Model comparison

Claude Sonnet 5.5 vs MiniMax M2.7

Pricing, context window and real answers (September 2026)

Claude Sonnet 5.5 (Anthropic) and MiniMax M2.7 (MiniMax), compared as you can actually call them on FastMetal. Both are served from the same OpenAI-compatible endpoint and API key; switching is a change to the model string.

Specs and pricing

anthropic logoClaude Sonnet 5.5minimax logoMiniMax M2.7
ProviderAnthropicMiniMax
Input (per 1M tokens)¥357.4¥53.61
Output (per 1M tokens)¥1,787¥214.44
Typical cost (1,000 in + 500 out tokens × 1,000 calls)¥1,251¥161
Context window1,000,000 tokens204,800 tokens
Release date9/28/20263/18/2026
Input modalitiestext, image, filetext
Throughput (p50)——
Arena · overallUnranked#134 · ELO 1,415
Arena · JapaneseUnranked#176 · ELO 1,273
Arena · codingUnranked#106 · ELO 1,480

Prices are FastMetal's yen rates before tax.

Rankings: LMArena leaderboard dataset (lmarena-ai/leaderboard-dataset), CC BY 4.0, snapshot 2026-09-25; category names mapped and ratings rounded by FastMetal.

Which should you pick?

  • On price, MiniMax M2.7: ¥214.44 per 1M output tokens, 88% less than Claude Sonnet 5.5.
  • For long documents, Claude Sonnet 5.5: a 1,000,000-token context window against 204,800 for MiniMax M2.7.
  • If in doubt, try both on the same key. Switching is a change to the model string, and each is billed at its own rate.

Real answers to the same prompts

Exactly what the FastMetal gateway returned, side by side. Not benchmark scores: actual output.

Count the number of 'r's in 'strawberry'

Count the number of 'r's in 'strawberry'. Explain your reasoning step by step.

Claude Sonnet 5.5

Let me go through the word letter by letter. **strawberry** | Position | Letter | |---|---| | 1 | s | | 2 | t | | 3 | **r** ← 1st | | 4 | a | | 5 | w | | 6 | b | | 7 | e | | 8 | **r** ← 2nd | | 9 | **r** ← 3rd | | 10 | y | **Step-by-step reasoning:** 1. I split the word into individual letters: s-t-r-a-w-b-e-r-r-y (10 letters total). 2. I checked each letter for 'r'. 3. The first 'r' is in position 3, in "str…". 4. The second and third 'r's are in positions 8 and 9, in the "…rry" ending. **Answer: There are 3 r's in "strawberry".** A common mistake is to see "berry" as having only one 'r' (or to treat the double-r as a single letter), which leads to the incorrect answer of 2.
3.1s332 output tokens

MiniMax M2.7

**Step‑by‑step counting** 1. Write the word **strawberry** as a sequence of its letters: `s‑t‑r‑a‑w‑b‑e‑r‑r‑y` 2. Go through each letter and check whether it is the letter **r** (case‑insensitive). | Position | Letter | Is it “r”? | |----------|--------|------------| | 1 | s | No | | 2 | t | No | | 3 | **r** | Yes → count = 1 | | 4 | a | No | | 5 | w | No | | 6 | b | No | | 7 | e | No | | 8 | **r** | Yes → count = 2 | | 9 | **r** | Yes → count = 3 | | 10 | y | No | 3. After checking all ten positions, the total number of times the letter **…
11.1s475 output tokens

Debug This Error

I'm getting the following error in my Node.js application: TypeError: Cannot read properties of undefined (reading 'map') at UserList (/app/components/UserList.js:12:25) at renderWithHooks (/app/node_modules/rea…

Claude Sonnet 5.5

## Cause `users` is `undefined` when the component renders, so `users.map(...)` throws. This happens when: 1. **The parent doesn't pass the prop**, or passes it under a different name (e.g. `<UserList data={x} />` or a typo like `user=`). 2. **The data loads asynchronously.** On the first render, the state or fetch result hasn't arrived yet. 3. **The value is wrong.** For example, the API returns `{ users: [...] }` and you passed the whole object, or you're reading a property that doesn't exist (`response.data.users` vs `response.users`). ## Fixes ### 1. Default value (simplest) ```jsx function UserList({ users = [] }) { return ( <ul> {users.map(user => <li key={user.id}>{use…
6.7s824 output tokens

MiniMax M2.7

# Fixing the "Cannot read properties of undefined" Error ## The Problem The error occurs because `users` is `undefined` when the component renders. The `.map()` method can't be called on `undefined`. This typically happens when: - The parent component doesn't pass the `users` prop - The data is still loading/fetching - The initial state is `undefined` instead of an empty array --- ## Solutions ### 1. Add a Default Parameter (Recommended) ```javascript function UserList({ users = [] }) { return ( <ul> {users.map(user => <li key={user.id}>{user.name}</li>)} </ul> ); } ``` ### 2. Use Optional Chaining ```javascript function UserList({ users }) { return ( <ul>…
14.2s695 output tokens

Code Review

Please review the following Python function and suggest improvements for readability, performance, and best practices: def get_data(url, retries=3): import requests import time for i in range(retries):…

Claude Sonnet 5.5

# Code Review ## Main Issues ### 1. Bare `except:` hides bugs (most important) It catches everything, including `KeyboardInterrupt` and `SystemExit`. It also wraps your parsing logic, so a missing `"active"` key (`KeyError`) or bad JSON is treated as a network failure, retried 3 times with sleeps, and then silently becomes `[]`. Catch only `requests.RequestException`, and keep parsing outside the `try`. ### 2. Silent failure Returning `[]` after all retries fails is indistinguishable from "the server returned no active items." Callers can't tell whether something went wrong. Raise an exception (or at least log) once retries are exhausted. ### 3. Retry logic - It sleeps after the final at…
20.9s3003 output tokens

MiniMax M2.7

# Code Review: `get_data` Function ## Issues Identified ### 1. **Critical Issues** ```python # ❌ Bare except clause - catches everything including KeyboardInterrupt except: time.sleep(2) ``` ```python # ❌ Comparing to True - redundant comparison if item["active"] == True: ``` ```python # ❌ No JSON error handling - r.json() can raise ValueError data = r.json() ``` ### 2. **Code Quality Issues** | Issue | Location | Problem | |-------|----------|---------| | Imports inside function | Line 2-3 | Should be at module level | | Magic numbers | `timeout=10`, `sleep(2)` | Not descriptive | | No docstring | Function | No documentation | | No type hints | Function signature | Missing type safet…
31.7s1690 output tokens

Compare on more prompts →

Frequently asked questions

Which is cheaper, Claude Sonnet 5.5 or MiniMax M2.7?
Per 1M output tokens, Claude Sonnet 5.5 is ¥1,787 and MiniMax M2.7 is ¥214.44 on FastMetal (yen, before tax), so MiniMax M2.7 is cheaper.
How do the context windows of Claude Sonnet 5.5 and MiniMax M2.7 compare?
Claude Sonnet 5.5 takes 1,000,000 tokens; MiniMax M2.7 takes 204,800.
Can I use Claude Sonnet 5.5 and MiniMax M2.7 with the same API key?
Yes. On FastMetal's OpenAI-compatible endpoint, switch by passing "anthropic-claude-sonnet-5-5" or "minimax-m2.7" as the model. Each is billed at its own rate from the same prepaid balance.

Try both on one API key

Create an account and add credit to call Claude Sonnet 5.5 and MiniMax M2.7 from the browser chat and the API. No monthly fee.

More comparisons with Claude Sonnet 5.5

More comparisons with MiniMax M2.7