Simulating realistic Customer support chatbot parameters (3,500 in / 350 out with 70% cache reuse). MiniMax-01 (4M Context) delivers a 90% cost reduction over Gemini 3.1 Pro.
Quick answer
For Customer support chatbot, MiniMax-01 (4M Context) is the lower-cost option at $0.000693 per request versus $0.00679 for Gemini 3.1 Pro, a modeled saving of 90%.
Method & trust
The comparison uses 3,500 input tokens, 350 output tokens, and 70% cache reuse for the selected workload. Pricing is applied per model, then scaled to monthly request volumes.
| Traffic Volume Tier | MiniMax-01 (4M Context) Monthly | Gemini 3.1 Pro Monthly | Monthly Savings by picking MiniMax-01 (4M Context) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1,000 reqs/mo (Dev/Testing) | $0.693 | $6.79 | Save $6.097 / mo |
| 10,000 reqs/mo (Small App) | $6.93 | $67.90 | Save $60.97 / mo |
| 100,000 reqs/mo (Growth Production) | $69.30 | $679.00 | Save $609.70 / mo |
| 1,000,000 reqs/mo (Scale SaaS) | $693.00 | $6,790.00 | Save $6,097.00 / mo |
MiniMax-01 (4M Context) is 90% cheaper for Customer support chatbot workloads. At standard Customer support chatbot parameter ratios (3,500 input tokens, 350 output tokens, 70% cache hit), MiniMax-01 (4M Context) costs $0.000693 per request compared to $0.00679 on Gemini 3.1 Pro.
MiniMax-01 (4M Context) offers a context window of 4,000,000 tokens (max output: 64,000), while Gemini 3.1 Pro offers 2,000,000 tokens (max output: 128,000).
At 100,000 requests per month, using MiniMax-01 (4M Context) saves $609.70 every month (or $7,316.40 annually) compared to Gemini 3.1 Pro.
Cache the system prompt and static documentation chunks — cached input is often 4–10× cheaper. Route simple FAQ turns to a nano-tier model and escalate only complex tickets. Cap max_output per reply; support answers rarely need more than a few hundred tokens.