Model comparison
Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite vs MiniMax M3
Head-to-head evidence from 17 shared benchmark results across 6 categories. Overall scores shown here use the public BenchAlign v5 ranking lane.
Verified leaderboard positions: Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite unranked; MiniMax M3 #18
BenchAlign evidence: Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite supported; MiniMax M3 supported. Intervals and evidence labels describe ranking uncertainty, not a guarantee for a specific workload.
Evidence parity. Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite and MiniMax M3 share 17 comparable benchmark results. 1 of 8 categories are comparable. 4 results are unique to Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite; 28 to MiniMax M3.
Updated July 16, 2026- Shared results
- 17
- Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite only
- 4
- MiniMax M3 only
- 28
- Comparable categories
- 1 / 8
Pick MiniMax M3 if you want the stronger benchmark profile. Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite only becomes the better choice if multimodal & grounded is the priority.
Confidence note. This is a partial-evidence comparison with 17 shared benchmark results across 6 evidence categories; 1 of 8 categories currently have scoreable aggregates for both models. Treat the verdict as directional until coverage is more balanced.
Why this result
MiniMax M3 is clearly ahead on the provisional aggregate, 70 to 46. The gap is large enough that you do not need to squint at the spreadsheet to see the difference.
Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite is also the more expensive model on tokens at $0.25 input / $1.50 output per 1M tokens, versus $0.30 input / $1.20 output per 1M tokens for MiniMax M3.
Category breakdown
Exact category averages are shown below. Not measured means BenchLM does not have enough sourced public coverage for that model and category.
| Category | Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite | Δ | MiniMax M3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Multimodal | Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite73.2 | Margin← 8.3 | MiniMax M364.9 |
| Agentic | Gemini 3.1 Flash-LiteNot measured | MarginNo overlap | MiniMax M372.3 |
| Coding | Gemini 3.1 Flash-LiteNot measured | MarginNo overlap | MiniMax M372.2 |
| Math | Gemini 3.1 Flash-LiteNot measured | MarginNo overlap | MiniMax M385.7 |
Operational comparison
Runtime and commercial metrics are compared only when both models have a complete sourced value.
| Metric | Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite | MiniMax M3 | Comparison |
|---|---|---|---|
| Input / output priceUSD per 1M tokens | Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite$0.25 input / $1.5 output | MiniMax M3$0.3 input / $1.2 output | MiniMax M3 has the lower combined listed price. |
| Generation speedtokens per second | Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite205 tok/s | MiniMax M3Not available | A complete speed comparison is not available. |
| First-answer latencyseconds to first token | Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite7.50 s | MiniMax M3Not available | A complete latency comparison is not available. |
| Context windowmaximum listed tokens | Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite1M | MiniMax M31M | Listed context windows are equal. |
Benchmark Deep Dive
Agentic18 benchmarks
| Benchmark | Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite | MiniMax M3 | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| AA Agentic IndexSource | 6.2% | 35.4% | MiniMax M3 leads |
| APEX-Agents-AASource | 12.2% | — | Not comparable |
| τ²-bench resultsSource | 31.3% | 88.9% | MiniMax M3 leads |
| GDPval-AASource | 7.1% | 44.7% | MiniMax M3 leads |
| GDPval-AASource | 642 | 1395 | MiniMax M3 leads |
| Gert LabsSource | 38.46% | — | Not comparable |
| Terminal-Bench 2.0Source | — | 66% | Not comparable |
| BrowseCompSource | — | 83.5% | Not comparable |
| OSWorld-VerifiedSource | — | 70.1% | Not comparable |
| MCP AtlasSource | — | 74.2% | Not comparable |
| Claw-EvalSource | — | 74.5% | Not comparable |
| GDPval rubricsSource | — | 74.7% | Not comparable |
| BankerToolBenchSource | — | 76.1% | Not comparable |
| ResearchClawBenchSource | — | 19.8% | Not comparable |
| OSWorld 2.0Source | — | 4.6% | Not comparable |
| AA BriefcaseSource | — | 1110 | Not comparable |
| AA EnterpriseOps-GymSource | — | 32.1% | Not comparable |
| AA Harvey LABSource | — | 6.7% | Not comparable |
Coding12 benchmarks
| Benchmark | Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite | MiniMax M3 | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| Vibe Code BenchSource | 0.00% | — | Not comparable |
| AA Coding IndexSource | 34.7% | 58.6% | MiniMax M3 leads |
| Terminal-Bench HardSource | 24.2% | 42.4% | MiniMax M3 leads |
| AA-SciCodeSource | 41.9% | 45.4% | MiniMax M3 leads |
| SWE-bench VerifiedSource | — | 80.5% | Not comparable |
| SWE-bench ProSource | — | 59% | Not comparable |
| Terminal-Bench 2.0Source | — | 66.0% | Not comparable |
| NL2RepoSource | — | 42.1% | Not comparable |
| VIBE V2Source | — | 50.1% | Not comparable |
| SVG-BenchSource | — | 63.7% | Not comparable |
| KernelBench HardSource | — | 28.8% | Not comparable |
| AA Terminal-Bench 2.1Source | — | 65.2% | Not comparable |
Reasoning2 benchmarks
Knowledge7 benchmarks
| Benchmark | Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite | MiniMax M3 | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| Artificial Analysis Intelligence IndexSource | 25.0% | 44.4% | MiniMax M3 leads |
| AA-GPQA DiamondSource | 82.2% | 92.9% | MiniMax M3 leads |
| AA-HLESource | 16.2% | 37.1% | MiniMax M3 leads |
| AA-Omniscience IndexSource | -15.5% | 1.4% | MiniMax M3 leads |
| AA-Omniscience AccuracySource | 36.4% | 15.0% | Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite leads |
| AA-Omniscience Hallucination RateSource | 81.6% | 16.1% | MiniMax M3 leads |
| AA Openness IndexSource | — | 33.3% | Not comparable |
Math1 benchmarks
| Benchmark | Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite | MiniMax M3 | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| USAMO 2026Source | — | 85.7% | Not comparable |
MultimodalGemini 3.1 Flash-Lite wins8 benchmarks
| Benchmark | Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite | MiniMax M3 | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| CharXivSource | 73.2% | — | Not comparable |
| AA-MMMU-ProSource | 75.5% | 78.6% | MiniMax M3 leads |
| OfficeQA ProSource | — | 45.1% | Not comparable |
| OmniDocBench 1.5Source | — | 91.6% | Not comparable |
| MMMU-ProSource | — | 78.1% | Not comparable |
| VideoMMMUSource | — | 84.6% | Not comparable |
| Video-MME (with subtitle)Source | — | 85.4% | Not comparable |
| Design Arena WebsiteSource | — | 1294 | Not comparable |
Inst. Following1 benchmarks
| Benchmark | Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite | MiniMax M3 | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| AA-IFBenchSource | 77.2% | 82.9% | MiniMax M3 leads |
Frequently Asked Questions (2)
Which is better, Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite or MiniMax M3?
MiniMax M3 is ahead on BenchLM's provisional leaderboard, 70 to 46.
Which is better for multimodal and grounded tasks, Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite or MiniMax M3?
Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite has the edge for multimodal and grounded tasks in this comparison, averaging 73.2 versus 64.9. Inside this category, AA-MMMU-Pro is the benchmark that creates the most daylight between them.
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