# MiniMax M1 vs Yi-Lightning

> MiniMax M1 is the stronger model overall, scoring 40.3 to 37.1 on the Noometry Index.

- Canonical page: https://noometry.com/compare/minimax-m1-vs-yi-lightning
- Last updated: 2026-10-11
- Shared benchmarks: 17

## Summary

- They share 17 benchmarks with published results for both. MiniMax M1 scores higher in 8 categories and Yi-Lightning in 0 categories; 6 gaps are clear of the uncertainty.
- The widest gap is in coding, where MiniMax M1 leads 39.9 to 27.4.
- MiniMax M1 has downloadable open weights; the other is API-only.

## Snapshot

| | MiniMax M1 | Yi-Lightning |
|---|---|---|
| Provider | MiniMax | 01.AI |
| Noometry Index | 40.3 | 37.1 |
| Rank | 150 | 209 |
| Context | 1M | — |
| Input $/M | $0.55 | — |
| Output $/M | $2.20 | — |
| Weights | Open | Proprietary |

## Coding

- MiniMax M1: 39.9 (#153)
- Yi-Lightning: 27.4 (#320)

| Benchmark | MiniMax M1 | Yi-Lightning |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Coding | 1359 | 1312 |
| Aider Polyglot | — | 12.9% |

## Reasoning

- MiniMax M1: 26.9 (#126)
- Yi-Lightning: 25.9 (#139)

| Benchmark | MiniMax M1 | Yi-Lightning |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Hard Prompts | 1339 | 1302 |

## Math

- MiniMax M1: 37.5 (#151)
- Yi-Lightning: 36.2 (#172)

| Benchmark | MiniMax M1 | Yi-Lightning |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Math | 1361 | 1300 |

## Knowledge

- MiniMax M1: 36.4 (#170)
- Yi-Lightning: 35.4 (#185)

| Benchmark | MiniMax M1 | Yi-Lightning |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Expert | 1317 | 1286 |

## Multilingual

- MiniMax M1: 45.8 (#163)
- Yi-Lightning: 42.2 (#196)

| Benchmark | MiniMax M1 | Yi-Lightning |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Non-English | 1319 | 1269 |
| LMArena Chinese | 1360 | 1320 |
| LMArena French | 1370 | 1305 |
| LMArena German | 1350 | 1267 |
| LMArena Japanese | 1217 | 1228 |
| LMArena Korean | 1266 | 1192 |
| LMArena Russian | 1329 | 1255 |
| LMArena Spanish | 1353 | 1315 |

## Instruction Following

- MiniMax M1: 69.3 (#174)
- Yi-Lightning: 67.4 (#196)

| Benchmark | MiniMax M1 | Yi-Lightning |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Instruction Following | 1312 | 1278 |

## Long Context

- MiniMax M1: 41.4 (#141)
- Yi-Lightning: 39.4 (#181)

| Benchmark | MiniMax M1 | Yi-Lightning |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Longer Query | 1326 | 1297 |
| Fiction.LiveBench | 69.4% | — |

## Writing & Preference

- MiniMax M1: 53.1 (#161)
- Yi-Lightning: 50.2 (#184)

| Benchmark | MiniMax M1 | Yi-Lightning |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Text | 1343 | 1302 |
| LMArena Creative Writing | 1298 | 1280 |
| LMArena Multi-Turn | 1335 | 1311 |

## FAQ

### Is MiniMax M1 better than Yi-Lightning?

MiniMax M1 is the stronger model overall, scoring 40.3 to 37.1 on the Noometry Index.

### Is MiniMax M1 or Yi-Lightning better for coding?

MiniMax M1 scores higher on coding benchmarks: 39.9 versus 27.4 in the Noometry coding category.

### How many benchmarks do MiniMax M1 and Yi-Lightning share?

17 benchmarks have published results for both models. MiniMax M1 has 18 scored results on Noometry and Yi-Lightning has 18.