Claude Sonnet 5
VS
MiniMax M3
Claude Sonnet 5 vs MiniMax M3: which wins at real work?
22 task areas · same graded test runs · rank comparison only, so 0–100 and Elo collections never mix raw scores.
MiniMax M3 wins 13 of 22 task areas we tested; Claude Sonnet 5 takes 9. MiniMax M3 costs 8.0× less per token ($1.5 vs $12 per 1M).
MiniMax M3 costs 8.0× less per token ($1.5 vs $12 per 1M).
Task by task
| Task area | Claude Sonnet 5 | MiniMax M3 | Winner |
|---|---|---|---|
| Product & Project Management |
#61
/ 110
Strong
|
#3
/ 110
Excellent
|
MiniMax M3 |
| Knowledge & Docs |
#18
/ 110
Strong
|
#67
/ 110
Usable
|
Claude Sonnet 5 |
| Chef / Home Cooking |
#28
/ 126
Usable
|
#74
/ 126
Usable
|
Claude Sonnet 5 |
| Coding |
#6
/ 115
Excellent
|
#49
/ 115
Strong
|
Claude Sonnet 5 |
| Content & Brand |
#67
/ 124
Strong
|
#28
/ 124
Strong
|
MiniMax M3 |
| Frontend & Landing Pages |
#57
/ 109
Needs editing
|
#20
/ 109
Needs editing
|
MiniMax M3 |
| Executive Assistant |
#72
/ 112
Strong
|
#39
/ 112
Strong
|
MiniMax M3 |
| Investor & Pitch |
#39
/ 66
Usable
|
#12
/ 66
Strong
|
MiniMax M3 |
| Customer Support |
#57
/ 113
Strong
|
#83
/ 113
Usable
|
Claude Sonnet 5 |
| AI Strategy |
#2
/ 126
Strong
|
#27
/ 126
Strong
|
Claude Sonnet 5 |
| Creative & Comedy | #79 / 110 | #55 / 110 | MiniMax M3 |
| Legal & HR |
#57
/ 110
Excellent
|
#34
/ 110
Excellent
|
MiniMax M3 |
| Summarization & Meeting Notes |
#58
/ 110
Excellent
|
#79
/ 110
Excellent
|
Claude Sonnet 5 |
| Research & Competitive Analysis |
#15
/ 110
Excellent
|
#33
/ 110
Strong
|
Claude Sonnet 5 |
| Data & Analytics |
#16
/ 110
Excellent
|
#1
/ 110
Excellent
|
MiniMax M3 |
| RAG, Safety & Grounding |
#86
/ 113
Excellent
|
#72
/ 113
Excellent
|
MiniMax M3 |
| Sales |
#16
/ 110
Strong
|
#2
/ 110
Strong
|
MiniMax M3 |
| Translation & Localization |
#41
/ 110
Excellent
|
#55
/ 110
Excellent
|
Claude Sonnet 5 |
| Landing Pages |
#12
/ 72
Strong
|
#2
/ 72
Strong
|
MiniMax M3 |
| Training & Education |
#52
/ 110
Excellent
|
#42
/ 110
Excellent
|
MiniMax M3 |
| Presentations & Decks |
#22
/ 110
Excellent
|
#29
/ 110
Excellent
|
Claude Sonnet 5 |
| Structured Output |
#69
/ 113
Strong
|
#65
/ 113
Strong
|
MiniMax M3 |
Rank = position among every model config we tested in that task area (lower is better). Sorted by biggest gap first.
Same task, both models — judged
Both models answered the same test case; an independent judge graded each. Quotes are the judge's actual rationale.
Coding
Performance optimization (Code Quality and Testing Test)
“The candidate provides a highly effective and correct optimization using batching and window functions, handles edge cases like empty results, and offers a comprehensive, insightful discussion of tradeoffs.”
“The solution contains major failures including a severe SQL performance regression and non-executable Python code.”
Frequently asked
Is Claude Sonnet 5 better than MiniMax M3?
Across 22 task areas we benchmarked, MiniMax M3 ranks higher in 13 and Claude Sonnet 5 in 9.
Which is cheaper, Claude Sonnet 5 or MiniMax M3?
MiniMax M3 costs 8.0× less per token ($1.5 vs $12 per 1M).
What is Claude Sonnet 5 better at?
Claude Sonnet 5 out-ranks MiniMax M3 at Knowledge & Docs, Chef / Home Cooking, Coding.
What is MiniMax M3 better at?
MiniMax M3 out-ranks Claude Sonnet 5 at Product & Project Management, Content & Brand, Frontend & Landing Pages.
More comparisons
This page is Spring Prompt, running in public
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Prompt × model results
12 test cases · 3 evals