# MiniMax M3.1 Flash vs Step 5 Preview

> Side-by-side benchmark comparison for MiniMax M3.1 Flash and Step 5 Preview across agentic, coding, multimodal, knowledge, reasoning, multilingual, and math tasks.

- Canonical page: https://benchlm.ai/compare/minimax-m3-1-flash-vs-step-5-preview
- Last updated: October 19, 2026

- Shared sourced benchmarks: 5
- HTML indexing: indexable
- Ranking lane: BenchAlign v5.8

## Quick Verdict

Step 5 Preview leads by point estimate. Conditional score ranges do not establish rank confidence. Choose using the category evidence and your own workload tests.

## Summary

- Step 5 Preview has the higher overall point estimate 69.52 to 67.05. Conditional score ranges do not establish rank confidence.
- The clearest category separation is in knowledge, where the averages are 73.2 for MiniMax M3.1 Flash and 68.7 for Step 5 Preview.
- The biggest single benchmark swing is AutomationBench in Agentic, with scores of 62.2% and 44.0%.
- MiniMax M3.1 Flash is the cheaper option on output tokens, which matters if you expect large responses or heavy interactive use.

## Model Snapshot

| Property | MiniMax M3.1 Flash | Step 5 Preview |
|----------|----------|----------|
| Creator | MiniMax | StepFun |
| Type | Proprietary | Open Weight |
| Reasoning | Reasoning | Reasoning |
| Context | 1M | 1M |
| Overall Score | 67.05 | 69.52 |
| Benchmarks Covered | 14 | 24 |
| Pricing (input/output) | $0.15 / $0.60 | $1.00 / $2.70 |

## Category Breakdown

### Agentic

- Winner: Directional only
- MiniMax M3.1 Flash public-lane score: 63.9 (Estimated · #19/130)
- Step 5 Preview public-lane score: 65.1 (Estimated · #18/130)

| Benchmark | MiniMax M3.1 Flash | Step 5 Preview | Winner |
|-----------|-----------|-----------|--------|
| LOCA-Bench 256K | 60.3 | Coming soon | Coming soon |
| SWE Refactor Bench | 23.0 | Coming soon | Coming soon |
| AutomationBench | 62.2% | 44.0% | MiniMax M3.1 Flash |
| BankerToolBench | 76.2% | Coming soon | Coming soon |
| Terminal-Bench 4.0 | 38.10% | 33.30% | MiniMax M3.1 Flash |
| Agents' Last Exam | 29.6% | 29.5% | MiniMax M3.1 Flash |
| OSWorld 2.0 | 61.7% | Coming soon | Coming soon |
| CyberGym | 82.2% | 84.7% | Step 5 Preview |
| Terminal-Bench 2.1 | Coming soon | 85.0% | Coming soon |
| Toolathlon-Verified | Coming soon | 74.1% | Coming soon |
| MCP Atlas | Coming soon | 85.6% | Coming soon |
| JobBench | Coming soon | 59.0% | Coming soon |
| APEX-Agents | Coming soon | 37.8% | Coming soon |
| DRACO | Coming soon | 83.3% | Coming soon |
| BrowseComp | Coming soon | 88.7% | Coming soon |
| Hermes Index | Coming soon | 32.8% | Coming soon |
| Hermes Bench | Coming soon | 69.2% | Coming soon |

### Coding

- Winner: Directional only
- MiniMax M3.1 Flash public-lane score: 61.3 (Supported · #17/151)
- Step 5 Preview public-lane score: 60.6 (Estimated · #21/151)

| Benchmark | MiniMax M3.1 Flash | Step 5 Preview | Winner |
|-----------|-----------|-----------|--------|
| PostTrainBench v1.1 | 39.3% | Coming soon | Coming soon |
| DeepSWE | 73.7% | 67.7% | MiniMax M3.1 Flash |
| NL2Repo | 61.2% | Coming soon | Coming soon |
| Terminal-Bench 2.1 | Coming soon | 85.0% | Coming soon |
| SciCode | Coming soon | 58.9% | Coming soon |
| ProgramBench | Coming soon | 80.5% | Coming soon |
| sweMarathon | Coming soon | 72.7% | Coming soon |
| MLS-Bench Lite | Coming soon | 40.5% | Coming soon |

### Reasoning

- Winner: Not comparable
- MiniMax M3.1 Flash public-lane score: 80.6 (Unranked · 2 rankable rows)
- Step 5 Preview public-lane score: 83.4 (Unranked · 2 rankable rows)

| Benchmark | MiniMax M3.1 Flash | Step 5 Preview | Winner |
|-----------|-----------|-----------|--------|
| CritPt | Coming soon | 20.9% | Coming soon |

### Multimodal & Grounded

- Winner: Directional only
- MiniMax M3.1 Flash public-lane score: 73.5 (#30/55)
- Step 5 Preview public-lane score: 74.6 (#24/55)

| Benchmark | MiniMax M3.1 Flash | Step 5 Preview | Winner |
|-----------|-----------|-----------|--------|
| BabyVision w/ Python | 91.0% | Coming soon | Coming soon |
| CharXiv | 82.5% | Coming soon | Coming soon |
| OfficeQA Pro | Coming soon | 60.3% | Coming soon |
| MMMU-Pro | Coming soon | 76% | Coming soon |

### Knowledge

- Winner: MiniMax M3.1 Flash
- MiniMax M3.1 Flash public-lane score: 73.2 (Supported · #14/186)
- Step 5 Preview public-lane score: 68.7 (Supported · #22/186)

| Benchmark | MiniMax M3.1 Flash | Step 5 Preview | Winner |
|-----------|-----------|-----------|--------|
| HLE w/o tools | 43.4% | Coming soon | Coming soon |
| GPQA-D | Coming soon | 93.5% | Coming soon |
| HLE | Coming soon | 46.5% | Coming soon |

## FAQ

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

Step 5 Preview has the higher overall point estimate. Conditional score ranges do not establish rank confidence.

### Where is the biggest gap between MiniMax M3.1 Flash and Step 5 Preview?

The widest category gap is in knowledge, where the averages are 73.2 for MiniMax M3.1 Flash and 68.7 for Step 5 Preview.

### How many benchmarks does MiniMax M3.1 Flash cover on BenchLM?

MiniMax M3.1 Flash currently has 14 sourced benchmark scores on BenchLM.

### How many benchmarks does Step 5 Preview cover on BenchLM?

Step 5 Preview currently has 24 sourced benchmark scores on BenchLM.

## Related Comparisons

- [MiniMax M3.1 Flash vs MiniMax M3.1 Flash Preview](/compare/minimax-m3-1-flash-vs-minimax-m3-1-flash-preview)
- [Step 5 Preview vs MiniMax M3.1 Flash Preview](/compare/minimax-m3-1-flash-preview-vs-step-5-preview)
- [MiniMax M3.1 Flash vs Claude Opus 5.5](/compare/claude-opus-5-5-vs-minimax-m3-1-flash)
- [Step 5 Preview vs Claude Opus 5.5](/compare/claude-opus-5-5-vs-step-5-preview)

## Explore More

- [MiniMax M3.1 Flash profile](/models/minimax-m3-1-flash)
- [Step 5 Preview profile](/models/step-5-preview)
- [Compare Pricing](/llm-pricing)
- [Alternative Finder](/tools/alternative-finder)
- [LLM Selector](/tools/llm-selector)
- [Overall Rankings](/best/overall)