The AI arena is free today

Open Superagent

Granite 3.3 8B Instruct vs MiniMax M3.1 Flash

MiniMax M3.1 Flash leads the LLM Stats Score 48.5 to 2.1. MiniMax M3.1 Flash is 1.9x cheaper per token.

IBM · MiniMax · Updated for 2026

Which is better?

MiniMax M3.1 Flash leads the overall LLM Stats Score 48.5 to 2.1, ranking #29 overall.

On price, MiniMax M3.1 Flash is roughly 1.9x cheaper per token on a blended 3:1 input/output basis, which adds up quickly at production volume.

MiniMax M3.1 Flash 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 Granite 3.3 8B Instruct

  • you need open weights you can self-host or fine-tune

Choose MiniMax M3.1 Flash

  • overall performance matters — it scores 48.5 and ranks #29 on LLM Stats
  • your work emphasizes reasoning and coding — it leads those capability indexes
  • cost matters — it's about 1.9x 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 2026

At a glance

The differences that matter most.

Granite 3.3 8B Instruct
IBM
MiniMax M3.1 Flash
MiniMax
Core performance indexes
LLM Stats Score
2.1
#339
48.5
#29
Reasoning
2.5
#328
45.8
#34
Coding
11.1
#178
37.8
#23
Cost, coverage & limits
Benchmark wins
—
—
Input price
$0.50 / M
$0.15 / M
Output price
$0.50 / M
$0.60 / M
Context window
128,000
1,000,000

Individual benchmarks

14 reported for Granite 3.3 8B Instruct · 14 for MiniMax M3.1 Flash

No common benchmarks found

Granite 3.3 8B Instruct and MiniMax M3.1 Flashdon't have any common benchmark datasets to compare. They may have been evaluated on different testing suites.

Human preference

Blind head-to-head votes and playground preference scores

Pricing Analysis

Price comparison per million tokens

MiniMax M3.1 Flash costs less

For input processing, Granite 3.3 8B Instruct ($0.50/1M tokens) is 3.3x more expensive than MiniMax M3.1 Flash ($0.15/1M tokens).

For output processing, Granite 3.3 8B Instruct ($0.50/1M tokens) is 1.2x cheaper than MiniMax M3.1 Flash ($0.60/1M tokens).

In conclusion, Granite 3.3 8B Instruct is more expensive than MiniMax M3.1 Flash.*

* Using a 3:1 ratio of input to output tokens

Lowest available price from all providers
Tue Oct 20 2026 • llm-stats.com
IBM
Granite 3.3 8B Instruct
Input tokens$0.50
Output tokens$0.50
Best providerReplicate
MiniMax
MiniMax M3.1 Flash
Input tokens$0.15
Output tokens$0.60
Best providerMiniMax
Notice missing or incorrect data?

Context Window

Maximum input and output token capacity

MiniMax M3.1 Flash accepts 1,000,000 input tokens compared to Granite 3.3 8B Instruct's 128,000 tokens. MiniMax M3.1 Flash can generate longer responses up to 524,288 tokens, while Granite 3.3 8B Instruct is limited to 8,192 tokens.

IBM
Granite 3.3 8B Instruct
Input128,000 tokens
Output8,192 tokens
MiniMax
MiniMax M3.1 Flash
Input1,000,000 tokens
Output524,288 tokens
Tue Oct 20 2026 • llm-stats.com

Input capabilities

Documented input modalities across available providers

Both Granite 3.3 8B Instruct and MiniMax M3.1 Flash support multimodal inputs.

They are both capable of processing various types of data, offering versatility in application.

Granite 3.3 8B Instruct

Text
Images
Audio
Video

MiniMax M3.1 Flash

Text
Images
Audio
Video

License

Usage and distribution terms

Granite 3.3 8B Instruct is licensed under Apache 2.0, while MiniMax M3.1 Flash uses a proprietary license.

License differences may affect how you can use these models in commercial or open-source projects.

