text model comparison
GPT-5.6 Luna vs MiniMax M3.1 Flash
GPT-5.6 Luna and MiniMax M3.1 Flash are both current text models, from OpenAI and MiniMax. MiniMax M3.1 Flash is 25% cheaper per 1M input tokens than GPT-5.6 Luna, $0.15 vs $0.20. GPT-5.6 Luna has the larger context window, 1,050,000 vs 1,000,000 tokens.
- Lower price per 1M input tokens
- MiniMax M3.1 Flash$0.15 against $0.20
- Longer context window
- GPT-5.6 Luna1.05M tokens against 1M tokens
- Newer release
- MiniMax M3.1 FlashOct 2026 against Jul 2026
Data verified October 23, 2026 · Dataset 2026-10-23
Side by side
GPT-5.6 Luna and MiniMax M3.1 Flash, line by line
Prices in effect today, compared at the same tier wherever both list one. The better value in each row is highlighted.
| Fact | GPT-5.6 Luna | MiniMax M3.1 Flash |
|---|---|---|
| Price | ||
| Price per 1M input tokens | $0.20 | $0.15 (better) |
| Price per 1M output tokens | $1.20 | $0.60 (better) |
| Independent benchmarks | ||
| Arena Text | 1452 Elo (#34 of 49) | Not measured |
| GPQA Diamond | 91.6% (#20 of 40) | Not measured |
| FrontierMath Tiers 1-3 (v2) | 82.1% (#12 of 40) | Not measured |
| SimpleQA Verified | 41% (#27 of 36) | Not measured |
| Specs | ||
| Provider | OpenAI | MiniMax |
| Release date | July 9, 2026 | October 19, 2026 |
| Access | API only | API and open weights |
| Context window | 1,050,000 tokens | 1,000,000 tokens |
| Max output | 128,000 tokens | Not reported |
| Input | text, image | text, image, video |
| Output | text | text |
No independent benchmark has scored both models yet. Each rank counts the current models scored on that benchmark.
Charts
Against every current text model
Where GPT-5.6 Luna and MiniMax M3.1 Flash land among the current models of their task, on every independent benchmark, on price and on context.
Where each stands
Only GPT-5.6 Luna has a current Arena Text score: #34 of 49. Each bar is the share of current models it beats.
Independent benchmarks
Arena Text
GPT-5.6 Luna:#34of 49
1,452 Elo · ahead of 31%
MiniMax M3.1 Flash: Not scored
GPQA Diamond
GPT-5.6 Luna:#20of 40
91.6% · ahead of 51%
MiniMax M3.1 Flash: Not scored
FrontierMath Tiers 1-3 (v2)
GPT-5.6 Luna:#12of 40
82.1% · ahead of 72%
MiniMax M3.1 Flash: Not scored
SimpleQA Verified
GPT-5.6 Luna:#27of 36
41% · ahead of 23%
MiniMax M3.1 Flash: Not scored
Price and context
Price per 1M input tokens
GPT-5.6 Luna:#7of 49
$0.20 · cheaper than 83%
MiniMax M3.1 Flash:#5of 49
$0.15 · cheaper than 90%
Price per 1M output tokens
GPT-5.6 Luna:#10of 49
$1.20 · cheaper than 77%
MiniMax M3.1 Flash:#6of 49
$0.60 · cheaper than 90%
Context window
GPT-5.6 Luna:#1of 64
1.05M tokens · longer than 87%
MiniMax M3.1 Flash:#26of 64
1M tokens · longer than 22%
Quality against price
GPT-5.6 Luna scores 1,452 at $0.45 (blended price per 1M tokens). The line joins the current models no other beats on both price and Arena Text score; hover any point to name it.
