MiniMax M3 vs Claude Sonnet 5.5: price, context window and capabilities
MiniMax M3 (minimax/minimax-m3) from MiniMax and Claude Sonnet 5.5 (anthropic/claude-sonnet-5.5) from Anthropic are both multimodal language models on the OceanToken API. MiniMax M3 costs less per token than Claude Sonnet 5.5: $0.30 against $1.80 per 1M input tokens (83% less) and $1.20 against $9.00 per 1M output tokens (87% less). Claude Sonnet 5.5 is 10% off its official price on OceanToken, for every account. Claude Sonnet 5.5 has the larger context window: 1M tokens (1,000,000) against 524K (524,288) for MiniMax M3. Both support tool calling, reasoning, structured outputs and image input; only MiniMax M3 also lists video input; only Claude Sonnet 5.5 also lists file input.
Side by side
| Spec | MiniMax M3 | Claude Sonnet 5.5 −10% |
|---|---|---|
| Model | MiniMax M3minimax/ | Claude Sonnet 5.5anthropic/ |
| Publisher | MiniMax | Anthropic |
| Kind | Text, vision & video | Text & vision |
| Context window | 524K tokens524,288 | 1M tokens1,000,000 |
| Input price | $0.30 / 1M tokens | $1.80 / 1M tokens |
| Output price | $1.20 / 1M tokens | $9.00 / 1M tokens |
| Cached input price | $0.06 / 1M tokens | $0.10 / 1M tokens |
| Cache write price | – | $2.50 / 1M tokens |
| Web search price | – | $0.01 / search |
| Discount (vs official, top tier) | — | −10% |
| Inputs | text, images and video | text, images and files |
| Outputs | text | text |
| Tool calling | Yes | Yes |
| Reasoning | Yes | Yes |
| Structured outputs | Yes | Yes |
About these prices
Which should you choose?
- Choose MiniMax M3 to spend less per token: 83% less for input and 87% less for output than Claude Sonnet 5.5.
- Choose Claude Sonnet 5.5 for the longest inputs: its context window holds 1M tokens against 524K for MiniMax M3.
- Choose MiniMax M3 if you need video input: Claude Sonnet 5.5 does not list it.
- Not sure? Call both with the same OceanToken API key and compare them on your own prompts; each request is billed per use from one prepaid balance.
Get API Key MiniMax M3 Claude Sonnet 5.5
Frequently asked questions
Which is cheaper, MiniMax M3 or Claude Sonnet 5.5?
MiniMax M3. MiniMax M3 costs less per token than Claude Sonnet 5.5: $0.30 against $1.80 per 1M input tokens (83% less) and $1.20 against $9.00 per 1M output tokens (87% less). Claude Sonnet 5.5 is 10% off its official price on OceanToken, for every account. The OceanToken console always shows the current price.
Which has the larger context window, MiniMax M3 or Claude Sonnet 5.5?
Claude Sonnet 5.5. Claude Sonnet 5.5 has the larger context window: 1M tokens (1,000,000) against 524K (524,288) for MiniMax M3.
Can I call both MiniMax M3 and Claude Sonnet 5.5 with one API key?
Yes. Both are on the OceanToken API at https://api.oceantoken.ai/v1: one API key and one prepaid balance call either model. Send the model id minimax/minimax-m3 or anthropic/claude-sonnet-5.5.
Models and publishers
MiniMax M3 · Claude Sonnet 5.5 · All MiniMax models · All Anthropic models
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