Claude Sonnet 5 vs MiniMax M3
MiniMax M3 has been retired from our catalogue. Its figures below are the last published rates; calls to it are no longer served, while the other model in this comparison is.
Which one, when
Both share a 1,000,000-token context window and accept image input alongside text, so the split is mostly price, output length, and modality: claude-sonnet-5 costs about 6.7x more on input ($2 vs $0.3 per million) and about 8.3x more on output ($10 vs $1.2), with cache reads at $0.2 against $0.06. Pick minimax-m3 for high-volume or long-context work, for video input, or when you need single responses beyond 128000 tokens, since it allows up to 524288. Pick claude-sonnet-5 when you want Anthropic's toggleable thinking and explicit reasoning capability with a January 2026 knowledge cutoff.
Benchmarks
MiniMax M3: the vendor has not published benchmark scores.
Vendor-published: Alibaba (Qwen) Anthropic DeepSeek Google Moonshot OpenAI Tencent Z.ai
Pricing
| Claude Sonnet 5 | MiniMax M3 | Δ | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Input / 1M tokens | $2 | $0.3 | 6.7× |
| Output / 1M tokens | $10 | $1.2 | 8.3× |
| Cache read / 1M tokens | $0.2 | $0.06 | 3.3× |
| Cache write | 1.25x (5m) / 2x (1h) | no separate charge | - |
Rates from the live catalogue at build time; each model page carries the current rate card.
Where they sit · input price per 1M tokens across all 76 chat models on this billing unit (log scale)
Capabilities
| Claude Sonnet 5 | MiniMax M3 | |
|---|---|---|
| Tool calling | yes | yes |
| Thinking control | configurable | configurable |
| Structured output | yes | - |
| Prompt caching | explicit (you mark the prefix) | implicit (automatic) |
| Cache lifetime | 5m default, 1h option | not published |
| Minimum cached prefix | 1024 tokens | 512 tokens |
Specs
| Claude Sonnet 5 | MiniMax M3 | |
|---|---|---|
| Input modalities | text image | text image video |
| Output modalities | text | text |
| Released | 2026-06-30 | 2026-06-01 |
| Knowledge cutoff | 2026-01 | - |
| Context window | 1M | 1M |
| Max output | 128K | 524K |
| Thinking parameter |
|
|
| Accepted values | thinking.type
effort
"enabled" returns 400 | thinking.type
reasoning_split
|
| Default | thinking on (adaptive) effort
| adaptive: thinking on, with the model deciding when extra reasoning helps |
Specs are transcribed from each vendor’s documentation; a row a vendor does not publish is left out rather than inferred. Full sources: Claude Sonnet 5 · MiniMax M3
Switch between them with one line
Both ids are in every tab below; the highlighted pair of lines is the only edit. Same endpoint, same key, same request shape.
from openai import OpenAI
client = OpenAI(
base_url="https://synthorai.io/v1",
api_key="sk-syn-...",
)
resp = client.chat.completions.create(
model="claude-sonnet-5",
# model="minimax-m3", # uncomment this line, comment the one above
messages=[{"role": "user", "content": "Summarize this diff"}],
reasoning_effort="medium",
)
print(resp.choices[0].message.content)import OpenAI from "openai";
const client = new OpenAI({
baseURL: "https://synthorai.io/v1",
apiKey: "sk-syn-...",
});
const resp = await client.chat.completions.create({
model: "claude-sonnet-5",
// model: "minimax-m3", // uncomment this line, comment the one above
messages: [{ role: "user", content: "Summarize this diff" }],
reasoning_effort: "medium",
});
console.log(resp.choices[0].message.content);curl https://synthorai.io/v1/chat/completions \
-H "Authorization: Bearer sk-syn-..." \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{
"model": "claude-sonnet-5",
# "model": "minimax-m3", # uncomment this line, comment the one above
"messages": [{"role": "user", "content": "Hello"}],
"reasoning_effort": "medium"
}'package main
import (
"context"
"fmt"
"github.com/openai/openai-go/v3"
"github.com/openai/openai-go/v3/option"
)
func main() {
client := openai.NewClient(
option.WithBaseURL("https://synthorai.io/v1"),
option.WithAPIKey("sk-syn-..."),
)
resp, _ := client.Chat.Completions.New(context.TODO(), openai.ChatCompletionNewParams{
Model: "claude-sonnet-5",
// Model: "minimax-m3", // uncomment this line, comment the one above
Messages: []openai.ChatCompletionMessageParamUnion{
openai.UserMessage("Summarize this diff"),
},
ReasoningEffort: openai.ReasoningEffortMedium,
})
fmt.Println(resp.Choices[0].Message.Content)
}import com.openai.client.OpenAIClient;
import com.openai.client.okhttp.OpenAIOkHttpClient;
import com.openai.models.chat.completions.*;
import com.openai.models.ReasoningEffort;
OpenAIClient client = OpenAIOkHttpClient.builder()
.baseUrl("https://synthorai.io/v1")
.apiKey("sk-syn-...")
.build();
ChatCompletion resp = client.chat().completions().create(
ChatCompletionCreateParams.builder()
.model("claude-sonnet-5")
// .model("minimax-m3") // uncomment this line, comment the one above
.addUserMessage("Summarize this diff")
.reasoningEffort(ReasoningEffort.MEDIUM)
.build());
System.out.println(resp.choices().get(0).message().content().orElse(""));FAQ
Which is cheaper, Claude Sonnet 5 or MiniMax M3?
MiniMax M3 is cheaper on the "Input / 1M tokens" row ($0.3 vs $2, 6.7× apart). Other rows may point the other way; the table above carries the full rate card, and real cost depends on your mix.
Can I A/B test Claude Sonnet 5 against MiniMax M3 without two integrations?
Yes. Both are served through the same OpenAI-compatible endpoint with one API key. Switching is a one-line change to the model id, so you can route a fraction of traffic to each and compare bills directly.
Do Claude Sonnet 5 and MiniMax M3 support prompt caching?
Yes. Both bill cache reads below their input rate, so warm-prefix workloads cost less than the list rates suggest. The exact cache-read rows are in the pricing table above.