Quality against price: the data
| Model | Provider | Blended price per 1M tokens | Arena Text (Elo) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gemini 4 Argon | $4 | 1,525 | |
| Claude Opus 5.5 | Anthropic | $8 | 1,507 |
| Claude Fable 5 | Anthropic | $20 | 1,504 |
| Claude Fable 5.1 | Anthropic | $20 | 1,501 |
| Gemini 3.8 Flash | $1.50 | 1,497 | |
| Muse Spark 1.3 | Meta | $2 | 1,494 |
| Claude Opus 5 | Anthropic | $10 | 1,490 |
| Kimi K3 | Moonshot Kimi | $6 | 1,488 |
| Gemini 3.7 Flash | $1.50 | 1,486 | |
| GPT-5.6 Sol | OpenAI | $8 | 1,485 |
| GPT-6.1 Sol | OpenAI | $4 | 1,484 |
| Qwen3.8-Max | Alibaba Qwen | $3 | 1,483 |
| GPT-5.5 | OpenAI | $11 | 1,482 |
| Gemini 3.6 Flash | $3 | 1,482 | |
| Claude Opus 4.8 | Anthropic | $10 | 1,481 |
| MiMo-V2.6-Pro | Xiaomi MiMo | $0.54 | 1,480 |
| GLM-5.3 | Z.ai | $2.15 | 1,478 |
| Claude Sonnet 5.5 | Anthropic | $4 | 1,476 |
| GPT-5.4 | OpenAI | $5.63 | 1,475 |
| GPT-6 Astra | OpenAI | $20 | 1,475 |
| DeepSeek-V4.1-Flash | DeepSeek | $0.52 | 1,475 |
| GLM-5.3-Flash | Z.ai | $0.24 | 1,475 |
| Gemini 3 Flash Preview | $1.13 | 1,473 | |
| Grok 4.20 | xAI | $1.56 | 1,472 |
| GPT-5.6 Terra | OpenAI | $4.50 | 1,466 |
| Grok 4.5 | xAI | $3 | 1,466 |
| DeepSeek-V4-Pro | DeepSeek | $1.98 | 1,465 |
| Claude Sonnet 5 | Anthropic | $4 | 1,461 |
| GPT-6 Sol | OpenAI | $4 | 1,456 |
| Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite | $0.85 | 1,455 | |
| Grok 4.6 | xAI | $3 | 1,454 |
| GPT-5.6 Luna | OpenAI | $0.45 | 1,452 |
| MiMo-V2.6-Flash | Xiaomi MiMo | $0.18 | 1,451 |
| GPT-6 Luna | OpenAI | $0.20 | 1,443 |
| Grok 4.7 | xAI | $3 | 1,443 |
| Grok 4.3 | xAI | $1.56 | 1,442 |
| Mistral Large 4 | Mistral AI | $2.06 | 1,429 |
| GPT-4.1 | OpenAI | $3.50 | 1,415 |
| Solar Pro 4 | Upstage | $0.52 | 1,386 |
| GPT-4.1 mini | OpenAI | $0.70 | 1,383 |
| GPT-4.1 nano | OpenAI | $0.18 | 1,322 |
Cost
What each costs
Example workloads at each provider's listed rates, then every other rate either one lists. The cheaper figure in each row is highlighted.
The same work, priced
For 10M input and 2M output tokens, GPT-5.6 Luna costs 1.6 times as much as MiniMax M3.1 Flash, at each provider's listed rates.
