Grok 4.5 vs MiniMax-M3
Cost and capability comparison. For a sample workload of 1,000 input and 500 output tokens across 100,000 requests/month, MiniMax-M3 is cheaper by about $410.00/month.
| Grok 4.5 | MiniMax-M3 | |
|---|---|---|
| Intelligence | ||
| Arena · Overall(LMArena Elo — higher is better) | 1450✓ | 1433 |
| Arena rank (overall) | #27✓ | #46 |
| Arena · Coding | 1555✓ | 1487 |
| Arena · Math & reasoning | 1445✓ | — |
| Arena · Agentic / tool use | 1420✓ | — |
| Score evidence | Measured | Measured |
| Pricing (USD / 1M tokens) | ||
| Input | $2.00 | $0.3000✓ |
| Output | $6.00 | $1.20✓ |
| Cached input (read) | $0.3000 | $0.0600✓ |
| Cache write | — | — |
| Blended(3:1 input:output blend) | $3.00 | $0.5250✓ |
| Specs & capabilities | ||
| Provider | xAI | MiniMax |
| Context window | 500K (500,000) | 1M (1,000,000)✓ |
| Max output | — | 128,000✓ |
| Modalities | text | text |
| Vision | Yes | No |
| Tool use | Yes | Yes |
| Reasoning | Yes | Yes |
| Prompt caching | Yes | Yes |
| Batch pricing | No | No |
| Tokenizer | approx | approx |
| Release date | — | — |
| Status | ga | ga |
Intelligence scores are community Arena ratings from LMArena / arena.ai, used under CC BY 4.0. Snapshot last refreshed 18 September 2026. Scores are a relative signal, not an absolute measure of capability. A Measured score was voted on directly; an Estimated score is inherited from an identical base model (a regional/creator-prefixed hosting duplicate). See our methodology.
Compare on your own workload
Grok 4.5 and MiniMax-M3 are pre-loaded. Adjust the tokens and monthly volume to see which is cheaper for your usage.
Used unless you set active users below.
Results update automatically as you type.
| MiniMax-M3 | MiniMax | $0.000900 | $90.00 | $1,080.00 | 1,000,000 |
| Grok 4.5 | xAI | $0.00500 | $500.00 | $6,000.00 | 500,000 |
FAQ
Which is cheaper, Grok 4.5 or MiniMax-M3?
For a workload of 1,000 input and 500 output tokens over 100,000 requests/month, MiniMax-M3 is cheaper, costing about $90.00/month versus $500.00/month.
What is the context window of Grok 4.5 and MiniMax-M3?
Grok 4.5 supports 500,000 tokens, while MiniMax-M3 supports 1,000,000 tokens.
Estimates for planning only. Verify current pricing with each provider.