Pick Amazon Nova Pro for multimodal input across text, image and video at $0.80/$3.20 or deep aws and bedrock integration for enterprise pipelines. Pick MiniMax M3 for open-weight 428b moe (~23b active per token) with a 1m-token context or native multimodal input — text, image and video. Choose MiniMax M3 if you need self-hosting or data privacy; Amazon Nova Pro if you want a managed API.
Amazon Nova Pro (Amazon, US) and MiniMax M3 (MiniMax, China) line up two different AI ecosystems against each other — a comparison that is as much about cost philosophy and openness as raw capability. Amazon Nova Pro is amazon's multimodal Bedrock model at $0.80/$3.20 with a 300K window — an enterprise-integrated generalist, not a frontier model. MiniMax M3 is miniMax's open-weight 428B multimodal model with a 1M context — strong reported coding (59.0 SWE-Bench Pro) at low entry pricing. They diverge most on price, context window and open vs. closed weights — each quantified below from the models' real specs.
Key differences
Price: MiniMax M3 is about 2.7× cheaper on input ($0.3/$1.2 per 1M tokens vs $0.8/$3.2 per 1M tokens) — meaningful once you are processing millions of tokens a month.
Context window: MiniMax M3 holds 3.5× more — 1M (~1,573 pages) vs 300K (~450 pages). But effective recall usually fades long before the advertised ceiling, so the bigger number only helps if the model reasons over it.
Recency: MiniMax M3 is the newer model by about 18 months (released June 2026), usually meaning fresher training data and capabilities.
Ecosystem: this is a US-vs-China matchup — they differ in pricing philosophy, data-residency options, and tooling ecosystems, not only benchmarks.
Specifications
Spec
Amazon Nova Pro
MiniMax M3
Provider
Amazon (US)
MiniMax (China)
Released
December 5, 2024
June 2026
Context window
300K (~450 pages)
1M (~1,573 pages)
Price (in/out)
$0.8/$3.2 per 1M tokens
$0.3/$1.2 per 1M tokens
Open weight?
No — API only
Yes — self-hostable
Modalities
text, image, video, code
text, image, video, code
SWE-Bench Verified
Not published
Not published
MRCR v2 @ 1M
Not published
Not published
Who wins what
Multimodal input across text, image and video at $0.80/$3.20: Amazon Nova Pro — MiniMax M3 is comparatively weak here — price doubles to $0.60/$2.40 above 512K tokens — not flat across 1M
Deep AWS and Bedrock integration for enterprise pipelines: Amazon Nova Pro — Amazon Nova Pro lists deep AWS and Bedrock integration for enterprise pipelines among its strengths; MiniMax M3 does not.
Balanced cost-to-capability for general business tasks: Amazon Nova Pro — Amazon Nova Pro lists balanced cost-to-capability for general business tasks among its strengths; MiniMax M3 does not.
Open-weight 428B MoE (~23B active per token) with a 1M-token context: MiniMax M3 — Its 1M window holds about 3.5× more than Amazon Nova Pro's 300K in a single prompt.
Native multimodal input — text, image and video: MiniMax M3 — MiniMax's open-weight 428B multimodal model with a 1M context — strong reported coding (59.0 SWE-Bench Pro) at low entry pricing — and it runs cheaper at $0.3/$1.2 per 1M tokens.
Reports 59.0 on SWE-Bench Pro (a strong open-weight score), surpassing GPT-5.5: MiniMax M3 — Open weights make this possible at all — Amazon Nova Pro is API-only, so it cannot leave the vendor's servers.
Lowest cost at scale: MiniMax M3 — At $0.3/$1.2 per 1M tokens, it is the cheaper of the two — the gap dominates the bill on high-volume workloads.
Largest single-prompt input: MiniMax M3 — Its 1M window is about 3.5× larger than Amazon Nova Pro's 300K, fitting roughly 1,573 pages in one prompt.
Which should you pick?
A cost-sensitive startup shipping high volume: MiniMax M3 — At $0.3/$1.2 per 1M tokens it undercuts Amazon Nova Pro, and on millions of tokens that margin decides the monthly bill.
Someone analysing very long documents or codebases: MiniMax M3 — Larger 1M window fits more in one prompt.
