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Model comparison

Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite vs MiniMax M3

Data verified

Head-to-head evidence from 19 shared benchmark results across 5 categories. Overall scores shown here use the public BenchAlign v5 ranking lane.

N/A
No comparison
MiniMax M3
MiniMax
69.75/100
0 category wins2 category wins

Public leaderboard positions: Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite unranked (Not scored); MiniMax M3 #15 (Supported). Intervals and evidence labels describe ranking uncertainty, not a guarantee for a specific workload.

Evidence parity. Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite and MiniMax M3 share 19 comparable benchmark results. 2 of 8 categories are comparable. 2 results are unique to Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite; 26 to MiniMax M3.

Updated July 21, 2026
Shared results
19
Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite only
2
MiniMax M3 only
26
Comparable categories
2 / 8

Treat this as a split decision. Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite makes more sense if you want the stronger reasoning-first profile; MiniMax M3 is the better fit if coding is the priority or you want the cheaper token bill.

Confidence note. This is a partial-evidence comparison with 19 shared benchmark results across 5 evidence categories; 2 of 8 categories currently have scoreable aggregates for both models. Treat the verdict as directional until coverage is more balanced.

Why this result

Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite and MiniMax M3 finish on the same BenchAlign overall score, so this is less about a single winner and more about where the edge shows up. The BenchAlign headline says tie; the benchmark table is where the real choice happens.

Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite is also the more expensive model on tokens at $0.30 input / $2.50 output per 1M tokens, versus $0.30 input / $1.20 output per 1M tokens for MiniMax M3. That is roughly 2.1x on output cost alone. Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite is the reasoning model in the pair, while MiniMax M3 is not. That usually helps on harder chain-of-thought-heavy tests, but it can also mean more latency and more token spend in real use.

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 scores and score margins for Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite and MiniMax M3
CategoryGemini 3.5 Flash-LiteΔMiniMax M3
CodingGemini 3.5 Flash-Lite54.2Margin→ 18.0MiniMax M372.2
AgenticGemini 3.5 Flash-Lite63.4Margin→ 8.9MiniMax M372.3
ReasoningGemini 3.5 Flash-Lite72.2MarginNo overlapMiniMax M3Not measured
MathGemini 3.5 Flash-LiteNot measuredMarginNo overlapMiniMax M385.7
MultimodalGemini 3.5 Flash-LiteNot measuredMarginNo overlapMiniMax M364.9

Decisive benchmark drivers

The largest measured benchmark gaps in this matchup, with exact reported values.

More
A · Gemini 3.5 Flash-LiteB · MiniMax M3

  1. Terminal-Bench 2.0

    Agentic
    Source ↗
    A 54%B 66%
    Winner: MiniMax M3Δ 12
    Terminal-Bench 2.0: Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite scored 54%; MiniMax M3 scored 66%. MiniMax M3 wins this benchmark.

  2. SWE-bench Pro

    Coding
    Source ↗
    A 54.2%B 59%
    Winner: MiniMax M3Δ 4.8
    SWE-bench Pro: Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite scored 54.2%; MiniMax M3 scored 59%. MiniMax M3 wins this benchmark.

  3. OSWorld-Verified

    Agentic
    Source ↗
    A 74%B 70.1%
    Winner: Gemini 3.5 Flash-LiteΔ 3.9
    OSWorld-Verified: Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite scored 74%; MiniMax M3 scored 70.1%. Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite wins this benchmark.

Operational comparison

Runtime and commercial metrics are compared only when both models have a complete sourced value.

MetricGemini 3.5 Flash-LiteMiniMax M3Comparison
Input / output priceUSD per 1M tokensGemini 3.5 Flash-Lite$0.3 input / $2.5 outputMiniMax M3$0.3 input / $1.2 outputMiniMax M3 has the lower combined listed price.
Generation speedtokens per secondGemini 3.5 Flash-LiteNot availableMiniMax M3Not availableA complete speed comparison is not available.
First-answer latencyseconds to first tokenGemini 3.5 Flash-LiteNot availableMiniMax M3Not availableA complete latency comparison is not available.
Context windowmaximum listed tokensGemini 3.5 Flash-Lite1MMiniMax M31MListed context windows are equal.

