MiniMax M3 dropped with 1M context, native multimodal, open-weight (weights coming in about 10 days), a thinking mode toggle, and scores nearly the same as Opus 4.7 on coding benchmarks.

The first open-weight model to combine all three frontier capabilities in one package.

Benchmarks

On Terminal-Bench 2.1 (agentic terminal tasks), M3 scores 66.0, nearly identical to Opus 4.7's 66.1.

From my early testing, the frontend coding ability feels close to Opus 4.7 level.

Pricing

API pricing is close to DeepSeek level. Launch promo (7 days): $0.30/M input, $1.20/M output.

Two ways to test it

Method 1: OpenCode (Free)

MiniMax M3 is available for free in OpenCode. Install OpenCode, open the model selector, and pick "MiniMax M3 Free" under OpenCode Zen. No API key needed.

Method 2: Claude Code

You can use M3 inside Claude Code through MiniMax's Anthropic-compatible API endpoint. Drop this config into your Claude Code settings, using your own key from platform.minimax.io:

{
  "env": {
    "ANTHROPIC_AUTH_TOKEN": "YOUR_API_KEY",
    "ANTHROPIC_BASE_URL": "https://api.minimaxi.com/anthropic",
    "ANTHROPIC_DEFAULT_HAIKU_MODEL": "MiniMax-M3",
    "ANTHROPIC_DEFAULT_OPUS_MODEL": "MiniMax-M3",
    "ANTHROPIC_DEFAULT_SONNET_MODEL": "MiniMax-M3",
    "ANTHROPIC_MODEL": "MiniMax-M3",
    "API_TIMEOUT_MS": "3000000",
    "CLAUDE_CODE_DISABLE_NONESSENTIAL_TRAFFIC": "1"
  },
  "model": "MiniMax-M3"
}

Caveats

  • All benchmark numbers are MiniMax-supplied. Independent community testing is still early.
  • The 50% API discount is a 7-day launch promo.
  • Open-weight release is "within 10 days," not available yet.
  • Context above 512K tokens requires sales contact for now; public access coming soon.

Sources