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. Pick North Mini Code for agentic software engineering, code generation, and terminal tasks or efficient sparse moe — 3b active of 30b, runs on a single h100. On a tight budget at scale, North Mini Code is the value pick.
MiniMax M3 (MiniMax) and North Mini Code (Cohere) are two of the models people most often weigh against each other in 2026. 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. North Mini Code is cohere's first agentic coding model: an open-weight 30B/3B-active MoE built for real software-engineering and terminal tasks that runs on a single H100. They diverge most on price and context window — each quantified below from the models' real specs.
Key differences
Context window: MiniMax M3 holds 4.1× more — 1M (~1,573 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.
Specifications
Spec
MiniMax M3
North Mini Code
Provider
MiniMax (China)
Cohere (Global)
Released
June 2026
June 9, 2026
Context window
1M (~1,573 pages)
256K (~384 pages)
Price (in/out)
$0.3/$1.2 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
67.6%
MRCR v2 @ 1M
Not published
Not published
Who wins what
Open-weight 428B MoE (~23B active per token) with a 1M-token context: MiniMax M3 — Its 1M window holds about 4.1× more than North Mini Code's 256K in a single prompt.
Native multimodal input — text, image and video: MiniMax M3 — North Mini Code is comparatively weak here — text-only and coding-specialized — not multimodal or general-purpose
Reports 59.0 on SWE-Bench Pro (a strong open-weight score), surpassing GPT-5.5: 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 carries the larger 1M context.
Agentic software engineering, code generation, and terminal tasks: North Mini Code — Cohere's first agentic coding model: an open-weight 30B/3B-active MoE built for real software-engineering and terminal tasks that runs on a single H100 — and it is the newer of the two.
Efficient sparse MoE — 3B active of 30B, runs on a single H100: North Mini Code — North Mini Code lists efficient sparse MoE — 3B active of 30B, runs on a single H100 among its strengths; MiniMax M3 does not.
High throughput (up to 2.8x Devstral Small 2) at low latency: North Mini Code — North Mini Code lists high throughput (up to 2.8x Devstral Small 2) at low latency among its strengths; MiniMax M3 does not.
Lowest cost at scale: North Mini Code — Its weights are open, so at volume you pay for your own hardware instead of MiniMax M3's $0.3/$1.2 per 1M tokens.
Largest single-prompt input: MiniMax M3 — Its 1M window is about 4.1× larger than North Mini Code's 256K, fitting roughly 1,573 pages in one prompt.
Which should you pick?
A cost-sensitive startup shipping high volume: North Mini Code — At Open weight (self-host / free) it undercuts MiniMax M3, 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.
Anyone whose priority is open-weight 428b moe (~23b active per token) with a 1m-token context: MiniMax M3 — It is specifically built for that.
Anyone whose priority is agentic software engineering, code generation, and terminal tasks: North Mini Code — That is its strongest area.
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 are real: 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.
North Mini Code: where it fits
Cohere's first agentic coding model: an open-weight 30B/3B-active MoE built for real software-engineering and terminal tasks that runs on a single H100. Released June 9, 2026 by Cohere, it is built for agentic software engineering, code generation, and terminal tasks, efficient sparse MoE — 3B active of 30B, runs on a single H100, high throughput (up to 2.8x Devstral Small 2) at low latency, and fully open weights under Apache 2.0 with fp8 and 4-bit builds.
Its trade-offs: text-only and coding-specialized — not multimodal or general-purpose, and 256K context and modest general-intelligence index trail frontier models. As an open-weight model, its running cost is your own hardware rather than a per-token fee.
The bottom line for this matchup
MiniMax M3 and North Mini Code overlap enough that the right pick depends on your specific job. North Mini Code costs less per token; MiniMax M3 holds the larger context; and each leads in its own area — MiniMax M3 for open-weight 428b moe (~23b active per token) with a 1m-token context, North Mini Code for agentic software engineering, code generation, and terminal tasks. Rather than crowning one, run the same hard task through both once and let the results decide.
Frequently asked questions
Is MiniMax M3 or North Mini Code better for coding?
Public SWE-Bench figures are not available for MiniMax M3, so the honest test is your own repository — run an identical real bug through both. By design, MiniMax M3 leans toward open-weight 428b moe (~23b active per token) with a 1m-token context while North Mini Code leans toward agentic software engineering, code generation, and terminal tasks, and that positioning usually predicts which feels better on your codebase.
Which is cheaper, MiniMax M3 or North Mini Code?
North Mini Code is cheaper — $0.3/$1.2 per 1M tokens vs Open weight (self-host / free).
Which has the bigger context window?
MiniMax M3 — 1M vs 256K, about 4.1× larger. Useful only if the model actually reasons over the full window, which not all do.
Can I use both MiniMax M3 and North Mini Code together?
Yes — a multi-model platform like LumiChats gives you MiniMax M3, North Mini Code 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 or North Mini Code?
North Mini Code — released June 9, 2026, about 8 days after MiniMax M3.
