# Llama 3.2 3B vs MiniMax-M2.1

> MiniMax-M2.1 is the stronger model overall, scoring 38.9 to 28.9 on the Noometry Index. Llama 3.2 3B costs 4.4× less per token, which makes it the better buy when MiniMax-M2.1's lead doesn't matter for your workload.

- Canonical page: https://noometry.com/compare/llama-3-2-3b-vs-minimax-m2-1
- Last updated: 2026-10-12
- Shared benchmarks: 13

## Summary

- They share 13 benchmarks with published results for both. Llama 3.2 3B scores higher in 1 category and MiniMax-M2.1 in 8 categories; 9 gaps are clear of the uncertainty.
- The widest gap is in writing & preference, where MiniMax-M2.1 leads 58.3 to 24.7.
- Llama 3.2 3B is cheaper at $0.05 / $0.33 per million input/output tokens, against $0.30 / $1.20 for MiniMax-M2.1.
- MiniMax-M2.1 accepts more context: 205K tokens versus 131K.

## Snapshot

| | Llama 3.2 3B | MiniMax-M2.1 |
|---|---|---|
| Provider | Meta | MiniMax |
| Noometry Index | 28.9 | 38.9 |
| Rank | 321 | 178 |
| Context | 131K | 205K |
| Input $/M | $0.05 | $0.30 |
| Output $/M | $0.33 | $1.20 |
| Weights | Open | Open |

## Coding

- Llama 3.2 3B: 27.6 (#319)
- MiniMax-M2.1: 40.4 (#143)

| Benchmark | Llama 3.2 3B | MiniMax-M2.1 |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Coding | 1098 | 1421 |
| LMArena WebDev | — | 1384 |
| BigCodeBench Instruct | 23.4% | — |
| BigCodeBench Complete | 28.3% | — |
| ALE-Bench | — | 623.83 |

## Agentic & Tool Use

- Llama 3.2 3B: 20.1 (#143)
- MiniMax-M2.1: 27.9 (#98)

| Benchmark | Llama 3.2 3B | MiniMax-M2.1 |
|---|---|---|
| Terminal-Bench | — | 36.6% |
| Berkeley Function Calling Leaderboard | 21.9% | — |
| BALROG | 10.1% | — |

## Reasoning

- Llama 3.2 3B: 21.0 (#228)
- MiniMax-M2.1: 16.6 (#302)

| Benchmark | Llama 3.2 3B | MiniMax-M2.1 |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Hard Prompts | 1095 | 1411 |
| NYT Connections (extended) | — | 11.2% |

## Math

- Llama 3.2 3B: 32.4 (#214)
- MiniMax-M2.1: 38.3 (#138)

| Benchmark | Llama 3.2 3B | MiniMax-M2.1 |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Math | 1126 | 1397 |

## Knowledge

- Llama 3.2 3B: 29.7 (#235)
- MiniMax-M2.1: 38.3 (#147)

| Benchmark | Llama 3.2 3B | MiniMax-M2.1 |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Expert | 1090 | 1431 |
| Vectara Hallucination Rate | — | 11.8% |

## Multilingual

- Llama 3.2 3B: 26.2 (#281)
- MiniMax-M2.1: 50.0 (#128)

| Benchmark | Llama 3.2 3B | MiniMax-M2.1 |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Non-English | 1019 | 1378 |
| LMArena Chinese | 1017 | 1430 |
| LMArena German | 1056 | 1381 |
| LMArena Russian | 949 | 1387 |
| LMArena French | — | 1404 |
| LMArena Japanese | — | 1287 |
| LMArena Korean | — | 1298 |
| LMArena Spanish | — | 1397 |

## Instruction Following

- Llama 3.2 3B: 56.0 (#275)
- MiniMax-M2.1: 73.8 (#112)

| Benchmark | Llama 3.2 3B | MiniMax-M2.1 |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Instruction Following | 1089 | 1400 |

## Long Context

- Llama 3.2 3B: 33.4 (#261)
- MiniMax-M2.1: 43.2 (#101)

| Benchmark | Llama 3.2 3B | MiniMax-M2.1 |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Longer Query | 1100 | 1416 |

## Writing & Preference

- Llama 3.2 3B: 24.7 (#307)
- MiniMax-M2.1: 58.3 (#120)

| Benchmark | Llama 3.2 3B | MiniMax-M2.1 |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Text | 1110 | 1392 |
| LMArena Creative Writing | 1094 | 1361 |
| LMArena Multi-Turn | 1105 | 1396 |
| EQ-Bench Creative Writing | 595 | — |

## FAQ

### Is Llama 3.2 3B better than MiniMax-M2.1?

MiniMax-M2.1 is the stronger model overall, scoring 38.9 to 28.9 on the Noometry Index. Llama 3.2 3B costs 4.4× less per token, which makes it the better buy when MiniMax-M2.1's lead doesn't matter for your workload.

### Which is cheaper, Llama 3.2 3B or MiniMax-M2.1?

Llama 3.2 3B is cheaper. It lists at $0.05 per million input tokens and $0.33 per million output tokens; MiniMax-M2.1 lists at $0.30 and $1.20.

### Is Llama 3.2 3B or MiniMax-M2.1 better for coding?

MiniMax-M2.1 scores higher on coding benchmarks: 40.4 versus 27.6 in the Noometry coding category.

### Which has the bigger context window?

MiniMax-M2.1 does, with 205K tokens against 131K.

### How many benchmarks do Llama 3.2 3B and MiniMax-M2.1 share?

13 benchmarks have published results for both models. Llama 3.2 3B has 18 scored results on Noometry and MiniMax-M2.1 has 22.