Head-to-head showdown: o3-mini ($1.10 in / $4.40 out per 1M) vs MiniMax M3 (OpenRouter) ($0.30 in / $1.20 out per 1M). MiniMax M3 (OpenRouter) is 3.7× cheaper across standard token mixes, with 200K vs 1M context windows.
o3-mini · openai
MiniMax-M3 · minimax
Benchmark
| Workload Scenario | o3-mini | MiniMax M3 (OpenRouter) | Price Delta |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1M input tokens (raw text) | $1.10 | $0.30 | +$0.80 |
| 1M output tokens (generation) | $4.40 | $1.20 | +$3.20 |
| 1M tokens · 70% input / 30% output mix | $2.09 | $0.57 | +$1.52 |
| Standard chat turn (4K in / 800 out, 50% cached) | $0.00682 | $0.00168 | +$0.00514 |
| Monthly scale (10K requests / day) | $2,046.00 | $504.00 | +$1,542.00 |
Negative difference = o3-mini is cheaper. Positive = MiniMax M3 (OpenRouter) is cheaper.
Scaling Curve
Total cost of a token volume at 70/30 input/output split (uncached). Log-log scale.
Verdict
MiniMax M3 (OpenRouter) is cheaper on both input and output rates, so it costs less at every input/output mix. Price alone still isn't the whole decision: capability, latency and context limits (o3-mini: 200K, MiniMax M3 (OpenRouter): 1M) may justify the premium for your task.
FAQ
On input, MiniMax M3 (OpenRouter) is cheaper ($0.30/M vs $1.10/M). On output, MiniMax M3 (OpenRouter) is cheaper ($1.20/M vs $4.40/M). The same model is cheaper on both sides, so it wins at every mix.
A chat-style request (4,000 input + 800 output tokens, 50% cached) costs $0.00682 on o3-mini and $0.00168 on MiniMax M3 (OpenRouter) — MiniMax M3 (OpenRouter) is 4.1× more expensive for that workload.
o3-mini supports 200,000 tokens (100K max output); MiniMax M3 (OpenRouter) supports 1,048,576 (512K max output). MiniMax M3 (OpenRouter) fits 5.2× more context, which matters for long documents and agents.