Model Comparison
MiniMax M2 vs Nemotron 3 Nano (30B A3B)Which is better in 2026?
MiniMax M2 shows notably better performance in the majority of benchmarks. Nemotron 3 Nano (30B A3B) is 5.0x cheaper per token.
Verdict: MiniMax M2 vs Nemotron 3 Nano (30B A3B) — which is better?
MiniMax M2 (by MiniMax) and Nemotron 3 Nano (30B A3B) (by NVIDIA) 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 M2 outperforms in 6 benchmarks (GPQA, MMLU-Pro, SciCode, SWE-Bench Verified, Tau2 Telecom, Terminal-Bench), while Nemotron 3 Nano (30B A3B) is better at 2 benchmarks (AIME 2025, Humanity's Last Exam). MiniMax M2 shows notably better performance in the majority of benchmarks.
On price, Nemotron 3 Nano (30B A3B) is roughly 5.0x 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 MiniMax M2 if…
- you want the strongest raw capability — it leads on 6 of 8 shared benchmarks
- you process long inputs — it offers a 1,000,000 token context window
Choose Nemotron 3 Nano (30B A3B) if…
- cost matters — it's about 5.0x cheaper per token
- you want the most recent training data — it shipped Dec 2025
Performance Benchmarks
Comparative analysis across standard metrics
MiniMax M2 outperforms in 6 benchmarks (GPQA, MMLU-Pro, SciCode, SWE-Bench Verified, Tau2 Telecom, Terminal-Bench), while Nemotron 3 Nano (30B A3B) is better at 2 benchmarks (AIME 2025, Humanity's Last Exam).
MiniMax M2 shows notably better performance in the majority of benchmarks.
Arena Performance
Human preference votes
Pricing Analysis
Price comparison per million tokens
For input processing, MiniMax M2 ($0.30/1M tokens) is 5.0x more expensive than Nemotron 3 Nano (30B A3B) ($0.06/1M tokens).
For output processing, MiniMax M2 ($1.20/1M tokens) is 5.0x more expensive than Nemotron 3 Nano (30B A3B) ($0.24/1M tokens).
In conclusion, MiniMax M2 is more expensive than Nemotron 3 Nano (30B A3B).*
* Using a 3:1 ratio of input to output tokens
Model Size
Parameter count comparison
MiniMax M2 has 198.0B more parameters than Nemotron 3 Nano (30B A3B), making it 618.8% larger.
Context Window
Maximum input and output token capacity
MiniMax M2 accepts 1,000,000 input tokens compared to Nemotron 3 Nano (30B A3B)'s 262,144 tokens. MiniMax M2 can generate longer responses up to 1,000,000 tokens, while Nemotron 3 Nano (30B A3B) is limited to 262,144 tokens.
License
Usage and distribution terms
MiniMax M2 is licensed under MIT, while Nemotron 3 Nano (30B A3B) uses NVIDIA Open Model License Agreement .
License differences may affect how you can use these models in commercial or open-source projects.
MIT
Open weights
NVIDIA Open Model License Agreement
Open weights
Release Timeline
When each model was launched
MiniMax M2 was released on 2025-10-27, while Nemotron 3 Nano (30B A3B) was released on 2025-12-15.
Nemotron 3 Nano (30B A3B) is 2 months newer than MiniMax M2.
Oct 27, 2025
7 months ago
Dec 15, 2025
5 months ago
1mo newerKnowledge Cutoff
When training data ends
Nemotron 3 Nano (30B A3B) has a documented knowledge cutoff of 2025-11-28, while MiniMax M2's cutoff date is not specified.
We can confirm Nemotron 3 Nano (30B A3B)'s training data extends to 2025-11-28, but cannot make a direct comparison without MiniMax M2's cutoff date.
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Nov 2025
Provider Availability
MiniMax M2 is available from MiniMax, Novita. Nemotron 3 Nano (30B A3B) is available from DeepInfra.
MiniMax M2
Nemotron 3 Nano (30B A3B)
Outputs Comparison
Key Takeaways
MiniMax M2
View detailsMiniMax
Detailed Comparison
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FAQ
Common questions about MiniMax M2 vs Nemotron 3 Nano (30B A3B).