A team with data-privacy or self-hosting needs: MiniMax M3 — Open weights let you run it on your own hardware; Amazon Nova Pro is API-only.
Anyone whose priority is multimodal input across text, image and video at $0.80/$3.20: Amazon Nova Pro — It is specifically built for that.
Anyone whose priority is open-weight 428b moe (~23b active per token) with a 1m-token context: MiniMax M3 — That is its strongest area.
An enterprise with regional data-residency rules: Amazon Nova Pro or MiniMax M3 — Origin (US vs China) affects where data is processed and which compliance regime applies — check the provider's terms for your region.
Amazon Nova Pro: where it fits
Amazon's multimodal Bedrock model at $0.80/$3.20 with a 300K window — an enterprise-integrated generalist, not a frontier model. Released December 5, 2024 by Amazon, it is built for multimodal input across text, image and video at $0.80/$3.20, deep AWS and Bedrock integration for enterprise pipelines, balanced cost-to-capability for general business tasks, and a 300K context for long documents and mixed media.
Its trade-offs are real: not a frontier reasoning or coding model against 2026 flagships, no published SWE-Bench Verified score, best value is realised inside the AWS ecosystem, and late-2024 model — older than most of the field here. At $0.8 in / $3.2 out per million tokens, it sits in the budget price band.
MiniMax M3: where it fits
MiniMax's open-weight 428B multimodal model with a 1M context — strong reported coding (59.0 SWE-Bench Pro) at low entry pricing. Released June 2026 by MiniMax, it is built for open-weight 428B MoE (~23B active per token) with a 1M-token context, native multimodal input — text, image and video, reports 59.0 on SWE-Bench Pro (a strong open-weight score), surpassing GPT-5.5, and low entry pricing at $0.30/$1.20 per million up to 512K tokens.
Its trade-offs: price doubles to $0.60/$2.40 above 512K tokens — not flat across 1M, miniMax's own reported 80.5 SWE-Bench Verified figure is vendor-stated, not independently verified, sWE-Bench Pro is a different, harder benchmark than SWE-Bench Verified, and newer than M2.7 but with less independent testing so far. At $0.3 in / $1.2 out per million tokens, it sits in the budget price band.
The bottom line for this matchup
The defining split here is open vs. closed. MiniMax M3 gives you weights you control — self-host it, fine-tune it, keep data in-house, pay only for hardware. Amazon Nova Pro gives you a managed, always-updated API with no infrastructure to run. Teams with GPUs, privacy requirements, or huge volume often favour the open model; teams that want zero ops and the latest capabilities favour the closed one. Capability is close enough that this operational question, not the benchmark, usually decides it.
Frequently asked questions
Is Amazon Nova Pro or MiniMax M3 better for coding?
Public SWE-Bench figures are not available for either model, so the honest test is your own repository — run an identical real bug through both. By design, Amazon Nova Pro leans toward multimodal input across text, image and video at $0.80/$3.20 while MiniMax M3 leans toward open-weight 428b moe (~23b active per token) with a 1m-token context, and that positioning usually predicts which feels better on your codebase.
Which is cheaper, Amazon Nova Pro or MiniMax M3?
MiniMax M3 is open-weight, so self-hosting means no per-token fee (you pay for hardware instead), while Amazon Nova Pro is API-metered at $0.8/$3.2 per 1M tokens. For most teams without GPUs, the API model is cheaper to start; at very high volume, self-hosting can win.
Which has the bigger context window?
MiniMax M3 — 1M vs 300K, about 3.5× larger. Useful only if the model actually reasons over the full window, which not all do.
Can I use both Amazon Nova Pro and MiniMax M3 together?
Yes — a multi-model platform like LumiChats gives you Amazon Nova Pro, MiniMax M3 and 40+ others under one ₹69/day pass (about $1/day), so you can draft with one and cross-check with the other instead of buying two subscriptions.
Which is newer, Amazon Nova Pro or MiniMax M3?
MiniMax M3 — released June 2026, about 18 months after Amazon Nova Pro.
