Claude Sonnet 5.5 vs MiniMax M3.1 Flash
| Spec | Claude Sonnet 5.5 | MiniMax M3.1 Flash |
|---|---|---|
| Respan Index | 72.9 (#2) | 51.8 (#31) |
| Blended price per 1M | $2 | $0.131 |
| Context window | 1M | 1M |
| Input / output per 1M | $1 / $5 | $0.075 / $0.3 |
| Max output | 128K | - |
| Input | text, vision | text, vision, video |
| Released | 2026-09-28 | 2026-10-19 |
Respan Index by category
Each category is scored 0 to 100, and how far ahead the winner is. Leads under a point are close to even.
| Category | Claude Sonnet 5.5 | MiniMax M3.1 Flash |
|---|---|---|
| Coding | 78.6 Claude Sonnet 5.5 | 40.7 MiniMax M3.1 Flash |
| Agents | 78.5 Claude Sonnet 5.5 | 56.3 MiniMax M3.1 Flash |
| Reasoning | 79.0 Claude Sonnet 5.5 | 55.4 MiniMax M3.1 Flash |
| Knowledge & language | 48.5 Claude Sonnet 5.5 | 54.0* MiniMax M3.1 Flash |
| Human preference | 60.2 Claude Sonnet 5.5 | 55.5 MiniMax M3.1 Flash |
* Estimated: no published scores in that category. How the Respan Index works
Benchmarks both report
Claude Sonnet 5.5 leads on 4 of the 4 benchmarks both report. Higher is better. Each score links to where it was published.
| Benchmark | Claude Sonnet 5.5 | MiniMax M3.1 Flash |
|---|---|---|
| SAGE 1.1 (Vals AI) | 88% | 85.3% |
| LMArena Agent (LMArena) | 0.1384 | -0.0396 |
| LMArena WebDev (LMArena) | 1770 | 1583 |
| Terminal-Bench 4.0 (Vals AI) | 64.1% | 25.3% |
FAQ
Is Claude Sonnet 5.5 better than MiniMax M3.1 Flash?
Claude Sonnet 5.5 scores 72.9 on the Respan Index (#2), ahead of MiniMax M3.1 Flash at 51.8 (#31). Claude Sonnet 5.5 leads on 4 of the 4 benchmarks both report.
Which is cheaper, Claude Sonnet 5.5 or MiniMax M3.1 Flash?
Claude Sonnet 5.5 lists at $1 input and $5 output per 1M tokens; MiniMax M3.1 Flash at $0.075 and $0.3. MiniMax M3.1 Flash is 15x cheaper per token at list price.
Which has the larger context window?
Both accept 1M tokens of context.