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Model comparison

Llama 4 Maverick vs MiniMax M3

Data verified

Head-to-head evidence from 18 shared benchmark results across 6 categories. Overall scores shown here use the public BenchAlign v5 ranking lane.

23.43/100
Margin
46.4pts
winning →
MiniMax
69.8/100
0 category wins1 category wins

Verified leaderboard positions: Llama 4 Maverick unranked; MiniMax M3 #18

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

Evidence parity. Llama 4 Maverick and MiniMax M3 share 18 comparable benchmark results. 1 of 8 categories are comparable. 1 result is unique to Llama 4 Maverick; 27 to MiniMax M3.

Updated July 16, 2026
Shared results
18
Llama 4 Maverick only
1
MiniMax M3 only
27
Comparable categories
1 / 8

Pick MiniMax M3 if you want the stronger benchmark profile. Llama 4 Maverick only becomes the better choice if you want the cheaper token bill.

Confidence note. This is a partial-evidence comparison with 18 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 18. 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 mathematics, where it averages 85.7 against 0.7.

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 Llama 4 Maverick. That is roughly Infinityx on output cost alone.

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 Llama 4 Maverick and MiniMax M3
CategoryLlama 4 MaverickΔMiniMax M3
MathLlama 4 Maverick0.7Margin 85.0MiniMax M385.7
AgenticLlama 4 MaverickNot measuredMarginNo overlapMiniMax M372.3
CodingLlama 4 MaverickNot measuredMarginNo overlapMiniMax M372.2
MultimodalLlama 4 MaverickNot measuredMarginNo overlapMiniMax M364.9

Operational comparison

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

MetricLlama 4 MaverickMiniMax M3Comparison
Input / output priceUSD per 1M tokensLlama 4 Maverick$0 input / $0 outputMiniMax M3$0.3 input / $1.2 outputLlama 4 Maverick has the lower combined listed price.
Generation speedtokens per secondLlama 4 Maverick121 tok/sMiniMax M3Not availableA complete speed comparison is not available.
First-answer latencyseconds to first tokenLlama 4 Maverick0.95 sMiniMax M3Not availableA complete latency comparison is not available.
Context windowmaximum listed tokensLlama 4 Maverick1MMiniMax M31MListed context windows are equal.

Benchmark Deep Dive

Agentic
BenchmarkLlama 4 MaverickMiniMax M3Result
AA Agentic IndexSource 1.3%35.4%MiniMax M3 leads
τ²-bench resultsSource 17.8%88.9%MiniMax M3 leads
GDPval-AASource 0.0%44.7%MiniMax M3 leads
GDPval-AASource -161395MiniMax M3 leads
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
AA EnterpriseOps-GymSource 32.1%Not comparable
AA Harvey LABSource 6.7%Not comparable
Coding
BenchmarkLlama 4 MaverickMiniMax M3Result
AA Coding IndexSource 16.3%58.6%MiniMax M3 leads
Terminal-Bench HardSource 6.8%42.4%MiniMax M3 leads
AA-SciCodeSource 33.1%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
BenchmarkLlama 4 MaverickMiniMax M3Result
AA-LCRSource 46.0%74.0%MiniMax M3 leads
CritPtSource 0.0%3.7%MiniMax M3 leads
Knowledge
BenchmarkLlama 4 MaverickMiniMax M3Result
Artificial Analysis Intelligence IndexSource 14.3%44.4%MiniMax M3 leads
AA-GPQA DiamondSource 67.1%92.9%MiniMax M3 leads
AA-HLESource 4.8%37.1%MiniMax M3 leads
AA-Omniscience IndexSource -41.8%1.4%MiniMax M3 leads
AA-Omniscience AccuracySource 24.3%15.0%Llama 4 Maverick leads
AA-Omniscience Hallucination RateSource 87.3%16.1%MiniMax M3 leads
AA Openness IndexSource 33.3%Not comparable
MathMiniMax M3 wins
BenchmarkLlama 4 MaverickMiniMax M3Result
FrontierMath v2 (Tiers 1-3)Source 0.690%Not comparable
USAMO 2026Source 85.7%Not comparable
Multimodal
BenchmarkLlama 4 MaverickMiniMax M3Result
AA-MMMU-ProSource 62.1%78.6%MiniMax M3 leads
Design Arena WebsiteSource 9051294MiniMax 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
Inst. Following
BenchmarkLlama 4 MaverickMiniMax M3Result
AA-IFBenchSource 43.0%82.9%MiniMax M3 leads
Frequently Asked Questions (2)

Which is better, Llama 4 Maverick or MiniMax M3?

MiniMax M3 is ahead on BenchLM's provisional leaderboard, 70 to 18.

Which is better for math, Llama 4 Maverick or MiniMax M3?

MiniMax M3 has the edge for math in this comparison, averaging 85.7 versus 0.7. Llama 4 Maverick stays close enough that the answer can still flip depending on your workload.

Self-host vs API cost

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

Llama 4 Maverick
API / mo$0
Self-host / mo$2,610
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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