MiniMax M3 vs North Mini Code
MiniMax · China | Cohere · Global · Updated June 2026
Quick verdict
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. Pick North Mini Code for agentic software engineering, code generation, and terminal tasks or efficient sparse moe — 3b active of 30b, runs on a single h100. On a tight budget at scale, North Mini Code is the value pick.
MiniMax M3 (MiniMax) and North Mini Code (Cohere) are two of the models people most often weigh against each other in 2026. 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. North Mini Code is cohere's first agentic coding model: an open-weight 30B/3B-active MoE built for real software-engineering and terminal tasks that runs on a single H100. They diverge most on price and context window — each quantified below from the models' real specs.
Key differences at a glance
▸Context window: MiniMax M3 holds 4.1× more — 1M (~1,573 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.
Side-by-side specs
Spec
MiniMax M3
North Mini Code
Provider
MiniMax (China)
Cohere (Global)
Released
June 2026
June 9, 2026
Context window
1M (~1,573 pages)
256K (~384 pages)
Price (in/out)
$0.3/$1.2 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
67.6%
MRCR v2 @ 1M
Not published
Not published
Who wins what
Open-weight 428B MoE (~23B active per token) with a 1M-token context
MiniMax M3
Its 1M window holds about 4.1× more than North Mini Code's 256K in a single prompt.
Native multimodal input — text, image and video
MiniMax M3
North Mini Code is comparatively weak here — text-only and coding-specialized — not multimodal or general-purpose
Reports 59.0 on SWE-Bench Pro (a strong open-weight score), surpassing GPT-5.5
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 carries the larger 1M context.
Agentic software engineering, code generation, and terminal tasks
North Mini Code
Cohere's first agentic coding model: an open-weight 30B/3B-active MoE built for real software-engineering and terminal tasks that runs on a single H100 — and it is the newer of the two.
Efficient sparse MoE — 3B active of 30B, runs on a single H100
North Mini Code
North Mini Code lists efficient sparse MoE — 3B active of 30B, runs on a single H100 among its strengths; MiniMax M3 does not.
High throughput (up to 2.8x Devstral Small 2) at low latency
North Mini Code
North Mini Code lists high throughput (up to 2.8x Devstral Small 2) at low latency among its strengths; MiniMax M3 does not.
Lowest cost at scale
North Mini Code
Its weights are open, so at volume you pay for your own hardware instead of MiniMax M3's $0.3/$1.2 per 1M tokens.
Largest single-prompt input
MiniMax M3
Its 1M window is about 4.1× larger than North Mini Code's 256K, fitting roughly 1,573 pages in one prompt.
Which should you pick?
A cost-sensitive startup shipping high volume
→ North Mini Code
At Open weight (self-host / free) it undercuts MiniMax M3, 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.
Anyone whose priority is open-weight 428b moe (~23b active per token) with a 1m-token context
→ MiniMax M3
It is specifically built for that.
Anyone whose priority is agentic software engineering, code generation, and terminal tasks
→ North Mini Code
That is its strongest area.
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 are real: 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.
North Mini Code: where it fits
Cohere's first agentic coding model: an open-weight 30B/3B-active MoE built for real software-engineering and terminal tasks that runs on a single H100. Released June 9, 2026 by Cohere, it is built for agentic software engineering, code generation, and terminal tasks, efficient sparse MoE — 3B active of 30B, runs on a single H100, high throughput (up to 2.8x Devstral Small 2) at low latency, and fully open weights under Apache 2.0 with fp8 and 4-bit builds.
Its trade-offs: text-only and coding-specialized — not multimodal or general-purpose, and 256K context and modest general-intelligence index trail frontier models. As an open-weight model, its running cost is your own hardware rather than a per-token fee.
The bottom line for this matchup
MiniMax M3 and North Mini Code overlap enough that the right pick depends on your specific job. North Mini Code costs less per token; MiniMax M3 holds the larger context; and each leads in its own area — MiniMax M3 for open-weight 428b moe (~23b active per token) with a 1m-token context, North Mini Code for agentic software engineering, code generation, and terminal tasks. Rather than crowning one, run the same hard task through both once and let the results decide.
Want both MiniMax M3 and North Mini Code 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 MiniMax M3 or North Mini Code better for coding?
Public SWE-Bench figures are not available for MiniMax M3, so the honest test is your own repository — run an identical real bug through both. By design, MiniMax M3 leans toward open-weight 428b moe (~23b active per token) with a 1m-token context while North Mini Code leans toward agentic software engineering, code generation, and terminal tasks, and that positioning usually predicts which feels better on your codebase.
Which is cheaper, MiniMax M3 or North Mini Code?
North Mini Code is cheaper — $0.3/$1.2 per 1M tokens vs Open weight (self-host / free).
Which has the bigger context window?
MiniMax M3 — 1M vs 256K, about 4.1× larger. Useful only if the model actually reasons over the full window, which not all do.
Can I use both MiniMax M3 and North Mini Code together?
Yes — a multi-model platform like LumiChats gives you MiniMax M3, North Mini Code 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 or North Mini Code?
North Mini Code — released June 9, 2026, about 8 days after MiniMax M3.
Specifications and benchmarks reflect publicly reported figures as of June 2026 and may change as providers release updates. Always verify on your own workload.