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Data

MiniMax M3.1 Flash vs Step 5 Preview

Updated October 19, 2026. Rank says Step 5 Preview is ahead. Price, access, and your workload can each overturn that. Public scores include evidence status and uncertainty.

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Decision reading

Step 5 Preview has the higher public point estimate, 69.52 versus 67.05. Their conditional score ranges overlap. These ranges do not establish rank confidence. 5 results are shared. Category rows resting on Estimated evidence or different benchmark sets are marked directional and do not name a winner.

Model A
MiniMax logo
MiniMax M3.1 Flash

MiniMax

67.05/100

Estimated · Public rank #28

Conditional range 52.7–81.4

Model B
StepFun logo
Step 5 Preview

StepFun

69.52/100

Estimated · Public rank #20

Conditional range 59.8–79.2

Shared results
5
MiniMax M3.1 Flash only
9
Step 5 Preview only
19
Like-for-like categories
1 / 8
Estimated: MiniMax M3.1 Flash and Step 5 Preview. Conditional ranges do not establish rank confidence.How the comparison works

Which one for your work

Recommendations appear only when a shared evidence basis or an explicit operating constraint supports the call. Secondary and unsupported use cases stay disclosed below the initial list.

  • Chat turn cost

    1K fresh input + 500 output tokens

    MiniMax M3.1 Flash

    MiniMax M3.1 Flash has the lower estimated token cost for this stated workload. Costs use the listed standard API rates.

    Confidence: listed-rates

  • Cache-heavy agent loop cost

    200K cached + 20K fresh input + 10K output tokens

    MiniMax M3.1 Flash

    MiniMax M3.1 Flash has the lower estimated token cost for this stated workload. Costs use the listed standard API rates.

    Confidence: listed-rates
Show secondary and unsupported calls

  • Repository review cost

    50K fresh input + 3K output tokens

    MiniMax M3.1 Flash

    MiniMax M3.1 Flash has the lower estimated token cost for this stated workload. Costs use the listed standard API rates.

    Confidence: listed-rates

  • Coding work

    Code generation, repair, and software-engineering tasks

    Not enough matched evidence

    Step 5 Preview is scored on Estimated evidence for coding, so the reading is directional rather than like-for-like.

    Confidence: limited

  • Agentic work

    Tool use, computer use, and multi-step task completion

    Not enough matched evidence

    MiniMax M3.1 Flash and Step 5 Preview are scored on Estimated evidence for agentic, so the reading is directional rather than like-for-like.

    Confidence: limited

  • Long documents

    Prompts that approach the documented context limit

    No clear pick

    The documented context windows are equal.

    Confidence: documented

Which one for a specific job

Choose a job from the LLM Selector's task catalog to see the category row it rests on, under the same basis rules as the table below. A directional row stays directional; choosing a job never creates a winner.

The same task catalog as the LLM Selector. Each job names the evidence surface it rests on; nothing here adds a new score.

61.3MiniMax M3.1 Flash60.6Step 5 Preview

Directional only · BenchAlign v5.8

MiniMax M3.1 Flash has the higher coding point estimate. Conditional score ranges do not establish rank confidence.

Coding scores combine specific tasks and setups. Match the editor, harness, and effort to your workflow.

Open the coding leaderboardShortlist models for this job
Same basis rules as the category table below

What is actually comparable

Shared results can support a head-to-head reading. Results present for only one model describe coverage, not superiority.

3 categories rest on Estimated evidence or different evidence sets. Those rows remain visible for coverage context but do not name a winner.

Shape of the matched evidence

Only shared public evidence is shown. Sparse evidence stays a ruled list rather than being closed into a radar shape.

Too few matched category axes support a radar. The ruled list below shows only shared benchmark results; positions use each benchmark’s normalized display scale when available.

Bars run 0–100 on each benchmark’s normalized display scale

Category results, on a stated basis

Each row shows the public-lane category score for both models: the BenchAlign v5.8 lane for agentic, coding, and knowledge, and the weighted public rows elsewhere, with the same rank each model page reports. A row is like-for-like only when both scores rest on Supported evidence or the same weighted set. Directional and not-comparable rows remain visible, but they never receive a winner.

Knowledge

Like-for-like
MiniMax M3.1 Flash
73.2
Supported · #14/186
Step 5 Preview
68.7
Supported · #22/186
Basis
BenchAlign v5.8 lane · 1 vs 2 public rows
Reading
MiniMax M3.1 Flash leads · intervals overlap

Agentic

Directional only
MiniMax M3.1 Flash
63.9
Estimated · #19/130
Step 5 Preview
65.1
Estimated · #18/130
Basis
BenchAlign v5.8 lane · 8 vs 13 public rows
Reading
Directional only

Coding

Directional only
MiniMax M3.1 Flash
61.3
Supported · #17/151
Step 5 Preview
60.6
Estimated · #21/151
Basis
BenchAlign v5.8 lane · 3 vs 6 public rows
Reading
Directional only

