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MAI-Code-1.1-Flash: Microsoft's Cheaper Vision Coding Model

MAI-Code-1.1-Flash is Microsoft's vision-capable Copilot coding model: 256K context, 138B/5B MoE, ~73% lower list price than mai-code-1-flash ($0.20/$0.02/$1.20).

Sebastian Crossa
Sebastian Crossa
Co-Founder @ LLM Stats
·3 min read
MAI-Code-1.1-Flash: Microsoft's Cheaper Vision Coding Model

At a Glance

  • ID: mai-code-1.1-flash
  • Org: Microsoft (MAI)
  • Modalities: Text + image in; text out (vision-capable coding)
  • Architecture: Transformer + sparse MoE; 138B total, 5B active
  • Context: 256K tokens
  • Knowledge / pretrain cutoff: December 2025 (model card)
  • Training window: March 2026 - August 2026
  • Surface: GitHub Copilot (GA rollout Aug 11, 2026)
  • Predecessor: mai-code-1-flash (Build 2026; retiring Sep 10, 2026)

Pricing (GitHub Copilot list)

ModelInput / 1MCached input / 1MOutput / 1MPremium request (annual)
mai-code-1.1-flash$0.20$0.02$1.200.25x
mai-code-1-flash (retiring)$0.75$0.075$4.50(prior list)

Sources: GitHub Copilot models-and-pricing docs; GitHub changelog (73% lower list vs 1-Flash; 0.25x multiplier). Billed at provider list under usage-based billing.

Availability in Copilot

  • Copilot Free / Student: via auto model selection
  • Pro / Pro+ / Max / Business / Enterprise: manual picker + auto
  • Surfaces: Copilot CLI, cloud agent, Copilot app, Chat on GitHub, VS Code, Visual Studio, GitHub Mobile, JetBrains, Eclipse, Xcode
  • Business / Enterprise: admins must enable the MAI-Code-1.1-Flash policy (off by default)

Selected vendor evals (self-reported; Copilot harness)

From the MAI-Code-1.1-Flash model card (same VS Code / Copilot harness for compared models; not LLM Stats verified):

BenchmarkMAI-Code-1.1-FlashTokensMAI-Code-1-FlashTokens
SWE-Bench Verified72.6%8.6K71.6%10.8K
Terminal Bench 2.162.9%17.0K51.7%14.2K

Launch post also cites (vendor): +22% Terminal-Bench 2.1 in Copilot CLI vs prior, +15% on .NET tasks, +4% code survival, +9% return visits; tokens stream 25% faster and use 25% fewer tokens per task.

Vision / web-app internal benches (model card; self-reported):

TaskPass rateTokens
Text2WebApp (internal)74.1%17.1K
ScreenShot2WebApp (internal)42.1%10.5K
Vision2Web Level311.5%15.1K

What's New vs MAI-Code-1-Flash

  1. Native vision for image-grounded coding (screenshots to code).
  2. Stronger CLI / Terminal-Bench and .NET focus from developer feedback.
  3. Adaptive solution-length control (short on easy asks, more budget on hard ones).
  4. Roughly quarter-price list rates via training + serving efficiency (hundreds of thousands of RL environments in Copilot, per launch post; model card: >150k RL environments).

When to Use It

Good fit: Lightweight Copilot coding loops, repo Q&A, refactoring, tool-using agents, screenshot-to-code where cost and latency matter more than a frontier coding model.

Watch: Business/Enterprise needs the policy flip. Outputs still need review (model card known limitations). Model card notes Copilot CLI support was "planned for a later rollout" in the card text; the Aug 11 changelog already lists Copilot CLI in the picker, so prefer the changelog for current surfaces.

Caveats

  • Pricing on the model card itself says "To be finalized"; use the live Copilot pricing table.
  • Benchmarks are vendor / in-harness; label as self-reported.
  • 1-Flash retirement: Sep 10, 2026 (GitHub coverage / related changelog).

Sources

Questions

Frequently Asked Questions

  • August 11, 2026, in GitHub Copilot.

  • Copilot list: $0.20 input / $0.02 cached / $1.20 output per 1M tokens; annual plans use a 0.25x premium-request multiplier (~73% cheaper list than mai-code-1-flash).
  • Yes. Native vision: text + image in, text out (screenshot-to-code style workflows).

  • Model card: 138B total / 5B active MoE; 256K context; pretrain cutoff December 2025.
  • September 10, 2026 (GitHub coverage / related changelog).

  • Free/Student via auto selection; Pro and above via picker + auto. Business/Enterprise admins must enable the MAI-Code-1.1-Flash policy (off by default).

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