Granite 3.3 8B Instruct

Apache 2.0

Open weights

MiniMax M3.1 Flash

Proprietary

Closed source

Release Timeline

When each model was launched

Granite 3.3 8B Instruct was released on 2025-04-16, while MiniMax M3.1 Flash was released on 2026-10-19.

MiniMax M3.1 Flash is 18 months newer than Granite 3.3 8B Instruct.

Granite 3.3 8B Instruct

Apr 16, 2025

1.5 years ago

MiniMax M3.1 Flash

Oct 19, 2026

0 days ago

1.5yr newer

Knowledge Cutoff

When training data ends

Granite 3.3 8B Instruct has a documented knowledge cutoff of 2024-04-01, while MiniMax M3.1 Flash's cutoff date is not specified.

We can confirm Granite 3.3 8B Instruct's training data extends to 2024-04-01, but cannot make a direct comparison without MiniMax M3.1 Flash's cutoff date.

Granite 3.3 8B Instruct

Apr 2024

MiniMax M3.1 Flash

—

Provider Availability

Granite 3.3 8B Instruct is available from Replicate. MiniMax M3.1 Flash is available from MiniMax.

Granite 3.3 8B Instruct

replicate logo
Replicate
Input Price:Input: $0.50/1MOutput Price:Output: $0.50/1M

MiniMax M3.1 Flash

minimax logo
MiniMax
Input Price:Input: $0.15/1MOutput Price:Output: $0.60/1M
* Prices shown are per million tokens

Outputs Comparison

Notice missing or incorrect data?

Judge for yourself.

Run your own prompts against Granite 3.3 8B Instruct and MiniMax M3.1 Flash side-by-side, then vote on the output you prefer.

Granite 3.3 8B Instruct
✓ Preferred
MiniMax M3.1 Flash
Open in Playground

FAQ

Common questions about Granite 3.3 8B Instruct vs MiniMax M3.1 Flash.

Which is better, Granite 3.3 8B Instruct or MiniMax M3.1 Flash?

MiniMax M3.1 Flash leads the LLM Stats Score 48.5 to 2.1. Granite 3.3 8B Instruct is made by IBM and MiniMax M3.1 Flash is made by MiniMax. The best choice depends on your use case — compare their capability indexes, individual benchmarks, pricing, and limits above.

How does Granite 3.3 8B Instruct compare to MiniMax M3.1 Flash in benchmarks?

Granite 3.3 8B Instruct scores HumanEval: 89.7%, AttaQ: 88.5%, HumanEval+: 86.1%, AIME 2024: 81.2%, GSM8k: 80.9%. MiniMax M3.1 Flash scores BabyVision: 91.0%, CharXiv-R: 82.5%, CyberGym: 82.2%, BankerToolBench: 76.2%, DeepSWE 1.1: 73.7%.

Is Granite 3.3 8B Instruct cheaper than MiniMax M3.1 Flash?

MiniMax M3.1 Flash is 3.3x cheaper for input tokens. Granite 3.3 8B Instruct costs $0.50/M input and $0.50/M output via replicate. MiniMax M3.1 Flash costs $0.15/M input and $0.60/M output via minimax.

What are the context window sizes for Granite 3.3 8B Instruct and MiniMax M3.1 Flash?

Granite 3.3 8B Instruct supports 128K tokens and MiniMax M3.1 Flash supports 1.0M tokens. A larger context window lets you process longer documents, conversations, or codebases in a single request.

What are the main differences between Granite 3.3 8B Instruct and MiniMax M3.1 Flash?

Key differences include LLM Stats Score (2.1 vs 48.5), context window (128K vs 1.0M), input pricing ($0.50 vs $0.15/M), licensing (Apache 2.0 vs Proprietary). See the full comparison above for benchmark-by-benchmark results.

Who makes Granite 3.3 8B Instruct and MiniMax M3.1 Flash?

Granite 3.3 8B Instruct is developed by IBM and MiniMax M3.1 Flash is developed by MiniMax.

Related comparisons