Claude Opus 4.8 vs MiniMax M3
Claude Opus 4.8 leads the LLM Stats Score 51.0 to 41.5. MiniMax M3 is 20.6x cheaper per token.
Anthropic · MiniMax · Updated for 2026
Which is better?
Claude Opus 4.8 leads the overall LLM Stats Score 51.0 to 41.5, ranking #15 overall.
In the 9 individual benchmarks reported for both models, Claude Opus 4.8 wins 9; this is a narrower head-to-head signal than the composite indexes.
On price, MiniMax M3 is roughly 20.6x cheaper per token on a blended 3:1 input/output basis, which adds up quickly at production volume.
Claude Opus 4.8 also accepts a larger context window (1,000,000 input tokens), making it the stronger choice for long documents and large codebases.
Based on current LLM Stats indexes, shared benchmarks, pricing, and model metadata for 2026.
Choose Claude Opus 4.8
- overall performance matters — it scores 51.0 and ranks #15 on LLM Stats
- your work emphasizes reasoning and coding — it leads those capability indexes
- you value its reported benchmark strengths — it wins 9 of 9 exact shared results
- you process long inputs — it offers a 1,000,000 token context window
Choose MiniMax M3
- cost matters — it's about 20.6x cheaper per token
- you want the most recent training data — it shipped Jun 2026
- you need open weights you can self-host or fine-tune
At a glance
The differences that matter most.
Capability indexes
Additional strengths measured across groups of related public benchmarks
Individual benchmarks
27 reported for Claude Opus 4.8 · 35 for MiniMax M3
Claude Opus 4.8 outperforms in 9 benchmarks (BrowseComp, Finance Agent v2, FrontierCode 1.1, LiveBench, MCP Atlas, OfficeQA Pro, OSWorld-Verified, SWE-Bench Pro, SWE-Bench Verified), while MiniMax M3 is better at 0 benchmarks.
Claude Opus 4.8 significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.
Human preference
Blind head-to-head votes and playground preference scores
Pricing Analysis
Price comparison per million tokens
For input processing, Claude Opus 4.8 ($5.00/1M tokens) is 17.9x more expensive than MiniMax M3 ($0.28/1M tokens).
For output processing, Claude Opus 4.8 ($25.00/1M tokens) is 22.7x more expensive than MiniMax M3 ($1.10/1M tokens).
In conclusion, Claude Opus 4.8 is more expensive than MiniMax M3.*
* Using a 3:1 ratio of input to output tokens
Context Window
Maximum input and output token capacity
Claude Opus 4.8 accepts 1,000,000 input tokens compared to MiniMax M3's 524,288 tokens. MiniMax M3 can generate longer responses up to 524,288 tokens, while Claude Opus 4.8 is limited to 128,000 tokens.
Input capabilities
Documented input modalities across available providers
Both Claude Opus 4.8 and MiniMax M3 support multimodal inputs.
They are both capable of processing various types of data, offering versatility in application.
Claude Opus 4.8
MiniMax M3
License
Usage and distribution terms
Claude Opus 4.8 is licensed under a proprietary license, while MiniMax M3 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 4.8 was released on 2026-05-28, while MiniMax M3 was released on 2026-06-01.
MiniMax M3 is 0 month newer than Claude Opus 4.8.
May 28, 2026
3 months ago
Jun 1, 2026
3 months ago
4d newerKnowledge Cutoff
When training data ends
Neither model specifies a knowledge cutoff date.
Unable to compare the recency of their training data.
Provider Availability
Claude Opus 4.8 is available from Anthropic, DeepInfra, Vertex AI. MiniMax M3 is available from DeepInfra, Fireworks, MiniMax, Novita, Together.
Claude Opus 4.8
MiniMax M3
Outputs Comparison
Judge for yourself.
Run your own prompts against Claude Opus 4.8 and MiniMax M3 side-by-side, then vote on the output you prefer.
FAQ
Common questions about Claude Opus 4.8 vs MiniMax M3.