of 148#73 of 148 (best)
GPQA DiamondGraduate-level science questions56.8%—
OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025Competition mathematics56.1%—
Price per million tokens
Input$0.18 (best)$0.30
Output$0.70 (best)$1.20
Cached input—$0.06
Blended (3:1)$0.31 (best)$0.525
Long-context rateSame rateSame rate
Price sourceOfficial Alibaba APIOfficial MiniMax (minimax.io) API
Limits
Context window131,072 tokens204,800 tokens (best)
Max output8,192 tokens131,072 tokens (best)
Inputs and features
TextYesYes
ImagesNoNo
PDFsNoNo
AudioNoNo
VideoNoNo
ReasoningYesYes
Tool callingYesYes
Structured outputNoNo
Availability
WeightsOpenOpen
API model IDqwen3-8bMiniMax-M2.7
API providers129 (best)
ReleasedApr 28, 2025Mar 18, 2026
Knowledge cutoffApr 2025—
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.

  • Qwen3 8B$3.20
  • MiniMax-M2.7$5.40
04 — Questions

Which should you choose?

Which is better: Qwen3 8B or MiniMax-M2.7?

MiniMax-M2.7 is the better all-round choice, scoring 61/100 against Qwen3 8B (56). It leads on capability and context window. Qwen3 8B wins on price. The score weighs capability 50%, price 25%, inputs & features 15%, context window 10%.

Which is cheaper, Qwen3 8B or MiniMax-M2.7?

Qwen3 8B is cheaper at $0.18 input / $0.70 output per million tokens (official Alibaba API price). MiniMax-M2.7 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 $0.31 per million tokens for Qwen3 8B versus $0.525 for MiniMax-M2.7 (1.7× as much).

Which scores higher on benchmarks?

MiniMax-M2.7 scores higher on the Capabilities Index (ECI): MiniMax-M2.7 145.9 (#73 of 148) and Qwen3 8B 136.2 (#113 of 148). Their confidence ranges do not overlap (138.2–148.0 vs 129.7–138.1), so the gap is a real one.

Which is better for coding?

There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for Qwen3 8B and MiniMax-M2.7 yet, so there is no like-for-like coding score. On overall capability, MiniMax-M2.7 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-M2.7 has the largest context window at 204,800 tokens, against 131,072 for Qwen3 8B. Maximum output per response: Qwen3 8B up to 8,192, MiniMax-M2.7 up to 131,072 tokens.

Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?

Qwen3 8B accepts text; MiniMax-M2.7 accepts text. 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?

MiniMax-M2.7 is the newest, released Mar 18, 2026. Qwen3 8B came out Apr 28, 2025. Knowledge cutoff: Qwen3 8B Apr 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.

05 — Keep comparing

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