Amazon Nova Pro vs MiniMax M3
Amazon · US | MiniMax · China · Updated June 2026
Quick verdict
Pick Amazon Nova Pro for multimodal input across text, image and video at $0.80/$3.20 or deep aws and bedrock integration for enterprise pipelines. Pick MiniMax M3 for open-weight 428b moe (~23b active per token) with a 1m-token context or native multimodal input — text, image and video. Choose MiniMax M3 if you need self-hosting or data privacy; Amazon Nova Pro if you want a managed API.
Amazon Nova Pro (Amazon, US) and MiniMax M3 (MiniMax, China) line up two different AI ecosystems against each other — a comparison that is as much about cost philosophy and openness as raw capability. Amazon Nova Pro is amazon's multimodal Bedrock model at $0.80/$3.20 with a 300K window — an enterprise-integrated generalist, not a frontier model. MiniMax M3 is miniMax's open-weight 428B multimodal model with a 1M context — strong reported coding (59.0 SWE-Bench Pro) at low entry pricing. They diverge most on price, context window and open vs. closed weights — each quantified below from the models' real specs.
Key differences at a glance
▸Price: MiniMax M3 is about 2.7× cheaper on input ($0.3/$1.2 per 1M tokens vs $0.8/$3.2 per 1M tokens) — meaningful once you are processing millions of tokens a month.
▸Context window: MiniMax M3 holds 3.5× more — 1M (~1,573 pages) vs 300K (~450 pages). But effective recall usually fades long before the advertised ceiling, so the bigger number only helps if the model reasons over it.
▸Recency: MiniMax M3 is the newer model by about 18 months (released June 2026), usually meaning fresher training data and capabilities.
▸Ecosystem: this is a US-vs-China matchup — they differ in pricing philosophy, data-residency options, and tooling ecosystems, not only benchmarks.
Side-by-side specs
Spec
Amazon Nova Pro
MiniMax M3
Provider
Amazon (US)
MiniMax (China)
Released
December 5, 2024
June 2026
Context window
300K (~450 pages)
1M (~1,573 pages)
Price (in/out)
$0.8/$3.2 per 1M tokens
$0.3/$1.2 per 1M tokens
Open weight?
No — API only
Yes — self-hostable
Modalities
text, image, video, code
text, image, video, code
SWE-Bench Verified
Not published
Not published
MRCR v2 @ 1M
Not published
Not published
Who wins what
Multimodal input across text, image and video at $0.80/$3.20
Amazon Nova Pro
MiniMax M3 is comparatively weak here — price doubles to $0.60/$2.40 above 512K tokens — not flat across 1M
Deep AWS and Bedrock integration for enterprise pipelines
Amazon Nova Pro
Amazon Nova Pro lists deep AWS and Bedrock integration for enterprise pipelines among its strengths; MiniMax M3 does not.
Balanced cost-to-capability for general business tasks
Amazon Nova Pro
Amazon Nova Pro lists balanced cost-to-capability for general business tasks among its strengths; MiniMax M3 does not.
Open-weight 428B MoE (~23B active per token) with a 1M-token context
MiniMax M3
Its 1M window holds about 3.5× more than Amazon Nova Pro's 300K in a single prompt.
Native multimodal input — text, image and video
MiniMax M3
MiniMax's open-weight 428B multimodal model with a 1M context — strong reported coding (59.0 SWE-Bench Pro) at low entry pricing — and it runs cheaper at $0.3/$1.2 per 1M tokens.
Reports 59.0 on SWE-Bench Pro (a strong open-weight score), surpassing GPT-5.5
MiniMax M3
Open weights make this possible at all — Amazon Nova Pro is API-only, so it cannot leave the vendor's servers.
Lowest cost at scale
MiniMax M3
At $0.3/$1.2 per 1M tokens, it is the cheaper of the two — the gap dominates the bill on high-volume workloads.
Largest single-prompt input
MiniMax M3
Its 1M window is about 3.5× larger than Amazon Nova Pro's 300K, fitting roughly 1,573 pages in one prompt.
Which should you pick?
A cost-sensitive startup shipping high volume
→ MiniMax M3
At $0.3/$1.2 per 1M tokens it undercuts Amazon Nova Pro, and on millions of tokens that margin decides the monthly bill.
Someone analysing very long documents or codebases
→ MiniMax M3
Larger 1M window fits more in one prompt.
A team with data-privacy or self-hosting needs
→ MiniMax M3
Open weights let you run it on your own hardware; Amazon Nova Pro is API-only.
