Model Comparison
MiniMax M1 40K vs Qwen3 30B A3BWhich is better in 2026?
MiniMax M1 40K shows notably better performance in the majority of benchmarks.
Verdict: MiniMax M1 40K vs Qwen3 30B A3B — which is better?
MiniMax M1 40K (by MiniMax) and Qwen3 30B A3B (by Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team) 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.
MiniMax M1 40K outperforms in 3 benchmarks (AIME 2024, AIME 2025, GPQA), while Qwen3 30B A3B is better at 1 benchmark (LiveCodeBench). MiniMax M1 40K shows notably better performance in the majority of benchmarks.
Choose MiniMax M1 40K if…
- you want the strongest raw capability — it leads on 3 of 4 shared benchmarks
- you want the most recent training data — it shipped Jun 2025
Choose Qwen3 30B A3B if…
- you want predictable pricing at $0.10/M input and $0.30/M output
Performance Benchmarks
Comparative analysis across standard metrics
MiniMax M1 40K outperforms in 3 benchmarks (AIME 2024, AIME 2025, GPQA), while Qwen3 30B A3B is better at 1 benchmark (LiveCodeBench).
MiniMax M1 40K shows notably better performance in the majority of benchmarks.
Arena Performance
Human preference votes
Model Size
Parameter count comparison
MiniMax M1 40K has 425.5B more parameters than Qwen3 30B A3B, making it 1395.1% larger.
Context Window
Maximum input and output token capacity
Only Qwen3 30B A3B specifies input context (128,000 tokens). Only Qwen3 30B A3B specifies output context (128,000 tokens).
License
Usage and distribution terms
MiniMax M1 40K is licensed under MIT, while Qwen3 30B A3B uses Apache 2.0.
License differences may affect how you can use these models in commercial or open-source projects.
MIT
Open weights
Apache 2.0
Open weights
Release Timeline
When each model was launched
MiniMax M1 40K was released on 2025-06-16, while Qwen3 30B A3B was released on 2025-04-29.
MiniMax M1 40K is 2 months newer than Qwen3 30B A3B.
Jun 16, 2025
11 months ago
1mo newerApr 29, 2025
1.1 years ago
Knowledge Cutoff
When training data ends
Neither model specifies a knowledge cutoff date.
Unable to compare the recency of their training data.
Outputs Comparison
Key Takeaways
MiniMax M1 40K
View detailsMiniMax
Qwen3 30B A3B
View detailsAlibaba Cloud / Qwen Team
Detailed Comparison
| Feature | | |
|---|
FAQ
Common questions about MiniMax M1 40K vs Qwen3 30B A3B.