Model Comparison

MiniMax M1 40K vs Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-InstructWhich is better in 2026?

MiniMax M1 40K has a slight edge in benchmark performance.

Verdict: MiniMax M1 40K vs Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Instruct — which is better?

MiniMax M1 40K (by MiniMax) and Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Instruct (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 2025, TAU-bench Airline, TAU-bench Retail), while Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Instruct is better at 1 benchmark (GPQA). MiniMax M1 40K has a slight edge in benchmark performance.

Choose MiniMax M1 40K if…

  • you want the strongest raw capability — it leads on 3 of 5 shared benchmarks

Choose Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Instruct if…

  • you want the most recent training data — it shipped Sep 2025

Performance Benchmarks

Comparative analysis across standard metrics

5 benchmarks

MiniMax M1 40K outperforms in 3 benchmarks (AIME 2025, TAU-bench Airline, TAU-bench Retail), while Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Instruct is better at 1 benchmark (GPQA).

MiniMax M1 40K has a slight edge in benchmark performance.

Mon Jul 27 2026 • llm-stats.com

Arena Performance

Human preference votes

Model Size

Parameter count comparison

376.0B diff

MiniMax M1 40K has 376.0B more parameters than Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Instruct, making it 470.0% larger.

MiniMax
MiniMax M1 40K
456.0Bparameters
Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team
Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Instruct
80.0Bparameters
456.0B
MiniMax M1 40K
80.0B
Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Instruct

Context Window

Maximum input and output token capacity

Only Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Instruct specifies input context (65,536 tokens). Only Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Instruct specifies output context (65,536 tokens).

MiniMax
MiniMax M1 40K
Input- tokens
Output- tokens
Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team
Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Instruct
Input65,536 tokens
Output65,536 tokens
Mon Jul 27 2026 • llm-stats.com

License

Usage and distribution terms

MiniMax M1 40K is licensed under MIT, while Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Instruct uses Apache 2.0.

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

MiniMax M1 40K

MIT

Open weights

Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Instruct

Apache 2.0

Open weights

Release Timeline

When each model was launched

MiniMax M1 40K was released on 2025-06-16, while Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Instruct was released on 2025-09-10.

Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Instruct is 3 months newer than MiniMax M1 40K.

MiniMax M1 40K

Jun 16, 2025

1.1 years ago

Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Instruct

Sep 10, 2025

10 months ago

2mo 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

Outputs Comparison

Notice missing or incorrect data?Start an Issue discussion→

Key Takeaways

MiniMax
Higher AIME 2025 score (74.6% vs 69.5%)
Higher TAU-bench Airline score (60.0% vs 44.0%)
Higher TAU-bench Retail score (67.8% vs 60.9%)
Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team
Larger context window (65,536 tokens)
Higher GPQA score (72.9% vs 69.2%)

Detailed Comparison

Interactive Arena

Judge for yourself.

Run your own prompts against MiniMax M1 40K and Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Instruct side-by-side, then vote on the output you prefer.

MiniMax M1 40K
✓ Preferred
Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Instruct
Open in Playground
AI Model Comparison Table
Feature
MiniMax
MiniMax M1 40K
Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team
Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Instruct

FAQ

Common questions about MiniMax M1 40K vs Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Instruct.

Which is better, MiniMax M1 40K or Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Instruct?

MiniMax M1 40K has a slight edge in benchmark performance. MiniMax M1 40K is made by MiniMax and Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Instruct is made by Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team. The best choice depends on your use case — compare their benchmark scores, pricing, and capabilities above.

How does MiniMax M1 40K compare to Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Instruct in benchmarks?

MiniMax M1 40K scores MATH-500: 96.0%, AIME 2024: 83.3%, MMLU-Pro: 80.6%, ZebraLogic: 80.1%, OpenAI-MRCR: 2 needle 128k: 76.1%. Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Instruct scores MMLU-Redux: 90.9%, MultiPL-E: 87.8%, IFEval: 87.6%, WritingBench: 87.3%, Creative Writing v3: 85.3%.

What are the context window sizes for MiniMax M1 40K and Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Instruct?

MiniMax M1 40K supports an unknown number of tokens and Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Instruct supports 66K tokens. A larger context window lets you process longer documents, conversations, or codebases in a single request.

What are the main differences between MiniMax M1 40K and Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Instruct?

Key differences include licensing (MIT vs Apache 2.0). See the full comparison above for benchmark-by-benchmark results.

Who makes MiniMax M1 40K and Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Instruct?

MiniMax M1 40K is developed by MiniMax and Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Instruct is developed by Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team.

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