Model comparison
Inkling vs MiniMax M3
Head-to-head evidence from 7 shared benchmark results across 3 categories. Overall scores shown here use the public BenchAlign v5 ranking lane.
Verified leaderboard positions: Inkling #17; MiniMax M3 #18
BenchAlign evidence: Inkling not scored; MiniMax M3 supported. Intervals and evidence labels describe ranking uncertainty, not a guarantee for a specific workload.
Evidence parity. Inkling and MiniMax M3 share 7 comparable benchmark results. 4 of 8 categories are comparable. 9 results are unique to Inkling; 38 to MiniMax M3.
Updated July 15, 2026- Shared results
- 7
- Inkling only
- 9
- MiniMax M3 only
- 38
- Comparable categories
- 4 / 8
Pick MiniMax M3 if you want the stronger benchmark profile. Inkling only becomes the better choice if multimodal & grounded is the priority or you would rather avoid the extra latency and token burn of a reasoning model.
Confidence note. This is a partial-evidence comparison with 7 shared benchmark results across 3 evidence categories; 4 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 has the cleaner provisional overall profile here, landing at 71 versus 69. It is a real lead, but still close enough that category-level strengths matter more than the headline number.
MiniMax M3's sharpest advantage is in coding, where it averages 72.2 against 68.6. The single biggest benchmark swing on the page is BrowseComp, 77.1% to 83.5%. Inkling does hit back in multimodal & grounded, so the answer changes if that is the part of the workload you care about most.
Inkling is also the more expensive model on tokens at $1.87 input / $4.68 output per 1M tokens, versus $0.30 input / $1.20 output per 1M tokens for MiniMax M3. That is roughly 3.9x on output cost alone. MiniMax M3 is the reasoning model in the pair, while Inkling 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 | Inkling | Δ | MiniMax M3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Multimodal | Inkling76.5 | Margin← 11.6 | MiniMax M364.9 |
| Math | Inkling97.1 | Margin← 11.4 | MiniMax M385.7 |
| Coding | Inkling68.6 | Margin→ 3.6 | MiniMax M372.2 |
| Agentic | Inkling69.4 | Margin→ 2.9 | MiniMax M372.3 |
| Knowledge | Inkling51.7 | MarginNo overlap | MiniMax M3Not measured |
| Inst. Following | Inkling79.8 | MarginNo overlap | MiniMax M3Not measured |
Decisive benchmark drivers
The largest measured benchmark gaps in this matchup, with exact reported values.
More
- Source ↗
BrowseComp
AgenticA 77.1%B 83.5%Winner: MiniMax M3Δ 6.4BrowseComp: Inkling scored 77.1%; MiniMax M3 scored 83.5%. MiniMax M3 wins this benchmark. - Source ↗
SWE-bench Pro
CodingA 54.3%B 59%Winner: MiniMax M3Δ 4.7SWE-bench Pro: Inkling scored 54.3%; MiniMax M3 scored 59%. MiniMax M3 wins this benchmark. - Source ↗
MMMU-Pro
MultimodalA 73.5%B 78.1%Winner: MiniMax M3Δ 4.6MMMU-Pro: Inkling scored 73.5%; MiniMax M3 scored 78.1%. MiniMax M3 wins this benchmark. - Source ↗
SWE-bench Verified
CodingA 77.6%B 80.5%Winner: MiniMax M3Δ 2.9SWE-bench Verified: Inkling scored 77.6%; MiniMax M3 scored 80.5%. MiniMax M3 wins this benchmark. - Source ↗
Terminal-Bench 2.0
AgenticA 63.8%B 66%Winner: MiniMax M3Δ 2.2Terminal-Bench 2.0: Inkling scored 63.8%; MiniMax M3 scored 66%. MiniMax M3 wins this benchmark.
