Model Comparison
Claude Sonnet 4 vs MiniMax M2Which is better in 2026?
MiniMax M2 shows notably better performance in the majority of benchmarks. MiniMax M2 is 11.4x cheaper per token.
Verdict: Claude Sonnet 4 vs MiniMax M2 — which is better?
Claude Sonnet 4 (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 Sonnet 4 outperforms in 1 benchmarks (SWE-Bench Verified), while MiniMax M2 is better at 3 benchmarks (AIME 2025, GPQA, Terminal-Bench). MiniMax M2 shows notably better performance in the majority of benchmarks.
On price, MiniMax M2 is roughly 11.4x 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 Sonnet 4 if…
- you want predictable pricing at $3.00/M input and $15.00/M output
Choose MiniMax M2 if…
- you want the strongest raw capability — it leads on 3 of 4 shared benchmarks
- cost matters — it's about 11.4x cheaper per token
- you process long inputs — it offers a 1,000,000 token context window
- you want the most recent training data — it shipped Oct 2025
- you need open weights you can self-host or fine-tune
Performance Benchmarks
Comparative analysis across standard metrics
Claude Sonnet 4 outperforms in 1 benchmarks (SWE-Bench Verified), while MiniMax M2 is better at 3 benchmarks (AIME 2025, GPQA, Terminal-Bench).
MiniMax M2 shows notably better performance in the majority of benchmarks.
Arena Performance
Human preference votes
Pricing Analysis
Price comparison per million tokens
For input processing, Claude Sonnet 4 ($3.00/1M tokens) is 10.0x more expensive than MiniMax M2 ($0.30/1M tokens).
For output processing, Claude Sonnet 4 ($15.00/1M tokens) is 12.5x more expensive than MiniMax M2 ($1.20/1M tokens).
In conclusion, Claude Sonnet 4 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 Sonnet 4's 200,000 tokens. MiniMax M2 can generate longer responses up to 1,000,000 tokens, while Claude Sonnet 4 is limited to 64,000 tokens.
Input Capabilities
Supported data types and modalities
Claude Sonnet 4 supports multimodal inputs, whereas MiniMax M2 does not.
Claude Sonnet 4 can handle both text and other forms of data like images, making it suitable for multimodal applications.
Claude Sonnet 4
MiniMax M2
License
Usage and distribution terms
Claude Sonnet 4 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 Sonnet 4 was released on 2025-05-22, while MiniMax M2 was released on 2025-10-27.
MiniMax M2 is 5 months newer than Claude Sonnet 4.
May 22, 2025
1.0 years ago
Oct 27, 2025
7 months ago
5mo 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 Sonnet 4 is available from Anthropic, Bedrock, Google. MiniMax M2 is available from MiniMax, Novita.
Claude Sonnet 4
MiniMax M2
Outputs Comparison
Key Takeaways
Claude Sonnet 4
View detailsAnthropic
MiniMax M2
View detailsMiniMax
Claude Sonnet 4MiniMax M2Detailed Comparison
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FAQ
Common questions about Claude Sonnet 4 vs MiniMax M2.