MiniMax-M3.1-Flash vs Step 5 Preview compared

MiniMax-M3.1-Flash leads the intelligence index 29.1 to 28.5. Compare price, speed, latency and a clear verdict.

Metric	MiniMax-M3.1-Flash	Step 5 Preview
Intelligence Index	29.1	28.5
Input price (per 1M tokens)	$0.15	$1.00
Output price (per 1M tokens)	$0.60	$2.70
Output speed (tokens/s)	147	151
Time to first token	1.0s	0.91s
Release date	2026-10-19	2026-09-18

Metric

MiniMax-M3.1-Flash

Step 5 Preview

Intelligence Index

29.1

28.5

Input price (per 1M tokens)

$0.15

$1.00

Output price (per 1M tokens)

$0.60

$2.70

Output speed (tokens/s)

147

151

Time to first token

1.0s

0.91s

Release date

2026-10-19

2026-09-18

MiniMax-M3.1-Flash and Step 5 Preview are close rivals from MiniMax and StepFun. Price separates them more than anything else; on a blended basis Step 5 Preview costs 5.4 times as much as MiniMax-M3.1-Flash. 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.

Price per token

Per million tokens, MiniMax-M3.1-Flash charges $0.15 for input and $0.60 for output, while Step 5 Preview charges $1.00 and $2.70. For output tokens, Step 5 Preview is 4.5 times the price of MiniMax-M3.1-Flash.

For a sample workload of 1 million input tokens and 200,000 output tokens, MiniMax-M3.1-Flash would cost $0.27 and Step 5 Preview $1.54, a difference of $1.27. A bigger example, extracting fields from 20,000 pages of 1,500 tokens into 150-token records, costs $6.30 on MiniMax-M3.1-Flash and $38.10 on Step 5 Preview: a gap of $31.80. Blended at three input tokens per output token, the effective rates are $0.262 for MiniMax-M3.1-Flash and $1.425 for Step 5 Preview.

Throughput and time to first token

Once a response is under way, MiniMax-M3.1-Flash produces roughly 147 tokens per second against 151 tokens per second for Step 5 Preview. There is little to choose between them on raw output speed. The wait for the first token averages 1.0 seconds on MiniMax-M3.1-Flash against 0.91 seconds on Step 5 Preview.

Add the two numbers up for a 2,000-token reply and Step 5 Preview finishes first: 15 seconds for MiniMax-M3.1-Flash, 14 seconds for Step 5 Preview.

Overall capability: 0.6 points apart

The catalogue puts MiniMax-M3.1-Flash at 29.1 and Step 5 Preview at 28.5 on its intelligence index. A gap that small is inside the range where one aggregate cannot name a winner.

Among 109 active scored models, MiniMax-M3.1-Flash sits 59th and Step 5 Preview 61st.

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

Generation gap

Step 5 Preview came first, on September 18, 2026; MiniMax-M3.1-Flash followed on October 19, 2026. That is close enough to count them as the same generation.

Score per dollar

Per point of intelligence index, MiniMax-M3.1-Flash costs $0.0090 of blended price per million tokens and Step 5 Preview $0.050. MiniMax-M3.1-Flash scores higher and costs less per point, so on price per point there is nothing to trade off.

Quick answers

Is MiniMax-M3.1-Flash better than Step 5 Preview?

MiniMax-M3.1-Flash comes out ahead on every measure the data separates: MiniMax-M3.1-Flash scores higher on the intelligence index, 29.1 to 28.5; and MiniMax-M3.1-Flash is 82% cheaper on blended price.

Are MiniMax-M3.1-Flash and Step 5 Preview from the same company?

MiniMax-M3.1-Flash is made by MiniMax and Step 5 Preview by StepFun. MiniMax-M3.1-Flash was released on October 19, 2026 and Step 5 Preview on September 18, 2026.

When were MiniMax-M3.1-Flash and Step 5 Preview released?

MiniMax-M3.1-Flash is newer. It was released on October 19, 2026, 31 days after Step 5 Preview (September 18, 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.

Is Step 5 Preview cheaper than MiniMax-M3.1-Flash?

MiniMax-M3.1-Flash is cheaper on a blended basis. MiniMax-M3.1-Flash lists $0.15 per million input tokens and $0.60 per million output tokens; Step 5 Preview lists $1.00 and $2.70. For 1 million input and 200,000 output tokens that is $0.27 against $1.54.

Final whistle

In one line: MiniMax-M3.1-Flash wins every category the data separates; Step 5 Preview would need an advantage that is not in the catalogue. Pick Step 5 Preview only if your own tests show an advantage the recorded data does not. Pick MiniMax-M3.1-Flash if cost matters ($0.60 against $2.70 per million output tokens) and you want the more recent release.

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 MiniMax-M3.1-Flash and Step 5 Preview pages. The AI Benchmark methodology explains how that data is collected and shown.