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LongCat-Flash-Lite vs MiniMax M3.1 Flash

MiniMax M3.1 Flash leads the LLM Stats Score 48.5 to 18.3. LongCat-Flash-Lite is 1.5x cheaper per token.

Meituan · MiniMax · Updated for 2026

Which is better?

MiniMax M3.1 Flash leads the overall LLM Stats Score 48.5 to 18.3, ranking #29 overall.

On price, LongCat-Flash-Lite is roughly 1.5x 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 LongCat-Flash-Lite

  • cost matters — it's about 1.5x cheaper per token
  • 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
  • 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.

LongCat-Flash-Lite
Meituan
MiniMax M3.1 Flash
MiniMax
Core performance indexes
LLM Stats Score
18.3
#234
48.5
#29
Reasoning
18.6
#227
45.8
#34
Coding
6.7
#207
37.8
#23
Agents
3.9
#180
35.6
#23
Cost, coverage & limits
Benchmark wins
—
—
Input price
$0.10 / M
$0.15 / M
Output price
$0.40 / M
$0.60 / M
Context window
256,000
1,000,000

Capability indexes

Additional strengths measured across groups of related public benchmarks

1 shared
Index
LongCat-Flash-Lite
MiniMax M3.1 Flash
Tool use
9.5#150
26.8#30
Conservative TrueSkill rating · higher is betterHow scores work

Individual benchmarks

13 reported for LongCat-Flash-Lite · 14 for MiniMax M3.1 Flash

No common benchmarks found

LongCat-Flash-Lite 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

LongCat-Flash-Lite costs less

For input processing, LongCat-Flash-Lite ($0.10/1M tokens) is 1.5x cheaper than MiniMax M3.1 Flash ($0.15/1M tokens).

For output processing, LongCat-Flash-Lite ($0.40/1M tokens) is 1.5x cheaper than MiniMax M3.1 Flash ($0.60/1M tokens).

In conclusion, MiniMax M3.1 Flash is more expensive than LongCat-Flash-Lite.*

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

Lowest available price from all providers
Tue Oct 20 2026 • llm-stats.com
Meituan
LongCat-Flash-Lite
Input tokens$0.10
Output tokens$0.40
Best providerMeituan
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 LongCat-Flash-Lite's 256,000 tokens. MiniMax M3.1 Flash can generate longer responses up to 524,288 tokens, while LongCat-Flash-Lite is limited to 128,000 tokens.

Meituan
LongCat-Flash-Lite
Input256,000 tokens
Output128,000 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

MiniMax M3.1 Flash supports multimodal inputs, whereas LongCat-Flash-Lite does not.

MiniMax M3.1 Flash can handle both text and other forms of data like images, making it suitable for multimodal applications.

LongCat-Flash-Lite

Text
Images
Audio
Video

MiniMax M3.1 Flash

Text
Images
Audio
Video

License

Usage and distribution terms

LongCat-Flash-Lite is licensed under MIT, 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.

LongCat-Flash-Lite

MIT

Open weights

MiniMax M3.1 Flash

Proprietary

Closed source

Release Timeline

When each model was launched

LongCat-Flash-Lite was released on 2026-02-05, while MiniMax M3.1 Flash was released on 2026-10-19.

MiniMax M3.1 Flash is 9 months newer than LongCat-Flash-Lite.

LongCat-Flash-Lite

Feb 5, 2026

8 months ago

MiniMax M3.1 Flash

Oct 19, 2026

0 days ago

8mo newer

Knowledge Cutoff

When training data ends

Neither model specifies a knowledge cutoff date.

Unable to compare the recency of their training data.

No cutoff dates available

Provider Availability

LongCat-Flash-Lite is available from Meituan. MiniMax M3.1 Flash is available from MiniMax.

LongCat-Flash-Lite

meituan logo
Meituan
Input Price:Input: $0.10/1MOutput Price:Output: $0.40/1M

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 LongCat-Flash-Lite and MiniMax M3.1 Flash side-by-side, then vote on the output you prefer.

LongCat-Flash-Lite
✓ Preferred
MiniMax M3.1 Flash
Open in Playground

FAQ

Common questions about LongCat-Flash-Lite vs MiniMax M3.1 Flash.

Which is better, LongCat-Flash-Lite or MiniMax M3.1 Flash?

MiniMax M3.1 Flash leads the LLM Stats Score 48.5 to 18.3. LongCat-Flash-Lite is made by Meituan 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 LongCat-Flash-Lite compare to MiniMax M3.1 Flash in benchmarks?

LongCat-Flash-Lite scores MATH-500: 96.8%, MMLU: 85.5%, CMMLU: 82.5%, MMLU-Pro: 78.3%, Tau2 Retail: 73.1%. MiniMax M3.1 Flash scores BabyVision: 91.0%, CharXiv-R: 82.5%, CyberGym: 82.2%, BankerToolBench: 76.2%, DeepSWE 1.1: 73.7%.

Is LongCat-Flash-Lite cheaper than MiniMax M3.1 Flash?

LongCat-Flash-Lite is 1.5x cheaper for input tokens. LongCat-Flash-Lite costs $0.10/M input and $0.40/M output via meituan. MiniMax M3.1 Flash costs $0.15/M input and $0.60/M output via minimax.

What are the context window sizes for LongCat-Flash-Lite and MiniMax M3.1 Flash?

LongCat-Flash-Lite supports 256K 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 LongCat-Flash-Lite and MiniMax M3.1 Flash?

Key differences include LLM Stats Score (18.3 vs 48.5), context window (256K vs 1.0M), input pricing ($0.10 vs $0.15/M), multimodal support (no vs yes), licensing (MIT vs Proprietary). See the full comparison above for benchmark-by-benchmark results.

Who makes LongCat-Flash-Lite and MiniMax M3.1 Flash?

LongCat-Flash-Lite is developed by Meituan and MiniMax M3.1 Flash is developed by MiniMax.

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