MiniMax M3.1 Flash vs Reflection Beam 1.0
MiniMax · China | Reflection AI · US · Updated June 2026
Quick verdict
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. Pick Reflection Beam 1.0 for 501b-parameter sparse moe (about 23b active per token) with weights on hugging face under apache 2.0 or reflection claims 3-4x less inference compute than rival models (vendor claim). On a tight budget at scale, Reflection Beam 1.0 is the value pick.
MiniMax M3.1 Flash (MiniMax, China) and Reflection Beam 1.0 (Reflection AI, US) line up two different AI ecosystems against each other — a comparison that is as much about cost philosophy and openness as raw capability. 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. Reflection Beam 1.0 is reflection AI's first open-weight model - a 501B Apache 2.0 MoE announced October 5 with weights published October 16, 2026, pitched as a US alternative to Chinese open models. Their biggest split is price, and the breakdown below shows exactly how that plays out for your workload.
Key differences at a glance
- ▸Context window: both advertise 1M tokens (~1,500 pages). Tie on paper — test on your own long inputs, since usable recall varies by model.
- ▸Ecosystem: this is a China-vs-US matchup — they differ in pricing philosophy, data-residency options, and tooling ecosystems, not only benchmarks.
Side-by-side specs
| Spec | MiniMax M3.1 Flash | Reflection Beam 1.0 |
|---|---|---|
| Provider | MiniMax (China) | Reflection AI (US) |
| Released | October 19, 2026 | October 16, 2026 |
| Context window | 1M tokens (~1,500 pages) | 1M tokens (~1,500 pages) |
| Price (in/out) | $0.15/$0.6 per 1M tokens | Open weight (self-host / free) |
| Open weight? | Yes — self-hostable | Yes — self-hostable |
| Modalities | text, image, video, code | text, code |
| SWE-Bench Verified | Not published | Not published |
| MRCR v2 @ 1M | Not published | Not published |
Who wins what
$0.15/$0.60 per million tokens (cached $0.015) with flat pricing regardless of prompt length
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 is the newer of the two.
428B-parameter MoE (about 23B active) with weights on Hugging Face from October 23, 2026
MiniMax M3.1 Flash
Reflection Beam 1.0 is comparatively weak here — self-hosting needs about 353 GB of GPU memory even at NVFP4, and kernels are CUDA-only for now
DeepSWE v1.1 of 73.7% and OSWorld V2 of 61.7 (MiniMax-reported)
MiniMax M3.1 Flash
MiniMax M3.1 Flash lists deepSWE v1.1 of 73.7% and OSWorld V2 of 61.7 (MiniMax-reported) among its strengths; Reflection Beam 1.0 does not.
501B-parameter sparse MoE (about 23B active per token) with weights on Hugging Face under Apache 2.0
Reflection Beam 1.0
MiniMax M3.1 Flash is comparatively weak here — thinking is always on and default effort is max, which inflates output-token cost
Reflection claims 3-4x less inference compute than rival models (vendor claim)
Reflection Beam 1.0
Reflection Beam 1.0 lists reflection claims 3-4x less inference compute than rival models (vendor claim) among its strengths; MiniMax M3.1 Flash does not.
Fast and cheap to run: Artificial Analysis measured about 385 output tokens/sec and $0.12 per index task
Reflection Beam 1.0
Reflection Beam 1.0 lists fast and cheap to run: Artificial Analysis measured about 385 output tokens/sec and $0.12 per index task among its strengths; MiniMax M3.1 Flash does not.
Lowest cost at scale
Reflection Beam 1.0
Its weights are open, so at volume you pay for your own hardware instead of MiniMax M3.1 Flash's $0.15/$0.6 per 1M tokens.
Which should you pick?
A cost-sensitive startup shipping high volume
→ Reflection Beam 1.0
At Open weight (self-host / free) it undercuts MiniMax M3.1 Flash, and on millions of tokens that margin decides the monthly bill.
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
It is specifically built for that.
Anyone whose priority is 501b-parameter sparse moe (about 23b active per token) with weights on hugging face under apache 2.0
→ Reflection Beam 1.0
That is its strongest area.
An enterprise with regional data-residency rules
→ Reflection Beam 1.0 or MiniMax M3.1 Flash
Origin (China vs US) affects where data is processed and which compliance regime applies — check the provider's terms for your region.
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 are real: 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.
Reflection Beam 1.0: where it fits
Reflection AI's first open-weight model - a 501B Apache 2.0 MoE announced October 5 with weights published October 16, 2026, pitched as a US alternative to Chinese open models. Released October 16, 2026 by Reflection AI, it is built for 501B-parameter sparse MoE (about 23B active per token) with weights on Hugging Face under Apache 2.0, reflection claims 3-4x less inference compute than rival models (vendor claim), fast and cheap to run: Artificial Analysis measured about 385 output tokens/sec and $0.12 per index task, and third-party hosts list it from $0.25/$1.00 per million tokens (Nebius, as of Oct 27); Reflection's own API is in free beta.
Its trade-offs: artificial Analysis Intelligence Index of 30, well below DeepSeek V4.1 Flash and GLM-5.3 (45), text-only input; some users report reasoning loops on long agent runs, self-hosting needs about 353 GB of GPU memory even at NVFP4, and kernels are CUDA-only for now, and headline benchmarks come from Reflection's own model card; independent evaluation was limited at launch. As an open-weight model, its running cost is your own hardware rather than a per-token fee.
The bottom line for this matchup
This is less "which is smarter" and more "which ecosystem fits." MiniMax M3.1 Flash (China) and Reflection Beam 1.0 (US) differ on pricing philosophy, data-residency, and tooling as much as on raw scores. Reflection Beam 1.0 is the cheaper option, which matters at volume. The pragmatic move is to run one real task through both and judge the outputs against your own constraints — including where your data is allowed to be processed.
Want both MiniMax M3.1 Flash and Reflection Beam 1.0 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 MiniMax M3.1 Flash or Reflection Beam 1.0 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, MiniMax M3.1 Flash leans toward $0.15/$0.60 per million tokens (cached $0.015) with flat pricing regardless of prompt length while Reflection Beam 1.0 leans toward 501b-parameter sparse moe (about 23b active per token) with weights on hugging face under apache 2.0, and that positioning usually predicts which feels better on your codebase.
Which is cheaper, MiniMax M3.1 Flash or Reflection Beam 1.0?
Reflection Beam 1.0 is cheaper — $0.15/$0.6 per 1M tokens vs Open weight (self-host / free).
Which has the bigger context window?
Both advertise 1M tokens (~1,500 pages). Remember advertised ≠ usable: recall typically degrades before the ceiling.
Can I use both MiniMax M3.1 Flash and Reflection Beam 1.0 together?
Yes — a multi-model platform like LumiChats gives you MiniMax M3.1 Flash, Reflection Beam 1.0 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, MiniMax M3.1 Flash or Reflection Beam 1.0?
MiniMax M3.1 Flash — released October 19, 2026, about 3 days after Reflection Beam 1.0.
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.