Gemini 3.8 Flash vs MiniMax M3.1 Flash: Specs & Benchmark Comparison
Gemini 3.8 Flash is developed by Google, while MiniMax M3.1 Flash comes from MiniMax. Gemini 3.8 Flash was released in September 2026, and MiniMax M3.1 Flash followed a month later in October 2026.
The two models share 5 published benchmarks. They split them evenly, 2 to 2. The widest gaps are on Terminal-Bench 4.0, where MiniMax M3.1 Flash scores 38.1% against 19.1%; GDP.pdf, where Gemini 3.8 Flash scores 35.0% against 20.8%. Averaged across everything we track, Gemini 3.8 Flash sits at 59.2% and MiniMax M3.1 Flash at 56.4%.
MiniMax M3.1 Flash is the cheaper API at $0.15 per million input tokens and $0.60 per million output tokens, roughly 5 times cheaper than Gemini 3.8 Flash at $0.75 and $3.75. Both accept a context window of about 1M tokens. Gemini 3.8 Flash accepts text, images, audio, and video as input, while MiniMax M3.1 Flash accepts text, images, and video.
| Characteristic | Gemini 3.8 Flash | MiniMax M3.1 Flash |
|---|---|---|
| Company | MiniMax | |
| Release Date | September 2, 2026 | October 19, 2026 |
| Parameters | — | — |
| Multimodal | Yes | Yes |
| Context (input) | 1.0M | 1.0M |
| Context (output) | 66K | 524K |
| Input Price / 1M | $0.75 | $0.15 |
| Output Price / 1M | $3.75 | $0.60 |
| Average Score | 59.2% | 56.4% |
| Benchmarks | ||
| Terminal-Bench 4.0 | 19.1% | 38.1% |
| GDP.pdf | 35.0% | 20.8% |
| CharXiv-R | 86.2% | 82.5% |
| OSWorld 2.0 | 59.0% | 61.7% |
| DeepSWE 1.1 | 73.7% | 73.7% |
Visual Benchmark Comparison
Verdict
MiniMax M3.1 Flash leads in 2 out of 4 comparison categories.
Both models show comparable average scores: Gemini 3.8 Flash — 0.6, MiniMax M3.1 Flash — 0.6.
MiniMax M3.1 Flash is 6.0x cheaper: input $0.15/1M vs $0.75/1M tokens.
Same context size: 1M tokens.
MiniMax M3.1 Flash is newer: released 10/19/2026 vs 9/2/2026.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Which is better for coding — Gemini 3.8 Flash or MiniMax M3.1 Flash?
Which model is cheaper — Gemini 3.8 Flash or MiniMax M3.1 Flash?
Which has a larger context window — Gemini 3.8 Flash or MiniMax M3.1 Flash?
The Gemini 3.8 Flash and MiniMax M3.1 Flash comparison is updated for 2026. Data includes benchmark results, API pricing, context window size and other specifications. For more detailed information, visit the Gemini 3.8 Flash or MiniMax M3.1 Flash page. See also the complete list of AI model comparisons.