Model comparison

Llama 3.3 70B Instruct vs MiniMax M3

Pricing, context window and real answers (September 2026)

Llama 3.3 70B Instruct (Meta) and MiniMax M3 (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

meta-llama logoLlama 3.3 70B Instructminimax logoMiniMax M3
ProviderMetaMiniMax
Input (per 1M tokens)¥17.87¥53.61
Output (per 1M tokens)¥57.18¥214.44
Typical cost (1,000 in + 500 out tokens × 1,000 calls)¥46¥161
Context window131,072 tokens1,048,576 tokens
Release date12/6/20245/31/2026
Input modalitiestexttext, image, video
Throughput (p50)
Arena · overall#250 · ELO 1,318#84 · ELO 1,441
Arena · Japanese#210 · ELO 1,212#77 · ELO 1,398
Arena · coding#263 · ELO 1,346#73 · ELO 1,496

Prices are FastMetal's yen rates before tax. Arena ranks are as of the latest leaderboard scrape.

Which should you pick?

  • On price, Llama 3.3 70B Instruct: ¥57.18 per 1M output tokens, 73% less than MiniMax M3.
  • On the Overall arena board, MiniMax M3 ranks higher (#84; Llama 3.3 70B Instruct is #250).
  • On the Japanese arena board, MiniMax M3 ranks higher (#77; Llama 3.3 70B Instruct is #210).
  • On the Coding arena board, MiniMax M3 ranks higher (#73; Llama 3.3 70B Instruct is #263).
  • For long documents, MiniMax M3: a 1,048,576-token context window against 131,072 for Llama 3.3 70B Instruct.
  • 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.

Llama 3.3 70B Instruct

To count the number of 'r's in 'strawberry', I'll break down the word into its individual letters and then examine each one to identify the 'r's. Here are the steps: 1. **Write down the word 'strawberry' with its individual letters separated**: s-t-r-a-w-b-e-r-r-y 2. **Examine each letter to find the 'r's**: Going through the word letter by letter, I identify the 'r's. - The first 'r' appears after 't', so that's one 'r'. - Continuing through the word, I find another 'r' after 'e', which gives me a second 'r'. - Then, immediately after this second 'r', I find a third 'r'. 3. **Count the total number of 'r's identified**: From the step above, I've identified a total of 3 'r's in th…
12.6s217 output tokens

MiniMax M3

# Counting 'r's in "strawberry" Let me go through the word letter by letter: **s** - t - **r** - a - w - b - e - **r** - **r** - y | Position | Letter | Is it 'r'? | |----------|--------|------------| | 1 | s | No | | 2 | t | No | | 3 | **r** | ✓ (1st) | | 4 | a | No | | 5 | w | No | | 6 | b | No | | 7 | e | No | | 8 | **r** | ✓ (2nd) | | 9 | **r** | ✓ (3rd) | | 10 | y | No | ## Answer: **3** The word "strawberry" contains **three 'r's** — one at position 3, and two consecutive 'r's at positions 8 and 9.
25.6s455 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…

Llama 3.3 70B Instruct

# Step-by-step analysis of the problem: 1. **The error is occurring because the `map()` function is being called on `undefined`**: This means that the `users` prop is not being passed to the `UserList` component, or its value is `undefined`. 2. **The `map()` function is a method of arrays**: It is used to iterate over the elements of an array and apply a transformation to each element. If `users` is not an array (i.e., it's `undefined`), this method will not be available, hence the error. 3. **To fix this error, you need to ensure that `users` is always an array**: You can achieve this by adding a conditional statement to check if `users` is an array before calling `map()` on it. # Fixed so…
28.4s560 output tokens

MiniMax M3

# Error Analysis The error `Cannot read properties of undefined (reading 'map')` tells you that **`users` is `undefined`** when your component runs. JavaScript can't call `.map()` on `undefined`, so it throws this error. The component itself is fine syntactically — the problem is that the `users` prop isn't being passed, or hasn't loaded yet. ## Common Causes **1. The prop isn't passed at all:** ```jsx <UserList /> // No users prop → users is undefined ``` **2. Data is still loading (async fetch):** ```jsx const [users, setUsers] = useState(); // undefined initially ``` **3. API returns undefined:** ```jsx const { data } = await fetch('/api/users').then(r => r.json()); setUsers(data);…
32.8s710 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):…

Llama 3.3 70B Instruct

### Review and Suggestions The provided Python function `get_data` appears to be designed to fetch data from a given URL, filter active items, and return the filtered results. Here's a review of the function focusing on readability, performance, and best practices, along with suggestions for improvement. #### Issues and Improvements: 1. **Import Statements**: Import statements should be placed at the top of the file, not inside the function. This adheres to PEP 8, the official Python style guide. 2. **Exception Handling**: The `except` block is too broad. It's better to catch specific exceptions that you anticipate might occur. For example, `requests.get` might raise `requests.RequestExc…
40.3s815 output tokens

MiniMax M3

## Code Review This function works for the happy path, but it has several issues around error handling, retries, and readability. Here's a breakdown. ### 🐛 Bugs & Correctness Issues | # | Issue | Why It Matters | |---|-------|----------------| | 1 | `except:` with no exception type | Swallows `KeyboardInterrupt`, `SystemExit`, and *everything else* (typos, `MemoryError`). You lose visibility into real failures. | | 2 | Retries on every non‑200, including `4xx` | A `404` or `401` will never succeed by retrying — it just wastes time and rate-limit budget. | | 3 | `if item["active"] == True` | Both linters (PEP 8 E712) and Python idiom prefer `if item["active"]:`. | | 4 | `item["active"]` (…
33.4s3977 output tokens

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Frequently asked questions

Which is cheaper, Llama 3.3 70B Instruct or MiniMax M3?
Per 1M output tokens, Llama 3.3 70B Instruct is ¥57.18 and MiniMax M3 is ¥214.44 on FastMetal (yen, before tax), so Llama 3.3 70B Instruct is cheaper.
How do the context windows of Llama 3.3 70B Instruct and MiniMax M3 compare?
Llama 3.3 70B Instruct takes 131,072 tokens; MiniMax M3 takes 1,048,576.
Which ranks higher, Llama 3.3 70B Instruct or MiniMax M3?
MiniMax M3 ranks higher on the public arena (Llama 3.3 70B Instruct #210, MiniMax M3 #77). Ranks move as the leaderboard updates.
Can I use Llama 3.3 70B Instruct and MiniMax M3 with the same API key?
Yes. On FastMetal's OpenAI-compatible endpoint, switch by passing "llama-3.3-70b-instruct" or "minimax-m3" 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 Llama 3.3 70B Instruct and MiniMax M3 from the browser chat and the API. No monthly fee.

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