Benchmark Deep Dive

AgenticMiniMax M3 wins
BenchmarkGemini 3.5 Flash-LiteMiniMax M3Result
Terminal-Bench 2.0Source 54%66%MiniMax M3 leads
OSWorld-VerifiedSource 74%70.1%Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite leads
GDPval-AASource 11401395MiniMax M3 leads
AA Agentic IndexSource 26.8%35.4%MiniMax M3 leads
GDPval-AASource 32.0%44.7%MiniMax M3 leads
AA BriefcaseSource 6341110MiniMax M3 leads
AA Tau3 BankingSource 16.5%—Not comparable
BrowseCompSource —83.5%Not comparable
MCP AtlasSource —74.2%Not comparable
Claw-EvalSource —74.5%Not comparable
τ²-bench resultsSource —88.9%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 EnterpriseOps-GymSource —32.1%Not comparable
AA Harvey LABSource —88.4%Not comparable
terminalBenchHardSource —42.4%Not comparable
aaTerminalBench21Source —65.2%Not comparable
CodingMiniMax M3 wins
BenchmarkGemini 3.5 Flash-LiteMiniMax M3Result
Terminal-Bench 2.0Source 54.0%66.0%MiniMax M3 leads
SWE-bench ProSource 54.2%59%MiniMax M3 leads
AA Coding IndexSource 49.3%58.6%MiniMax M3 leads
AA-SciCodeSource 40.9%45.4%MiniMax M3 leads
SWE-bench VerifiedSource —80.5%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
Reasoning
BenchmarkGemini 3.5 Flash-LiteMiniMax M3Result
MRCRv2Source 72.2%—Not comparable
AA-LCRSource 62.0%74.0%MiniMax M3 leads
CritPtSource 0.0%3.7%MiniMax M3 leads
Knowledge
BenchmarkGemini 3.5 Flash-LiteMiniMax M3Result
Artificial Analysis Intelligence IndexSource 36.5%44.4%MiniMax M3 leads
AA-GPQA DiamondSource 83.8%92.9%MiniMax M3 leads
AA-HLESource 17.5%37.1%MiniMax M3 leads
AA-Omniscience IndexSource 6.9%1.4%Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite leads
AA-Omniscience AccuracySource 30.3%15.0%Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite leads
AA-Omniscience Hallucination RateSource 33.5%16.1%MiniMax M3 leads
AA Openness IndexSource —33.3%Not comparable
Math
BenchmarkGemini 3.5 Flash-LiteMiniMax M3Result
USAMO 2026Source —85.7%Not comparable
Multimodal
BenchmarkGemini 3.5 Flash-LiteMiniMax M3Result
AA-MMMU-ProSource 79.0%78.6%Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite 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 —1289Not comparable
Inst. Following
BenchmarkGemini 3.5 Flash-LiteMiniMax M3Result
AA-IFBenchSource —82.9%Not comparable
Frequently Asked Questions (3)

Which is better, Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite or MiniMax M3?

Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite and MiniMax M3 are tied on the BenchAlign overall score, so the right pick depends on which category matters most for your use case.

Which is better for coding, Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite or MiniMax M3?

MiniMax M3 has the edge for coding in this comparison, averaging 72.2 versus 54.2. Inside this category, Terminal-Bench 2.0 is the benchmark that creates the most daylight between them.

Which is better for agentic tasks, Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite or MiniMax M3?

MiniMax M3 has the edge for agentic tasks in this comparison, averaging 72.3 versus 63.4. Inside this category, AA Briefcase is the benchmark that creates the most daylight between them.

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