Model Comparison

Seed 2.1 Pro vs MiniMax M3Which is better in 2026?

Seed 2.1 Pro shows notably better performance in the majority of benchmarks.

Verdict: Seed 2.1 Pro vs MiniMax M3 — which is better?

Seed 2.1 Pro (by ByteDance) and MiniMax M3 (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.

Seed 2.1 Pro outperforms in 8 benchmarks (APEX-Agents, BrowseComp, MCP Atlas, MMMU-Pro, NL2Repo, OfficeQA Pro, Terminal-Bench 2.1, Video-MME), while MiniMax M3 is better at 3 benchmarks (IMO 2025, PostTrainBench, SWE-Bench Pro). Seed 2.1 Pro shows notably better performance in the majority of benchmarks.

Choose Seed 2.1 Pro if…

  • you want the strongest raw capability — it leads on 8 of 11 shared benchmarks
  • you want the most recent training data — it shipped Jun 2026

Choose MiniMax M3 if…

  • you need open weights you can self-host or fine-tune

Performance Benchmarks

Comparative analysis across standard metrics

11 benchmarks

Seed 2.1 Pro outperforms in 8 benchmarks (APEX-Agents, BrowseComp, MCP Atlas, MMMU-Pro, NL2Repo, OfficeQA Pro, Terminal-Bench 2.1, Video-MME), while MiniMax M3 is better at 3 benchmarks (IMO 2025, PostTrainBench, SWE-Bench Pro).

Seed 2.1 Pro shows notably better performance in the majority of benchmarks.

Fri Jul 17 2026 • llm-stats.com

Arena Performance

Human preference votes

Context Window

Maximum input and output token capacity

Only MiniMax M3 specifies input context (512,000 tokens). Only MiniMax M3 specifies output context (131,072 tokens).

ByteDance
Seed 2.1 Pro
Input- tokens
Output- tokens
MiniMax
MiniMax M3
Input512,000 tokens
Output131,072 tokens
Fri Jul 17 2026 • llm-stats.com

Input Capabilities

Supported data types and modalities

Both Seed 2.1 Pro and MiniMax M3 support multimodal inputs.

They are both capable of processing various types of data, offering versatility in application.

Seed 2.1 Pro

Text
Images
Audio
Video

MiniMax M3

Text
Images
Audio
Video

License

Usage and distribution terms

Seed 2.1 Pro is licensed under a proprietary license, while MiniMax M3 uses MIT.

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

Seed 2.1 Pro

Proprietary

Closed source

MiniMax M3

MIT

Open weights

Release Timeline

When each model was launched

Seed 2.1 Pro was released on 2026-06-24, while MiniMax M3 was released on 2026-06-01.

Seed 2.1 Pro is 1 month newer than MiniMax M3.

Seed 2.1 Pro

Jun 24, 2026

3 weeks ago

3w newer
MiniMax M3

Jun 1, 2026

1 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

ByteDance
Higher APEX-Agents score (33.8% vs 27.7%)
Higher BrowseComp score (86.2% vs 83.5%)
Higher MCP Atlas score (83.8% vs 74.2%)
Higher MMMU-Pro score (82.7% vs 78.1%)
Higher NL2Repo score (47.0% vs 42.1%)
Higher OfficeQA Pro score (72.2% vs 45.1%)
Higher Terminal-Bench 2.1 score (71.0% vs 66.0%)
Higher Video-MME score (89.2% vs 85.4%)
MiniMax
Larger context window (512,000 tokens)
Has open weights
Higher IMO 2025 score (83.3% vs 65.2%)
Higher PostTrainBench score (37.1% vs 16.5%)
Higher SWE-Bench Pro score (59.0% vs 57.5%)

Detailed Comparison

Interactive Arena

Judge for yourself.

Run your own prompts against Seed 2.1 Pro and MiniMax M3 side-by-side, then vote on the output you prefer.

Seed 2.1 Pro
✓ Preferred
MiniMax M3
Open in Playground
AI Model Comparison Table
Feature
ByteDance
Seed 2.1 Pro
MiniMax
MiniMax M3

FAQ

Common questions about Seed 2.1 Pro vs MiniMax M3.

Which is better, Seed 2.1 Pro or MiniMax M3?

Seed 2.1 Pro shows notably better performance in the majority of benchmarks. Seed 2.1 Pro is made by ByteDance and MiniMax M3 is made by MiniMax. The best choice depends on your use case — compare their benchmark scores, pricing, and capabilities above.

How does Seed 2.1 Pro compare to MiniMax M3 in benchmarks?

Seed 2.1 Pro scores CharXiv-D: 95.5%, MathVision: 94.5%, MathVista: 90.7%, MathVerse: 89.7%, Video-MME: 89.2%. MiniMax M3 scores OmniDocBench 1.5: 91.6%, SpreadSheetBench-v1: 89.3%, USAMO 2026: 85.7%, Video-MME: 85.4%, VideoMMMU: 84.6%.

What are the context window sizes for Seed 2.1 Pro and MiniMax M3?

Seed 2.1 Pro supports an unknown number of tokens and MiniMax M3 supports 512K tokens. A larger context window lets you process longer documents, conversations, or codebases in a single request.

What are the main differences between Seed 2.1 Pro and MiniMax M3?

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

Who makes Seed 2.1 Pro and MiniMax M3?

Seed 2.1 Pro is developed by ByteDance and MiniMax M3 is developed by MiniMax.

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