Multimodal

Directional only
MiniMax M3.1 Flash
73.5
#30/55
Step 5 Preview
74.6
#24/55
Basis
Provisional lane · 1 vs 2 weighted rows
Reading
Directional only

Reasoning

Not comparable
MiniMax M3.1 Flash
80.6
Unranked · 2 rankable rows
Step 5 Preview
83.4
Unranked · 2 rankable rows
Basis
Provisional lane · 0 vs 0 weighted rows
Reading
Not comparable

Multilingual

Not comparable
MiniMax M3.1 Flash
Not ranked
Step 5 Preview
Not ranked
Basis
Provisional lane · 0 vs 0 weighted rows
Reading
Not comparable

Instruction following

Not comparable
MiniMax M3.1 Flash
Not ranked
Step 5 Preview
Not ranked
Basis
Provisional lane · 0 vs 0 weighted rows
Reading
Not comparable

Math

Not comparable
MiniMax M3.1 Flash
Not ranked
Step 5 Preview
Not ranked
Basis
Provisional lane · 0 vs 0 weighted rows
Reading
Not comparable

Ranks count the models scored in each category’s lane, so the agentic, coding, and knowledge denominators (BenchAlign v5.8) differ from the provisional-lane categories. Unranked scores sit on the provisional lane’s scale but never name a winner. Like-for-like rows within 0.5 points read as a practical tie.

Supported evidence per lane · bars run 0–100Methodology

What each workload costs

Three fixed token mixes turn per-token rates into comparable decisions. Each scenario states context fit and whether cached input had to fall back to the published list-input rate.

Chat turn

1K fresh input + 500 output tokens

MiniMax M3.1 Flash
$0.00045
Fits in one request
Step 5 Preview
$0.00235
Fits in one request

MiniMax M3.1 Flash has the lower modeled cost

Costs use the listed standard API rates.

Repository review

50K fresh input + 3K output tokens

MiniMax M3.1 Flash
$0.0093
Fits in one request
Step 5 Preview
$0.0581
Fits in one request

MiniMax M3.1 Flash has the lower modeled cost

Costs use the listed standard API rates.

Cache-heavy agent loop

200K cached + 20K fresh input + 10K output tokens

MiniMax M3.1 Flash
$0.012
Fits in one request
Step 5 Preview
$0.057
Fits in one request

MiniMax M3.1 Flash has the lower modeled cost

Costs use the listed standard API rates.

Cached input falls back to the list input rate only where a cached rate is unpublished

Specification differences

Sourced differences are shown directly. Missing facts stay explicit instead of being inferred from a model name or family.

Reasoning profile

MiniMax M3.1 Flash

Reasoning

Step 5 Preview

Reasoning

Weight access

MiniMax M3.1 Flash

Proprietary

Step 5 Preview

Open Weight

License

MiniMax M3.1 Flash

Proprietary

Step 5 Preview

Open Weight

Release date

MiniMax M3.1 Flash

2026-10-19

Step 5 Preview

2026-09-20

If you already use one of these models

Deployment change
The models list different providers, so authentication, endpoint behavior, limits, and feature support may change.
Quality signal
Step 5 Preview has the higher public point estimate, 69.52 versus 67.05. Their conditional score ranges overlap. These ranges do not establish rank confidence.
Workload cost
Repository review: $0.0093 vs $0.0581. Cache-heavy agent loop: $0.012 vs $0.057.
Context tradeoff
Both models list 1M.
Run the same representative tasks against both endpoints before changing production traffic.

Questions

Which is better, MiniMax M3.1 Flash or Step 5 Preview?

Step 5 Preview has the higher public point estimate, 69.52 versus 67.05. Their conditional score ranges overlap. These ranges do not establish rank confidence. The page therefore keeps the decision tied to the specific documented workload.

Which is better for coding, MiniMax M3.1 Flash or Step 5 Preview?

MiniMax M3.1 Flash scores higher for coding on the public lane, 61.3 to 60.6. Step 5 Preview is scored on Estimated evidence for coding, so the reading is directional rather than like-for-like. BenchLM does not name a winner for coding from a directional reading; read the shared benchmark rows directly and test the models on the same task set.

Which is better for agentic tasks, MiniMax M3.1 Flash or Step 5 Preview?

Step 5 Preview scores higher for agentic tasks on the public lane, 65.1 to 63.9. MiniMax M3.1 Flash and Step 5 Preview are scored on Estimated evidence for agentic tasks, so the reading is directional rather than like-for-like. BenchLM does not name a winner for agentic tasks from a directional reading; read the shared benchmark rows directly and test the models on the same task set.

Which costs less, MiniMax M3.1 Flash or Step 5 Preview?

For the stated presets, chat costs $0.00045 on MiniMax M3.1 Flash and $0.00235 on Step 5 Preview; repository review costs $0.0093 and $0.0581; the cache-heavy agent loop costs $0.012 and $0.057. Costs use the listed standard API rates.

Which has the larger context window, MiniMax M3.1 Flash or Step 5 Preview?

Both models list the same context window, 1M.

