Model Comparison

MAI-Thinking-1 vs MiniMax M2.7Which is better in 2026?

MiniMax M2.7 significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.

Verdict: MAI-Thinking-1 vs MiniMax M2.7 — which is better?

MAI-Thinking-1 (by Microsoft) and MiniMax M2.7 (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.

MAI-Thinking-1 outperforms in 0 benchmarks, while MiniMax M2.7 is better at 2 benchmarks (SWE-Bench Pro, Terminal-Bench 2.0). MiniMax M2.7 significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.

Choose MAI-Thinking-1 if…

  • you want the most recent training data — it shipped Jun 2026

Choose MiniMax M2.7 if…

  • you want the strongest raw capability — it leads on 2 of 2 shared benchmarks
  • you need open weights you can self-host or fine-tune

Performance Benchmarks

Comparative analysis across standard metrics

2 benchmarks

MAI-Thinking-1 outperforms in 0 benchmarks, while MiniMax M2.7 is better at 2 benchmarks (SWE-Bench Pro, Terminal-Bench 2.0).

MiniMax M2.7 significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.

Fri Jul 17 2026 • llm-stats.com

Arena Performance

Human preference votes

Context Window

Maximum input and output token capacity

Only MiniMax M2.7 specifies input context (196,608 tokens). Only MiniMax M2.7 specifies output context (196,608 tokens).

Microsoft
MAI-Thinking-1
Input- tokens
Output- tokens
MiniMax
MiniMax M2.7
Input196,608 tokens
Output196,608 tokens
Fri Jul 17 2026 • llm-stats.com

License

Usage and distribution terms

MAI-Thinking-1 is licensed under a proprietary license, while MiniMax M2.7 uses MIT.

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

MAI-Thinking-1

Proprietary

Closed source

MiniMax M2.7

MIT

Open weights

Release Timeline

When each model was launched

MAI-Thinking-1 was released on 2026-06-02, while MiniMax M2.7 was released on 2026-03-18.

MAI-Thinking-1 is 3 months newer than MiniMax M2.7.

MAI-Thinking-1

Jun 2, 2026

1 months ago

2mo newer
MiniMax M2.7

Mar 18, 2026

4 months ago

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

Outputs Comparison

Notice missing or incorrect data?Start an Issue discussion→

Key Takeaways

Microsoft

No standout differentiators in the data we have for this pair.

MiniMax
Larger context window (196,608 tokens)
Has open weights
Higher SWE-Bench Pro score (56.2% vs 52.8%)
Higher Terminal-Bench 2.0 score (57.0% vs 46.0%)

Detailed Comparison

Interactive Arena

Judge for yourself.

Run your own prompts against MAI-Thinking-1 and MiniMax M2.7 side-by-side, then vote on the output you prefer.

MAI-Thinking-1
✓ Preferred
MiniMax M2.7
Open in Playground
AI Model Comparison Table
Feature
Microsoft
MAI-Thinking-1
MiniMax
MiniMax M2.7

FAQ

Common questions about MAI-Thinking-1 vs MiniMax M2.7.

Which is better, MAI-Thinking-1 or MiniMax M2.7?

MiniMax M2.7 significantly outperforms across most benchmarks. MAI-Thinking-1 is made by Microsoft and MiniMax M2.7 is made by MiniMax. The best choice depends on your use case — compare their benchmark scores, pricing, and capabilities above.

How does MAI-Thinking-1 compare to MiniMax M2.7 in benchmarks?

MAI-Thinking-1 scores LongFact: 98.0%, AIME 2025: 97.0%, AIME 2026: 94.5%, GraphWalks: 90.0%, AIR-Bench: 88.0%. MiniMax M2.7 scores SWE-bench Multilingual: 76.5%, MLE-Bench Lite: 66.6%, MM-ClawBench: 62.7%, Terminal-Bench 2.0: 57.0%, SWE-Bench Pro: 56.2%.

What are the context window sizes for MAI-Thinking-1 and MiniMax M2.7?

MAI-Thinking-1 supports an unknown number of tokens and MiniMax M2.7 supports 197K tokens. A larger context window lets you process longer documents, conversations, or codebases in a single request.

What are the main differences between MAI-Thinking-1 and MiniMax M2.7?

Key differences include licensing (Proprietary vs MIT). See the full comparison above for benchmark-by-benchmark results.

Who makes MAI-Thinking-1 and MiniMax M2.7?

MAI-Thinking-1 is developed by Microsoft and MiniMax M2.7 is developed by MiniMax.

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