Model Comparison

Grok 4.5 vs MiniMax M2Which is better in 2026?

Grok 4.5 significantly outperforms across most benchmarks. MiniMax M2 is 5.7x cheaper per token.

Verdict: Grok 4.5 vs MiniMax M2 — which is better?

Grok 4.5 (by xAI) 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.

Grok 4.5 outperforms in 1 benchmarks (GPQA), while MiniMax M2 is better at 0 benchmarks. Grok 4.5 significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.

On price, MiniMax M2 is roughly 5.7x 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 Grok 4.5 if…

  • you want the strongest raw capability — it leads on 1 of 1 shared benchmarks
  • you want the most recent training data — it shipped Jul 2026

Choose MiniMax M2 if…

  • cost matters — it's about 5.7x 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

1 benchmarks

Grok 4.5 outperforms in 1 benchmarks (GPQA), while MiniMax M2 is better at 0 benchmarks.

Grok 4.5 significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.

Sat Jul 25 2026 • llm-stats.com

Arena Performance

Human preference votes

Pricing Analysis

Price comparison per million tokens

MiniMax M2 costs less

For input processing, Grok 4.5 ($2.00/1M tokens) is 6.7x more expensive than MiniMax M2 ($0.30/1M tokens).

For output processing, Grok 4.5 ($6.00/1M tokens) is 5.0x more expensive than MiniMax M2 ($1.20/1M tokens).

In conclusion, Grok 4.5 is more expensive than MiniMax M2.*

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

Lowest available price from all providers
Sat Jul 25 2026 • llm-stats.com
xAI
Grok 4.5
Input tokens$2.00
Output tokens$6.00
Best providerxAI
MiniMax
MiniMax M2
Input tokens$0.30
Output tokens$1.20
Best providerMiniMax
Notice missing or incorrect data?Start an Issue→

Context Window

Maximum input and output token capacity

MiniMax M2 accepts 1,000,000 input tokens compared to Grok 4.5's 500,000 tokens. Only MiniMax M2 specifies output context (1,000,000 tokens).

xAI
Grok 4.5
Input500,000 tokens
Output- tokens
MiniMax
MiniMax M2
Input1,000,000 tokens
Output1,000,000 tokens
Sat Jul 25 2026 • llm-stats.com

Input Capabilities

Supported data types and modalities

Grok 4.5 supports multimodal inputs, whereas MiniMax M2 does not.

Grok 4.5 can handle both text and other forms of data like images, making it suitable for multimodal applications.

Grok 4.5

Text
Images
Audio
Video

MiniMax M2

Text
Images
Audio
Video

License

Usage and distribution terms

Grok 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.

Grok 4.5

Proprietary

Closed source

MiniMax M2

MIT

Open weights

Release Timeline

When each model was launched

Grok 4.5 was released on 2026-07-16, while MiniMax M2 was released on 2025-10-27.

Grok 4.5 is 9 months newer than MiniMax M2.

Grok 4.5

Jul 16, 2026

1 weeks ago

8mo newer
MiniMax M2

Oct 27, 2025

9 months ago

Knowledge Cutoff

When training data ends

Grok 4.5 has a documented knowledge cutoff of 2026-02-01, while MiniMax M2's cutoff date is not specified.

We can confirm Grok 4.5's training data extends to 2026-02-01, but cannot make a direct comparison without MiniMax M2's cutoff date.

Grok 4.5

Feb 2026

MiniMax M2

—

Provider Availability

Grok 4.5 is available from xAI. MiniMax M2 is available from MiniMax, Novita.

Grok 4.5

xai logo
xAI
Input Price:Input: $2.00/1MOutput Price:Output: $6.00/1M

MiniMax M2

minimax logo
MiniMax
Input Price:Input: $0.30/1MOutput Price:Output: $1.20/1M
novita logo
Novita
Input Price:Input: $0.30/1MOutput Price:Output: $1.20/1M
* Prices shown are per million tokens

Outputs Comparison

Notice missing or incorrect data?Start an Issue discussion→

Key Takeaways

xAI
Supports multimodal inputs
Higher GPQA score (93.0% vs 78.0%)
MiniMax
Larger context window (1,000,000 tokens)
Less expensive input tokens
Less expensive output tokens
Has open weights

Detailed Comparison

Interactive Arena

Judge for yourself.

Run your own prompts against Grok 4.5 and MiniMax M2 side-by-side, then vote on the output you prefer.

Grok 4.5
✓ Preferred
MiniMax M2
Open in Playground
AI Model Comparison Table
Feature
xAI
Grok 4.5
MiniMax
MiniMax M2

FAQ

Common questions about Grok 4.5 vs MiniMax M2.

Which is better, Grok 4.5 or MiniMax M2?

Grok 4.5 significantly outperforms across most benchmarks. Grok 4.5 is made by xAI and MiniMax M2 is made by MiniMax. The best choice depends on your use case — compare their benchmark scores, pricing, and capabilities above.

How does Grok 4.5 compare to MiniMax M2 in benchmarks?

Grok 4.5 scores GPQA: 93.0%, Terminal-Bench 2.1: 83.3%, Artificial Analysis Coding Agent Index v1.1: 76.0%, SWE-Bench Pro: 64.7%, AA-Omniscience Index: 63.0%. MiniMax M2 scores Tau2 Telecom: 87.0%, LiveCodeBench: 83.0%, MMLU-Pro: 82.0%, AIME 2025: 78.0%, GPQA: 78.0%.

Is Grok 4.5 cheaper than MiniMax M2?

MiniMax M2 is 6.7x cheaper for input tokens. Grok 4.5 costs $2.00/M input and $6.00/M output via xai. MiniMax M2 costs $0.30/M input and $1.20/M output via minimax.

What are the context window sizes for Grok 4.5 and MiniMax M2?

Grok 4.5 supports 500K tokens and MiniMax M2 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 Grok 4.5 and MiniMax M2?

Key differences include context window (500K vs 1.0M), input pricing ($2.00 vs $0.30/M), multimodal support (yes vs no), licensing (Proprietary vs MIT). See the full comparison above for benchmark-by-benchmark results.

Who makes Grok 4.5 and MiniMax M2?

Grok 4.5 is developed by xAI and MiniMax M2 is developed by MiniMax.

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