10M input and 2M output tokens
GPT-5.6 Luna costs 1.6× as much
- GPT-5.6 Luna
- $4.40
- MiniMax M3.1 Flash
- $2.70
The same, with 9M of the input tokens cached
GPT-5.6 Luna costs 1.9× as much
- GPT-5.6 Luna
- $2.78
- MiniMax M3.1 Flash
- $1.49
| Workload or rate | GPT-5.6 Luna | MiniMax M3.1 Flash |
|---|---|---|
| Example workloads | ||
| 10M input and 2M output tokens | $4.40 | $2.70 (better) |
| The same, with 9M of the input tokens cached | $2.78 | $1.49 (better) |
| Other listed rates | ||
| 1M input tokens, cached | $0.02 | $0.015 (better) |
Verdict
When to choose each
GPT-5.6 Luna
Where it leads
- Larger context window 1,050,000 vs 1,000,000 tokens
Best for
- High-volume API evaluation with published low token prices
- Subagents and batch reasoning where cost per call dominates
Watch out for
- Not in the pinned LiveBench snapshot; its independent scores here come from Epoch AI's own GPQA Diamond, FrontierMath and SimpleQA Verified runs
MiniMax M3.1 Flash
Where it leads
- Lower input and output prices, $0.15 and $0.60 vs $0.20 and $1.20 per 1M tokens
- Accepts video input
- Open weights you can run yourself
- Cheaper cached input, $0.015 vs $0.02 per 1M tokens
Best for
- Low-cost coding and agent loops
- Long-context multimodal work on a budget
Watch out for
- Thinking cannot be turned off; effort runs from low to max, and max is the default
- MiniMax gives two parameter counts (about 428B in the model card, 220B in the file metadata), and no independent benchmark score is recorded here yet
From benchmark to production
Building on GPT-5.6 Luna or MiniMax M3.1 Flash?
Public scores rarely hold on your own data. We test both models on your real tasks, then build the agent or pipeline around the one that wins.
FAQ
GPT-5.6 Luna vs MiniMax M3.1 Flash FAQ
Which is cheaper, GPT-5.6 Luna or MiniMax M3.1 Flash?
MiniMax M3.1 Flash is 25% cheaper per 1M input tokens than GPT-5.6 Luna, $0.15 vs $0.20. For 10M input and 2M output tokens, GPT-5.6 Luna costs $4.40 and MiniMax M3.1 Flash $2.70 at standard rates.
Which is cheaper with prompt caching, GPT-5.6 Luna or MiniMax M3.1 Flash?
GPT-5.6 Luna charges $0.02 per 1M cached input tokens, 90% below its standard input rate, and MiniMax M3.1 Flash $0.015, 90% below. With 9M of 10M input tokens cached and 2M output tokens, GPT-5.6 Luna costs $2.78 and MiniMax M3.1 Flash $1.49.
Which has the larger context window, GPT-5.6 Luna or MiniMax M3.1 Flash?
GPT-5.6 Luna has the larger context window, 1,050,000 vs 1,000,000 tokens.
How do GPT-5.6 Luna and MiniMax M3.1 Flash differ in features?
GPT-5.6 Luna takes text and image input; MiniMax M3.1 Flash takes text, image and video.
Can I run GPT-5.6 Luna or MiniMax M3.1 Flash myself?
MiniMax M3.1 Flash is released as open weights you can run yourself; GPT-5.6 Luna is available through its provider's API only.
Further reading
More on GPT-5.6 Luna and MiniMax M3.1 Flash
Articles on GPT-5.6 Luna and MiniMax M3.1 Flash
Related comparisons
- GPT-5.6 Luna vs GPT-5.6 Sol
- GLM-5.3-Flash vs MiniMax M3.1 Flash
- GPT-5.6 Luna vs GPT-5.6 Terra
- Mercury 2.5 vs MiniMax M3.1 Flash
- GLM-5.3-Flash vs GPT-5.6 Luna
- Mercury 3 vs MiniMax M3.1 Flash
- Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite vs GPT-5.6 Luna
- MiMo-V2.6-Flash vs MiniMax M3.1 Flash
- GPT-5.6 Luna vs MiMo-V2.6-Flash
- MiniMax M3.1 Flash vs Qwen3.8-Omni-Flash
- GPT-5.6 Luna vs Mercury 3
- GPT-5.6 Luna vs Qwen3.8-Omni-Flash
Production evaluation
Choosing between GPT-5.6 Luna and MiniMax M3.1 Flash?
Public benchmarks narrow the shortlist. We run both on your own tasks, data and cost limits, then build the routing and review controls to run the winner in production.
- A head-to-head evaluation on your real workload
- Routing between models by cost and difficulty