Operational comparison
Runtime and commercial metrics are compared only when both models have a complete sourced value.
| Metric | Inkling | MiniMax M3 | Comparison |
|---|---|---|---|
| Input / output priceUSD per 1M tokens | Inkling$1.87 input / $4.68 output | MiniMax M3$0.3 input / $1.2 output | MiniMax M3 has the lower combined listed price. |
| Generation speedtokens per second | InklingNot available | MiniMax M3Not available | A complete speed comparison is not available. |
| First-answer latencyseconds to first token | InklingNot available | MiniMax M3Not available | A complete latency comparison is not available. |
| Context windowmaximum listed tokens | Inkling1M | MiniMax M31M | Listed context windows are equal. |
Benchmark Deep Dive
AgenticMiniMax M3 wins17 benchmarks
| Benchmark | Inkling | MiniMax M3 | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| Terminal-Bench 2.0Source | 63.8% | 66% | MiniMax M3 leads |
| BrowseCompSource | 77.1% | 83.5% | MiniMax M3 leads |
| MCP AtlasSource | 74.1% | 74.2% | MiniMax M3 leads |
| Design Arena Agentic Web DevSource | 1258 | — | Not comparable |
| OSWorld-VerifiedSource | — | 70.1% | Not comparable |
| Claw-EvalSource | — | 74.5% | Not comparable |
| AA Agentic IndexSource | — | 35.4% | Not comparable |
| τ²-bench resultsSource | — | 88.9% | Not comparable |
| GDPval-AASource | — | 44.7% | Not comparable |
| GDPval-AASource | — | 1395 | 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 |
CodingMiniMax M3 wins11 benchmarks
| Benchmark | Inkling | MiniMax M3 | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| SWE-bench VerifiedSource | 77.6% | 80.5% | MiniMax M3 leads |
| SWE-bench ProSource | 54.3% | 59% | MiniMax M3 leads |
| Terminal-Bench 2.0Source | 63.8% | 66.0% | MiniMax M3 leads |
| NL2RepoSource | — | 42.1% | Not comparable |
| AA Coding IndexSource | — | 58.6% | Not comparable |
| Terminal-Bench HardSource | — | 42.4% | Not comparable |
| AA-SciCodeSource | — | 45.4% | 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
Knowledge11 benchmarks
| Benchmark | Inkling | MiniMax M3 | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| GPQASource | 87.9% | — | Not comparable |
| GPQA-DSource | 87.9% | — | Not comparable |
| HLESource | 46% | — | Not comparable |
| HLE w/o toolsSource | 30% | — | Not comparable |
| Artificial Analysis Intelligence IndexSource | — | 44.4% | Not comparable |
| AA-GPQA DiamondSource | — | 92.9% | Not comparable |
| AA-HLESource | — | 37.1% | Not comparable |
| AA-Omniscience IndexSource | — | 1.4% | Not comparable |
| AA-Omniscience AccuracySource | — | 15.0% | Not comparable |
| AA-Omniscience Hallucination RateSource | — | 16.1% | Not comparable |
| AA Openness IndexSource | — | 33.3% | Not comparable |
MathInkling wins2 benchmarks
MultimodalInkling wins9 benchmarks
| Benchmark | Inkling | MiniMax M3 | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| MMMU-ProSource | 73.5% | 78.1% | MiniMax M3 leads |
| CharXivSource | 82% | — | Not comparable |
| CharXiv w/o toolsSource | 78.1% | — | Not comparable |
| 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 | — | 1294 | Not comparable |
| AA-MMMU-ProSource | — | 78.6% | Not comparable |
Frequently Asked Questions (5)
Which is better, Inkling or MiniMax M3?
MiniMax M3 is ahead on BenchLM's provisional leaderboard, 71 to 69. The biggest single separator in this matchup is BrowseComp, where the scores are 77.1% and 83.5%.
Which is better for coding, Inkling or MiniMax M3?
MiniMax M3 has the edge for coding in this comparison, averaging 72.2 versus 68.6. Inside this category, SWE-bench Pro is the benchmark that creates the most daylight between them.
Which is better for math, Inkling or MiniMax M3?
Inkling has the edge for math in this comparison, averaging 97.1 versus 85.7. MiniMax M3 stays close enough that the answer can still flip depending on your workload.
Which is better for agentic tasks, Inkling or MiniMax M3?
MiniMax M3 has the edge for agentic tasks in this comparison, averaging 72.3 versus 69.4. Inside this category, BrowseComp is the benchmark that creates the most daylight between them.
Which is better for multimodal and grounded tasks, Inkling or MiniMax M3?
Inkling has the edge for multimodal and grounded tasks in this comparison, averaging 76.5 versus 64.9. Inside this category, MMMU-Pro is the benchmark that creates the most daylight between them.
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