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Model comparison

Gemma 4 31B vs MiniMax M3

Data verified

Head-to-head evidence from 21 shared benchmark results across 6 categories. Overall scores shown here use the public BenchAlign v5 ranking lane.

61/100
Margin
8.8pts
winning →
MiniMax
69.8/100
1 category wins1 category wins

Verified leaderboard positions: Gemma 4 31B unranked; MiniMax M3 #18

BenchAlign evidence: Gemma 4 31B supported; MiniMax M3 supported. Intervals and evidence labels describe ranking uncertainty, not a guarantee for a specific workload.

Evidence parity. Gemma 4 31B and MiniMax M3 share 21 comparable benchmark results. 2 of 8 categories are comparable. 9 results are unique to Gemma 4 31B; 24 to MiniMax M3.

Updated July 16, 2026
Shared results
21
Gemma 4 31B only
9
MiniMax M3 only
24
Comparable categories
2 / 8

Pick MiniMax M3 if you want the stronger benchmark profile. Gemma 4 31B only becomes the better choice if multimodal & grounded is the priority or you want the cheaper token bill.

Confidence note. This is a partial-evidence comparison with 21 shared benchmark results across 6 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

MiniMax M3 is clearly ahead on the provisional aggregate, 70 to 62. The gap is large enough that you do not need to squint at the spreadsheet to see the difference.

MiniMax M3's sharpest advantage is in coding, where it averages 72.2 against 41.6. The single biggest benchmark swing on the page is MMMU-Pro, 76.9% to 78.1%. Gemma 4 31B does hit back in multimodal & grounded, so the answer changes if that is the part of the workload you care about most.

MiniMax M3 is also the more expensive model on tokens at $0.30 input / $1.20 output per 1M tokens, versus $0.00 input / $0.00 output per 1M tokens for Gemma 4 31B. That is roughly Infinityx on output cost alone. Gemma 4 31B 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. MiniMax M3 gives you the larger context window at 1M, compared with 256K for Gemma 4 31B.

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 Gemma 4 31B and MiniMax M3
CategoryGemma 4 31BΔMiniMax M3
CodingGemma 4 31B41.6Margin 30.6MiniMax M372.2
MultimodalGemma 4 31B76.9Margin 12.0MiniMax M364.9
AgenticGemma 4 31BNot measuredMarginNo overlapMiniMax M372.3
KnowledgeGemma 4 31B53.3MarginNo overlapMiniMax M3Not measured
MathGemma 4 31BNot measuredMarginNo overlapMiniMax M385.7

Decisive benchmark drivers

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

More
A · Gemma 4 31BB · MiniMax M3
  1. MMMU-Pro

    Multimodal
    Source ↗
    A 76.9%B 78.1%
    Winner: MiniMax M3Δ 1.2
    MMMU-Pro: Gemma 4 31B scored 76.9%; MiniMax M3 scored 78.1%. MiniMax M3 wins this benchmark.

Operational comparison

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

MetricGemma 4 31BMiniMax M3Comparison
Input / output priceUSD per 1M tokensGemma 4 31B$0 input / $0 outputMiniMax M3$0.3 input / $1.2 outputGemma 4 31B has the lower combined listed price.
Generation speedtokens per secondGemma 4 31BNot availableMiniMax M3Not availableA complete speed comparison is not available.
First-answer latencyseconds to first tokenGemma 4 31BNot availableMiniMax M3Not availableA complete latency comparison is not available.
Context windowmaximum listed tokensGemma 4 31B256KMiniMax M31MMiniMax M3 lists the larger context window.

Benchmark Deep Dive

Agentic
BenchmarkGemma 4 31BMiniMax M3Result
AA Agentic IndexSource 14.4%35.4%MiniMax M3 leads
τ²-bench resultsSource 59.9%88.9%MiniMax M3 leads
GDPval-AASource 15.2%44.7%MiniMax M3 leads
GDPval-AASource 8041395MiniMax M3 leads
Gert LabsSource 35.26%Not comparable
AA EnterpriseOps-GymSource 28.3%32.1%MiniMax M3 leads
AA Harvey LABSource 0.0%6.7%MiniMax M3 leads
AA ITBenchSource 37.3%Not comparable
AA Tau3 BankingSource 15.1%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 1110Not comparable
CodingMiniMax M3 wins
BenchmarkGemma 4 31BMiniMax M3Result
SWE-RebenchSource 41.6%Not comparable
React Native EvalsSource 75.2%Not comparable
AA Coding IndexSource 43.4%58.6%MiniMax M3 leads
Terminal-Bench HardSource 36.4%42.4%MiniMax M3 leads
AA-SciCodeSource 43.4%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
Reasoning
BenchmarkGemma 4 31BMiniMax M3Result
AA-LCRSource 62.0%74.0%MiniMax M3 leads
CritPtSource 1.4%3.7%MiniMax M3 leads
Knowledge
BenchmarkGemma 4 31BMiniMax M3Result
GPQASource 84.3%Not comparable
MMLU-ProSource 85.2%Not comparable
HLESource 26.5%Not comparable
HLE w/o toolsSource 19.5%Not comparable
Artificial Analysis Intelligence IndexSource 29.4%44.4%MiniMax M3 leads
AA-GPQA DiamondSource 85.7%92.9%MiniMax M3 leads
AA-HLESource 22.7%37.1%MiniMax M3 leads
AA-Omniscience IndexSource -45.4%1.4%MiniMax M3 leads
AA-Omniscience AccuracySource 19.9%15.0%Gemma 4 31B leads
AA-Omniscience Hallucination RateSource 81.6%16.1%MiniMax M3 leads
AA Openness IndexSource 38.9%33.3%Gemma 4 31B leads
Math
BenchmarkGemma 4 31BMiniMax M3Result
USAMO 2026Source 85.7%Not comparable
MultimodalGemma 4 31B wins
BenchmarkGemma 4 31BMiniMax M3Result
MMMU-ProSource 76.9%78.1%MiniMax M3 leads
AA-MMMU-ProSource 73.4%78.6%MiniMax M3 leads
OfficeQA ProSource 45.1%Not comparable
OmniDocBench 1.5Source 91.6%Not comparable
VideoMMMUSource 84.6%Not comparable
Video-MME (with subtitle)Source 85.4%Not comparable
Design Arena WebsiteSource 1294Not comparable
Inst. Following
BenchmarkGemma 4 31BMiniMax M3Result
AA-IFBenchSource 75.6%82.9%MiniMax M3 leads
Frequently Asked Questions (3)

Which is better, Gemma 4 31B or MiniMax M3?

MiniMax M3 is ahead on BenchLM's provisional leaderboard, 70 to 62. The biggest single separator in this matchup is MMMU-Pro, where the scores are 76.9% and 78.1%.

Which is better for coding, Gemma 4 31B or MiniMax M3?

MiniMax M3 has the edge for coding in this comparison, averaging 72.2 versus 41.6. Inside this category, AA Coding Index is the benchmark that creates the most daylight between them.

Which is better for multimodal and grounded tasks, Gemma 4 31B or MiniMax M3?

Gemma 4 31B has the edge for multimodal and grounded tasks in this comparison, averaging 76.9 versus 64.9. Inside this category, AA-MMMU-Pro is the benchmark that creates the most daylight between them.

Self-host vs API cost

Estimates at 50,000 req/day · 1000 tokens/req average.

Gemma 4 31B
API / mo$0
Self-host / mo$429
Break-even
MiniMax M3
API / mo$1,125
Self-host / moNot listed
Break-even
Proprietary model — self-hosting not applicable.
Model the full break-even

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Last updated: July 16, 2026

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