Self-host vs API cost

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

MiniMax M3.1 Flash
API / mo$563
Self-host / moNot listed
Break-even—
Proprietary model — self-hosting not applicable.
Step 5 Preview
API / mo$2,775
Self-host / mo$27,962
Break-even617M/day
Model the full break-even

Benchmark evidence

The full public result ledger is available for audit without forcing a wide desktop table onto a phone.

Browse raw public benchmark evidence33 rows

Agentic

  • LOCA-Bench 256K

    MiniMax M3.1 Flash60.3
    Source
    Step 5 Preview—

    Not directly comparable

  • SWE Refactor Bench

    MiniMax M3.1 Flash23.0
    Source
    Step 5 Preview—

    Not directly comparable

  • AutomationBench

    MiniMax M3.1 Flash62.2%
    Source
    Step 5 Preview44.0%
    Source

    MiniMax M3.1 Flash leads this result

  • BankerToolBench

    MiniMax M3.1 Flash76.2%
    Source
    Step 5 Preview—

    Not directly comparable

  • Terminal-Bench 4.0

    MiniMax M3.1 Flash38.10%
    Source
    Step 5 Preview33.30%
    Source

    MiniMax M3.1 Flash leads this result

  • Agents' Last Exam

    MiniMax M3.1 Flash29.6%
    Source
    Step 5 Preview29.5%
    Source

    MiniMax M3.1 Flash leads this result

  • OSWorld 2.0

    MiniMax M3.1 Flash61.7%
    Source
    Step 5 Preview—

    Not directly comparable

  • CyberGym

    MiniMax M3.1 Flash82.2%
    Source
    Step 5 Preview84.7%
    Source

    Step 5 Preview leads this result

  • Terminal-Bench 2.1

    MiniMax M3.1 Flash—
    Step 5 Preview85.0%
    Source

    Not directly comparable

  • Toolathlon-Verified

    MiniMax M3.1 Flash—
    Step 5 Preview74.1%
    Source

    Not directly comparable

  • MCP Atlas

    MiniMax M3.1 Flash—
    Step 5 Preview85.6%
    Source

    Not directly comparable

  • JobBench

    MiniMax M3.1 Flash—
    Step 5 Preview59.0%
    Source

    Not directly comparable

  • APEX-Agents

    MiniMax M3.1 Flash—
    Step 5 Preview37.8%
    Source

    Not directly comparable

  • DRACO

    MiniMax M3.1 Flash—
    Step 5 Preview83.3%
    Source

    Not directly comparable

  • BrowseComp

    MiniMax M3.1 Flash—
    Step 5 Preview88.7%
    Source

    Not directly comparable

  • Hermes Index

    MiniMax M3.1 Flash—
    Step 5 Preview32.8%
    Source

    Not directly comparable

  • Hermes Bench

    MiniMax M3.1 Flash—
    Step 5 Preview69.2%
    Source

    Not directly comparable

Coding

  • PostTrainBench v1.1

    MiniMax M3.1 Flash39.3%
    Source
    Step 5 Preview—

    Not directly comparable

  • DeepSWE

    MiniMax M3.1 Flash73.7%
    Source
    Step 5 Preview67.7%
    Source

    MiniMax M3.1 Flash leads this result

  • NL2Repo

    MiniMax M3.1 Flash61.2%
    Source
    Step 5 Preview—

    Not directly comparable

  • Terminal-Bench 2.1

    MiniMax M3.1 Flash—
    Step 5 Preview85.0%
    Source

    Not directly comparable

  • SciCode

    MiniMax M3.1 Flash—
    Step 5 Preview58.9%
    Source

    Not directly comparable

  • ProgramBench

    MiniMax M3.1 Flash—
    Step 5 Preview80.5%
    Source

    Not directly comparable

  • sweMarathon

    MiniMax M3.1 Flash—
    Step 5 Preview72.7%
    Source

    Not directly comparable

  • MLS-Bench Lite

    MiniMax M3.1 Flash—
    Step 5 Preview40.5%
    Source

    Not directly comparable

Reasoning

  • CritPt

    MiniMax M3.1 Flash—
    Step 5 Preview20.9%
    Source

    Not directly comparable

Multimodal

  • BabyVision w/ Python

    MiniMax M3.1 Flash91.0%
    Source
    Step 5 Preview—

    Not directly comparable

  • CharXiv

    MiniMax M3.1 Flash82.5%
    Source
    Step 5 Preview—

    Not directly comparable

  • OfficeQA Pro

    MiniMax M3.1 Flash—
    Step 5 Preview60.3%
    Source

    Not directly comparable

  • MMMU-Pro

    MiniMax M3.1 Flash—
    Step 5 Preview76%
    Source

    Not directly comparable

Knowledge

  • HLE w/o tools

    MiniMax M3.1 Flash43.4%
    Source
    Step 5 Preview—

    Not directly comparable

  • GPQA-D

    MiniMax M3.1 Flash—
    Step 5 Preview93.5%
    Source

    Not directly comparable

  • HLE

    MiniMax M3.1 Flash—
    Step 5 Preview46.5%
    Source

    Not directly comparable

33 public results · 5 shared

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Last updated October 19, 2026