GPT-6 Luna Max vs MiniMax-M3.1-Flash: which responds faster?

MiniMax-M3.1-Flash leads the intelligence index 29.1 to 27.9. GPT-6 Luna Max costs 24% less on blended price. Benchmarks, sample bills, speed and a verdict.

Metric	GPT-6 Luna (Max)	MiniMax-M3.1-Flash
Intelligence Index	27.9	29.1
Input price (per 1M tokens)	$0.10	$0.15
Output price (per 1M tokens)	$0.50	$0.60
Output speed (tokens/s)	121	147
Time to first token	2.0 min	1.0s
Release date	2026-09-22	2026-10-19

Metric

GPT-6 Luna (Max)

MiniMax-M3.1-Flash

Intelligence Index

27.9

29.1

Input price (per 1M tokens)

$0.10

$0.15

Output price (per 1M tokens)

$0.50

$0.60

Output speed (tokens/s)

121

147

Time to first token

2.0 min

1.0s

Release date

2026-09-22

2026-10-19

If you only looked at the intelligence index, GPT-6 Luna (Max) and MiniMax-M3.1-Flash would be hard to tell apart. What separates them most is responsiveness; GPT-6 Luna Max takes 2.0 minutes to produce its first token, MiniMax-M3.1-Flash 1.0 seconds. The figures come from tracked catalogue data, not from our own testing, so treat them as a starting point for a trial on your tasks.

Speed and latency

GPT-6 Luna Max generates about 121 tokens per second and MiniMax-M3.1-Flash about 147 tokens per second. On long outputs, that is a real advantage for MiniMax-M3.1-Flash. Time to first token is 2.0 minutes for GPT-6 Luna Max and 1.0 seconds for MiniMax-M3.1-Flash. In an interactive app, MiniMax-M3.1-Flash will feel noticeably more responsive. Waits that long are felt on every chat-style request, though they matter less for batch jobs.

Add the two numbers up for a 400-token reply and MiniMax-M3.1-Flash finishes first: 2.1 minutes for GPT-6 Luna Max, 3.7 seconds for MiniMax-M3.1-Flash.

Generation gap

MiniMax-M3.1-Flash arrived on October 19, 2026, 27 days after GPT-6 Luna Max (September 22, 2026). That is close enough to count them as the same generation.

What they cost

GPT-6 Luna Max lists $0.10 per million input tokens and $0.50 per million output tokens; MiniMax-M3.1-Flash lists $0.15 and $0.60. That makes GPT-6 Luna Max's output 17% cheaper.

A reference job of 1 million input tokens and 200,000 output tokens costs $0.20 with GPT-6 Luna Max and $0.27 with MiniMax-M3.1-Flash, so GPT-6 Luna Max saves $0.070. A bigger example, a month of coding-assistant traffic at 30 million input and 3 million output tokens, costs $4.50 on GPT-6 Luna Max and $6.30 on MiniMax-M3.1-Flash: a gap of $1.80. Blended at three input tokens per output token, the effective rates are $0.20 for GPT-6 Luna Max and $0.262 for MiniMax-M3.1-Flash.

Reasoning and overall scores

The catalogue puts GPT-6 Luna Max at 27.9 and MiniMax-M3.1-Flash at 29.1 on its intelligence index. The lead is visible but narrow, so it should not decide the choice on its own. Put another way, GPT-6 Luna Max would need 4% more on this index to draw level.

Among 109 active scored models, GPT-6 Luna Max sits 62nd and MiniMax-M3.1-Flash 59th.

There are no coding or math index scores for either model in the catalogue, which keeps this comparison at the aggregate level.

Cost per point of intelligence

Dividing the blended price by the intelligence index gives a rough cost per point: $0.0072 for GPT-6 Luna Max and $0.0090 for MiniMax-M3.1-Flash, per million tokens. MiniMax-M3.1-Flash costs 1.3 times as much per point, which is the price of its lead.

Common questions about GPT-6 Luna Max and MiniMax-M3.1-Flash

Is GPT-6 Luna Max better than MiniMax-M3.1-Flash?

Neither wins everywhere: MiniMax-M3.1-Flash scores higher on the intelligence index, 29.1 to 27.9; GPT-6 Luna Max is 24% cheaper on blended price; and MiniMax-M3.1-Flash streams output 1.2 times as fast.

Which model has lower latency?

MiniMax-M3.1-Flash generates output faster, at 147 tokens per second against 121 tokens per second. MiniMax-M3.1-Flash reaches its first token sooner (1.0 seconds against 2.0 minutes).

When were GPT-6 Luna Max and MiniMax-M3.1-Flash released?

MiniMax-M3.1-Flash is newer. It was released on October 19, 2026, 27 days after GPT-6 Luna Max (September 22, 2026).

Are GPT-6 Luna Max and MiniMax-M3.1-Flash from the same company?

GPT-6 Luna Max is made by OpenAI and MiniMax-M3.1-Flash by MiniMax. GPT-6 Luna Max was released on September 22, 2026 and MiniMax-M3.1-Flash on October 19, 2026.

Was this comparison tested by hand?

The figures are the recorded benchmark, price and speed data in Franklin AI's model catalogue. This page is written from that data automatically; neither model was tested by hand for it.

Final whistle

On balance the numbers favour MiniMax-M3.1-Flash, though GPT-6 Luna Max keeps a case of its own. Pick GPT-6 Luna Max if cost matters ($0.50 against $0.60 per million output tokens). Pick MiniMax-M3.1-Flash if users are waiting on the first word and you need the higher overall score (29.1 against 27.9).

Where the numbers come from

The scores, speed and prices in this comparison come from independent third-party model evaluations that Franklin AI syncs each day, and the article was written from a snapshot of them. For the latest results, open the GPT-6 Luna (Max) and MiniMax-M3.1-Flash pages. The AI Benchmark methodology explains how that data is collected and shown.