Llama 3.2 3B Instruct vs MiniMax M3

    Comparison

    As of August 25, 2026, Llama 3.2 3B Instruct is 98% cheaper per million tokens than MiniMax M3. Llama 3.2 3B Instruct is $0.01 / $0.02 per million input/output tokens versus MiniMax M3 at $0.30 / $1.20. Sources: https://llama.meta.com/ and https://anotherwrapper.com/tools/llm-pricing

    Sources: Meta pricing (https://llama.meta.com/); AnotherWrapper LLM pricing (https://anotherwrapper.com/tools/llm-pricing)

    Better value

    Llama 3.2 3B Instruct

    Meta

    $0.03blended / 1M

    Input

    $0.01

    Output

    $0.02

    128K ctx|Open Source
    98%
    cheaper

    MiniMax M3

    MiniMax

    $1.50blended / 1M

    Input

    $0.30

    Output

    $1.20

    1M ctx|Open Source
    Save $1.47 per million tokens by choosing Llama 3.2 3B Instruct over MiniMax M3.

    Llama 3.2 3B Instruct vs MiniMax M3 comparison

    Token pricing, specs, and benchmarks side by side

    Metric
    Llama 3.2 3B Instruct
    MiniMax M3
    Provider
    Provider
    Meta
    MiniMax
    License
    Open Source
    Open Source
    Release Date
    2024-09-25
    2026-06-01
    Pricing (per 1M tokens)
    Input Price-97%
    $0.01
    $0.30
    Output Price-98%
    $0.02
    $1.20
    Blended (1M + 1M)
    $0.03
    $1.50
    Model Details
    Context Window
    128K
    1M
    Max Output Tokens
    128K
    131.1K
    Knowledge Cutoff
    N/A
    N/A
    Throughput
    171.5 tok/s
    N/A
    Benchmarks
    32.8%
    90.9%
    20.4%
    45.4%
    83.5%
    77.4%
    74.2%
    78.1%
    71.1%
    21.9%
    63.4%
    81.2%
    69.8%
    48%
    27.7%
    78.6%
    67%
    20.5%
    74.5%
    68.1%
    3.7%
    76.3%
    73.2%
    47.8%
    14.7%
    77.7%
    83.3%
    70.0%
    40.2%
    46.3%
    87.3%
    58.2%
    84.2%
    34.3%
    42.1%
    45.1%
    40.1%
    52.6%
    50.6%
    45.8%
    51.5%
    63.7%
    72.7%
    85.7%
    50.1%
    85.4%
    84.6%
    2100000

    Verdict

    Llama 3.2 3B Instruct vs MiniMax M3: the bottom line

    Both models are closely matched on benchmarks. Llama 3.2 3B Instruct has the pricing advantage, making it the better value unless MiniMax M3's specific capabilities are critical to your workflow.

    Llama 3.2 3B Instruct vs MiniMax M3 FAQ

    Which is cheaper, Llama 3.2 3B Instruct or MiniMax M3?

    As of August 25, 2026, Llama 3.2 3B Instruct is 98% cheaper on blended LLM API pricing. Llama 3.2 3B Instruct costs $0.01 per million input tokens and $0.02 per million output tokens ($0.03 blended 1M-in + 1M-out). MiniMax M3 costs $0.30 / $1.20 per million tokens ($1.50 blended). Sources: https://llama.meta.com/ and https://anotherwrapper.com/tools/llm-pricing. The cheapest LLM for your app still depends on how many output tokens you generate.

    How much does Llama 3.2 3B Instruct vs MiniMax M3 cost per million tokens?

    Llama 3.2 3B Instruct Meta API pricing is $0.01 input and $0.02 output per million tokens via Meta. MiniMax M3 MiniMax API pricing is $0.30 input and $1.20 output per million tokens via MiniMax. Use those four numbers, not ChatGPT Plus or Claude Pro subscription prices, when you are comparing APIs.

    Which is better for coding, Llama 3.2 3B Instruct or MiniMax M3?

    MiniMax M3 has a published SWE-bench Verified score of 80.5%. Llama 3.2 3B Instruct does not have that eval on this page yet.

    What is the context window for Llama 3.2 3B Instruct vs MiniMax M3?

    Llama 3.2 3B Instruct supports a 128K token context window, while MiniMax M3 supports 1M tokens. MiniMax M3 offers a larger context window. Filling a larger window bills more input tokens, so the cheaper-per-million model can still cost more on long documents.

    Which model performs better on benchmarks, Llama 3.2 3B Instruct or MiniMax M3?

    Shared benchmark scores for Llama 3.2 3B Instruct and MiniMax M3 are still limited. Check the comparison table for the evals each model has published. Check the comparison table for GPQA Diamond, SWE-bench, MMLU, HLE, and the other evals we track. Token price and benchmark score together are the usual LLM comparison, not either number alone.

    Is Llama 3.2 3B Instruct or MiniMax M3 better for production use?

    Both Llama 3.2 3B Instruct and MiniMax M3 are production API models. For cost-sensitive production traffic, Llama 3.2 3B Instruct has better economics on the blended 1M-in + 1M-out scale. For maximum capability, weight the benchmark table for your domain. Many production stacks route cheap models for drafts and a frontier model for the hard turn, which is usually cheaper than sending everything to the expensive API.

    Can I switch between Llama 3.2 3B Instruct and MiniMax M3 in my app?

    Yes. Call Llama 3.2 3B Instruct through Meta and MiniMax M3 through MiniMax with separate API keys, or through a gateway that already wraps both. Keep prompts in tokens, not characters, when you estimate the invoice. AnotherWrapper templates can swap providers without rewriting auth and billing.

    How accurate is this Llama 3.2 3B Instruct vs MiniMax M3 pricing data?

    List rates are the latest published Meta API pricing and MiniMax API pricing, quoted per million tokens. Official rate sheets: https://llama.meta.com/ and https://anotherwrapper.com/tools/llm-pricing. Prompt caching, batch APIs, and committed-use discounts can change the invoice. Benchmark scores are from official publications and independent evals, updated as new numbers land.

    What is the output token limit for Llama 3.2 3B Instruct and MiniMax M3?

    Llama 3.2 3B Instruct supports up to 128K output tokens per request, while MiniMax M3 supports up to 131K output tokens. Output tokens are usually the expensive half of API pricing, so a higher max output cap is a capability, not a discount.

    Which model has better throughput, Llama 3.2 3B Instruct or MiniMax M3?

    Llama 3.2 3B Instruct has a measured throughput of approximately 171.5 tokens/second. Throughput data for MiniMax M3 is not yet available. Throughput (tokens per second) and time-to-first-token are why two models with the same per-million-token price can still feel different in chat and agents.

    How do I switch the models in this Llama 3.2 3B Instruct vs MiniMax M3 comparison?

    Use the model pickers at the top of this LLM comparison. Search any model in the index and the URL updates. Open Llama 3.2 3B Instruct or MiniMax M3 from the sidebar for the single-model API pricing page, or go back to the LLM pricing table to sort by cheapest blended cost.

    Llama 3.2 3B Instruct vs MiniMax M3 pricing

    This comparison covers API pricing, context window, throughput, and benchmark scores. Llama 3.2 3B Instruct costs $0.01/M input and $0.02/M output. MiniMax M3 costs $0.30/M input and $1.20/M output.

    Rank both on the LLM leaderboard, SWE-bench, and Humanity's Last Exam.

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