Anyone whose priority is multimodal input across text, image and video at $0.80/$3.20
→ Amazon Nova Pro
It is specifically built for that.
Anyone whose priority is open-weight 428b moe (~23b active per token) with a 1m-token context
→ MiniMax M3
That is its strongest area.
An enterprise with regional data-residency rules
→ Amazon Nova Pro or MiniMax M3
Origin (US vs China) affects where data is processed and which compliance regime applies — check the provider's terms for your region.
Amazon Nova Pro: where it fits
Amazon's multimodal Bedrock model at $0.80/$3.20 with a 300K window — an enterprise-integrated generalist, not a frontier model. Released December 5, 2024 by Amazon, it is built for multimodal input across text, image and video at $0.80/$3.20, deep AWS and Bedrock integration for enterprise pipelines, balanced cost-to-capability for general business tasks, and a 300K context for long documents and mixed media.
Its trade-offs are real: not a frontier reasoning or coding model against 2026 flagships, no published SWE-Bench Verified score, best value is realised inside the AWS ecosystem, and late-2024 model — older than most of the field here. At $0.8 in / $3.2 out per million tokens, it sits in the budget price band.
MiniMax M3: where it fits
MiniMax's open-weight 428B multimodal model with a 1M context — strong reported coding (59.0 SWE-Bench Pro) at low entry pricing. Released June 2026 by MiniMax, it is built for open-weight 428B MoE (~23B active per token) with a 1M-token context, native multimodal input — text, image and video, reports 59.0 on SWE-Bench Pro (a strong open-weight score), surpassing GPT-5.5, and low entry pricing at $0.30/$1.20 per million up to 512K tokens.
Its trade-offs: price doubles to $0.60/$2.40 above 512K tokens — not flat across 1M, miniMax's own reported 80.5 SWE-Bench Verified figure is vendor-stated, not independently verified, sWE-Bench Pro is a different, harder benchmark than SWE-Bench Verified, and newer than M2.7 but with less independent testing so far. At $0.3 in / $1.2 out per million tokens, it sits in the budget price band.
The bottom line for this matchup
The defining split here is open vs. closed. MiniMax M3 gives you weights you control — self-host it, fine-tune it, keep data in-house, pay only for hardware. Amazon Nova Pro gives you a managed, always-updated API with no infrastructure to run. Teams with GPUs, privacy requirements, or huge volume often favour the open model; teams that want zero ops and the latest capabilities favour the closed one. Capability is close enough that this operational question, not the benchmark, usually decides it.
Want both Amazon Nova Pro and MiniMax M3 without two subscriptions? LumiChats gives you these plus 40+ models under one ₹69/day pass (about $1/day) — draft with one, cross-check with the other.
Is Amazon Nova Pro or MiniMax M3 better for coding?
Public SWE-Bench figures are not available for either model, so the honest test is your own repository — run an identical real bug through both. By design, Amazon Nova Pro leans toward multimodal input across text, image and video at $0.80/$3.20 while MiniMax M3 leans toward open-weight 428b moe (~23b active per token) with a 1m-token context, and that positioning usually predicts which feels better on your codebase.
Which is cheaper, Amazon Nova Pro or MiniMax M3?
MiniMax M3 is open-weight, so self-hosting means no per-token fee (you pay for hardware instead), while Amazon Nova Pro is API-metered at $0.8/$3.2 per 1M tokens. For most teams without GPUs, the API model is cheaper to start; at very high volume, self-hosting can win.
Which has the bigger context window?
MiniMax M3 — 1M vs 300K, about 3.5× larger. Useful only if the model actually reasons over the full window, which not all do.
Can I use both Amazon Nova Pro and MiniMax M3 together?
Yes — a multi-model platform like LumiChats gives you Amazon Nova Pro, MiniMax M3 and 40+ others under one ₹69/day pass (about $1/day), so you can draft with one and cross-check with the other instead of buying two subscriptions.
Which is newer, Amazon Nova Pro or MiniMax M3?
MiniMax M3 — released June 2026, about 18 months after Amazon Nova Pro.
Specifications and benchmarks reflect publicly reported figures as of June 2026 and may change as providers release updates. Always verify on your own workload.