Command A vs MiniMax M3.1 Flash
Cohere · Global | MiniMax · China · Updated June 2026
Quick verdict
Pick Command A for enterprise rag and retrieval or strong long-context retrieval accuracy. Pick MiniMax M3.1 Flash for $0.15/$0.60 per million tokens (cached $0.015) with flat pricing regardless of prompt length or 428b-parameter moe (about 23b active) with weights on hugging face from october 23, 2026. On a tight budget at scale, MiniMax M3.1 Flash is the value pick.
Command A (Cohere) and MiniMax M3.1 Flash (MiniMax) are two of the models people most often weigh against each other in 2026. Command A is cohere's enterprise-focused model built for retrieval-augmented and grounded workloads. MiniMax M3.1 Flash is miniMax's October 19, 2026 always-thinking agentic Flash model - 1M context, text/image/video input, $0.15/$0.60 and open weights under a community license. They diverge most on price and context window — each quantified below from the models' real specs.
Key differences at a glance
- ▸Price: MiniMax M3.1 Flash is about 17× cheaper on input ($0.15/$0.6 per 1M tokens vs $2.5/$10 per 1M tokens) — a large enough gap that at scale it can be the single biggest line item in the decision.
- ▸Context window: MiniMax M3.1 Flash holds 3.9× more — 1M tokens (~1,500 pages) vs 256K (~384 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 M3.1 Flash is the newer model by about 20 months (released October 19, 2026), usually meaning fresher training data and capabilities.
Side-by-side specs
| Spec | Command A | MiniMax M3.1 Flash |
|---|---|---|
| Provider | Cohere (Global) | MiniMax (China) |
| Released | March 2025 | October 19, 2026 |
| Context window | 256K (~384 pages) | 1M tokens (~1,500 pages) |
| Price (in/out) | $2.5/$10 per 1M tokens | $0.15/$0.6 per 1M tokens |
| Open weight? | Yes — self-hostable | Yes — self-hostable |
| Modalities | text, code | text, image, video, code |
| SWE-Bench Verified | Not published | Not published |
| MRCR v2 @ 1M | Not published | Not published |
Who wins what
Enterprise RAG and retrieval
Command A
Command A lists enterprise RAG and retrieval among its strengths; MiniMax M3.1 Flash does not.
Strong long-context retrieval accuracy
Command A
Command A lists strong long-context retrieval accuracy among its strengths; MiniMax M3.1 Flash does not.
Multilingual
Command A
Command A lists multilingual among its strengths; MiniMax M3.1 Flash does not.
$0.15/$0.60 per million tokens (cached $0.015) with flat pricing regardless of prompt length
MiniMax M3.1 Flash
Its 1M tokens window holds about 3.9× more than Command A's 256K in a single prompt.
428B-parameter MoE (about 23B active) with weights on Hugging Face from October 23, 2026
MiniMax M3.1 Flash
MiniMax's October 19, 2026 always-thinking agentic Flash model - 1M context, text/image/video input, $0.15/$0.60 and open weights under a community license — and it runs cheaper at $0.15/$0.6 per 1M tokens.
DeepSWE v1.1 of 73.7% and OSWorld V2 of 61.7 (MiniMax-reported)
MiniMax M3.1 Flash
MiniMax's October 19, 2026 always-thinking agentic Flash model - 1M context, text/image/video input, $0.15/$0.60 and open weights under a community license — and it carries the larger 1M tokens context.
Lowest cost at scale
MiniMax M3.1 Flash
At $0.15/$0.6 per 1M tokens, it is the cheaper of the two — the gap dominates the bill on high-volume workloads.
Largest single-prompt input
MiniMax M3.1 Flash
Its 1M tokens window is about 3.9× larger than Command A's 256K, fitting roughly 1,500 pages in one prompt.
Which should you pick?
A cost-sensitive startup shipping high volume
→ MiniMax M3.1 Flash
At $0.15/$0.6 per 1M tokens it undercuts Command A, and on millions of tokens that margin decides the monthly bill.
Someone analysing very long documents or codebases
→ MiniMax M3.1 Flash
Larger 1M tokens window fits more in one prompt.
Anyone whose priority is enterprise rag and retrieval
→ Command A
It is specifically built for that.
Anyone whose priority is $0.15/$0.60 per million tokens (cached $0.015) with flat pricing regardless of prompt length
→ MiniMax M3.1 Flash
That is its strongest area.
Command A: where it fits
Cohere's enterprise-focused model built for retrieval-augmented and grounded workloads. Released March 2025 by Cohere, it is built for enterprise RAG and retrieval, strong long-context retrieval accuracy, multilingual, and tool use.
Its trade-offs are real: less consumer presence, and narrower modality support. At $2.5 in / $10 out per million tokens, it sits in the mid price band.
MiniMax M3.1 Flash: where it fits
MiniMax's October 19, 2026 always-thinking agentic Flash model - 1M context, text/image/video input, $0.15/$0.60 and open weights under a community license. Released October 19, 2026 by MiniMax, it is built for $0.15/$0.60 per million tokens (cached $0.015) with flat pricing regardless of prompt length, 428B-parameter MoE (about 23B active) with weights on Hugging Face from October 23, 2026, deepSWE v1.1 of 73.7% and OSWorld V2 of 61.7 (MiniMax-reported), and artificial Analysis Intelligence Index of 42, 13 points above MiniMax M3.
Its trade-offs: thinking is always on and default effort is max, which inflates output-token cost, behind DeepSeek V4.1 Flash 1017 on Artificial Analysis's independent index, custom MiniMax Community license: attribution required, and products above $20M annual revenue need written authorization, and benchmarks are mostly self-reported; no SWE-bench Verified figure published. At $0.15 in / $0.6 out per million tokens, it sits in the budget price band.
The bottom line for this matchup
Command A and MiniMax M3.1 Flash overlap enough that the right pick depends on your specific job. MiniMax M3.1 Flash costs less per token; MiniMax M3.1 Flash holds the larger context; and each leads in its own area — Command A for enterprise rag and retrieval, MiniMax M3.1 Flash for $0.15/$0.60 per million tokens (cached $0.015) with flat pricing regardless of prompt length. Rather than crowning one, run the same hard task through both once and let the results decide.
Want both Command A and MiniMax M3.1 Flash 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.
See pricingFrequently asked questions
Is Command A or MiniMax M3.1 Flash 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, Command A leans toward enterprise rag and retrieval while MiniMax M3.1 Flash leans toward $0.15/$0.60 per million tokens (cached $0.015) with flat pricing regardless of prompt length, and that positioning usually predicts which feels better on your codebase.
Which is cheaper, Command A or MiniMax M3.1 Flash?
MiniMax M3.1 Flash is cheaper — $2.5/$10 per 1M tokens vs $0.15/$0.6 per 1M tokens, roughly 17× apart on input.
Which has the bigger context window?
MiniMax M3.1 Flash — 1M tokens vs 256K, about 3.9× larger. Useful only if the model actually reasons over the full window, which not all do.
Can I use both Command A and MiniMax M3.1 Flash together?
Yes — a multi-model platform like LumiChats gives you Command A, MiniMax M3.1 Flash 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, Command A or MiniMax M3.1 Flash?
MiniMax M3.1 Flash — released October 19, 2026, about 20 months after Command A.
Related comparisons
Specifications and benchmarks reflect publicly reported figures as of June 2026 and may change as providers release updates. Always verify on your own workload.