Model Comparison
Claude Opus 4.5 vs MiniMax M2Which is better in 2026?
Claude Opus 4.5 significantly outperforms across most benchmarks. MiniMax M2 is 19.0x cheaper per token.
Verdict: Claude Opus 4.5 vs MiniMax M2 — which is better?
Claude Opus 4.5 (by Anthropic) and MiniMax M2 (by MiniMax) are two of the AI models people compare most. Here is how they stack up on benchmarks, price and capabilities, and which one to pick in 2026.
Claude Opus 4.5 outperforms in 3 benchmarks (GPQA, SWE-Bench Verified, Tau2 Telecom), while MiniMax M2 is better at 0 benchmarks. Claude Opus 4.5 significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.
On price, MiniMax M2 is roughly 19.0x cheaper per token on a blended 3:1 input/output basis, which adds up quickly at production volume.
MiniMax M2 also accepts a larger context window (1,000,000 input tokens), making it the stronger choice for long documents and large codebases.
Choose Claude Opus 4.5 if…
- you want the strongest raw capability — it leads on 3 of 3 shared benchmarks
- you want the most recent training data — it shipped Nov 2025
Choose MiniMax M2 if…
- cost matters — it's about 19.0x cheaper per token
- you process long inputs — it offers a 1,000,000 token context window
- you need open weights you can self-host or fine-tune
Performance Benchmarks
Comparative analysis across standard metrics
Claude Opus 4.5 outperforms in 3 benchmarks (GPQA, SWE-Bench Verified, Tau2 Telecom), while MiniMax M2 is better at 0 benchmarks.
Claude Opus 4.5 significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.
Arena Performance
Human preference votes
Pricing Analysis
Price comparison per million tokens
For input processing, Claude Opus 4.5 ($5.00/1M tokens) is 16.7x more expensive than MiniMax M2 ($0.30/1M tokens).
For output processing, Claude Opus 4.5 ($25.00/1M tokens) is 20.8x more expensive than MiniMax M2 ($1.20/1M tokens).
In conclusion, Claude Opus 4.5 is more expensive than MiniMax M2.*
* Using a 3:1 ratio of input to output tokens
Context Window
Maximum input and output token capacity
MiniMax M2 accepts 1,000,000 input tokens compared to Claude Opus 4.5's 200,000 tokens. MiniMax M2 can generate longer responses up to 1,000,000 tokens, while Claude Opus 4.5 is limited to 64,000 tokens.
Input Capabilities
Supported data types and modalities
Claude Opus 4.5 supports multimodal inputs, whereas MiniMax M2 does not.
Claude Opus 4.5 can handle both text and other forms of data like images, making it suitable for multimodal applications.
Claude Opus 4.5
MiniMax M2
License
Usage and distribution terms
Claude Opus 4.5 is licensed under a proprietary license, while MiniMax M2 uses MIT.
License differences may affect how you can use these models in commercial or open-source projects.
Proprietary
Closed source
MIT
Open weights
Release Timeline
When each model was launched
Claude Opus 4.5 was released on 2025-11-24, while MiniMax M2 was released on 2025-10-27.
Claude Opus 4.5 is 1 month newer than MiniMax M2.
Nov 24, 2025
6 months ago
4w newerOct 27, 2025
7 months ago
Knowledge Cutoff
When training data ends
Claude Opus 4.5 has a documented knowledge cutoff of 2025-03-31, while MiniMax M2's cutoff date is not specified.
We can confirm Claude Opus 4.5's training data extends to 2025-03-31, but cannot make a direct comparison without MiniMax M2's cutoff date.
Mar 2025
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Provider Availability
Claude Opus 4.5 is available from Anthropic. MiniMax M2 is available from MiniMax, Novita.
Claude Opus 4.5
MiniMax M2
Outputs Comparison
Key Takeaways
Claude Opus 4.5
View detailsAnthropic
MiniMax M2
View detailsMiniMax
Detailed Comparison
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FAQ
Common questions about Claude Opus 4.5 vs MiniMax M2.