Pairwise benchmark snapshot · Aug 16, 2026

MiniMax M2.5 vs Qwen3.8 27B benchmark

Name: MiniMax M2.5 vs Qwen3.8 27B AI benchmark comparison
Creator: CompareLLM
License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

This page compares MiniMax M2.5 (MiniMax) and Qwen3.8 27B (Alibaba) using the latest snapshots we have as of Aug 16, 2026. On preference Elo, MiniMax M2.5 is ahead by 80 points (1,478 vs 1,398; seed-bootstrap (Aug 1, 2026)). On SWE-bench coding, MiniMax M2.5 resolves 75.8% versus 58.8% (seed-bootstrap (Aug 1, 2026)). Qwen3.8 27B streams faster (152 tok/s) while MiniMax M2.5 is the cheaper output token ($0.9/1M). Qwen3.8 27B has the larger context window (262k tokens). Every cell below is a dated snapshot from a named public source — we do not invent missing scores, and we do not run SWE-bench ourselves.

Share Analysis:

WhatsApp Telegram X / Post LinkedIn Reddit

MiniMax

MiniMax M2.5

MiniMax coding model. Tied near the top of official SWE-bench bash-only in Feb 2026.

Elo 1,478$0.8999999999999999/1M out

Alibaba

Qwen3.8 27B

Alibaba open-weight 27B drop dated Aug 14 2026. Dense enough to self-host; not a frontier MoE.

Elo 1,398$3.1999999999999997/1M out

Swap or Add Any Model to this Matchup

Instant pairwise benchmark recalculation across 400+ LLMs

Model A

Model B

Quick vs:vs Claude Opus 4.5 vs Claude Opus 4.6 vs Claude Sonnet 4.5 vs Claude 3.7 Sonnet

Interactive Comparison Diagram

Matchup Breakdown

Tug-of-War Matchup Matrix

Category wins across intelligence, speed, and pricing efficiency.

MiniMax M2.5 (7)vsQwen3.8 27B (3)

MiniMax M2.5: 7W (70%)Overall: MiniMax M2.5Qwen3.8 27B: 3W (30%)

← MiniMax M2.5Qwen3.8 27B →

MiniMax M2.5 (5/5)

Intelligence & Reasoning

Preference Elo, Coding proficiency, SWE-bench & LiveBench accuracy

Preference Elo

1,478vs1,398

Coding Elo

1,536vs1,422

SWE-bench

75.8%vs58.8%

LiveBench

64.4%vs60.6%

GPQA Diamond

76.2%vs73.4%

MiniMax M2.5: 5WQwen3.8 27B: 0W

Qwen3.8 27B (2/2)

Speed & Latency

Generation throughput and time to first token responsiveness

Output speed

90 tok/svs152 tok/s

Time to first token

250 msvs140 ms

MiniMax M2.5: 0WQwen3.8 27B: 2W

MiniMax M2.5 (2/3)

Pricing & Capacity

Cost per million tokens and max context window length

Output price

$0.9/1Mvs$3.2/1M

Input price

$0.22/1Mvs$0.45/1M

Context window

205kvs262k

MiniMax M2.5: 2WQwen3.8 27B: 1W

Capability Matchup Radar

Multi-Dimensional Capability Radar

Each spoke is a skill. Farther from the center is better (0–100th percentile). Tap any dot to inspect details.

Tap any node to inspect

Percentile 0–100

Dimensional AdvantageMiniMax M2.5 4/6

Preference Elo

MiniMax M2.5

80 pts advantage

Throughput Speed

Qwen3.8 27B

62 tok/s faster

Price Efficiency

MiniMax M2.5

$2.30/1M cheaper

Full Benchmark Score Matrix

—

Elo

High is better

+6%1,478

EloHigh is better

1,398

Code Elo

High is better

+8%1,536

Code EloHigh is better

1,422

LiveBench

High is better

+6%64.4%

LiveBenchHigh is better

60.6%

SWE-bench

High is better

+29%75.8%

SWE-benchHigh is better

58.8%

GPQA

High is better

+4%76.2%

GPQAHigh is better

73.4%

TTFT

Low is better

250 ms

TTFTLow is better

140 ms+79%

Speed

High is better

90 tok/s

SpeedHigh is better

152 tok/s+69%

In $

Low is better

+105%$0.22/1M

In $Low is better

$0.45/1M

Out $

Low is better

+256%$0.9/1M

Out $Low is better

$3.2/1M

Context

High is better

205k

ContextHigh is better

262k+28%

Interactive Simulator

Workload Cost & Savings Calculator

Simulate monthly production API costs based on published $/1M tokens.

Save up to 67% with MiniMax M2.5

Monthly Volume50M tokens/mo

Quick Presets:

Token Ratio (In vs Out)70% In / 30% Out

RAG / Search (10% out)Coding / Chat (50% out)

MiniMax M2.5$21.20 / mo

In: $7.70Out: $13.50

Qwen3.8 27B$63.75 / mo

In: $15.75Out: $48.00

Estimated Cost Delta

MiniMax M2.5 is estimated to save $42.55/month ($511/year).

Based on 50M tokens (30% gen)

Key Selection Recommendations

1
MiniMax M2.5:Pick MiniMax M2.5 when repo-level coding accuracy is the constraint.
2
Qwen3.8 27B:Pick Qwen3.8 27B when time-to-first-token matters more than peak Elo.
3
MiniMax M2.5:Pick MiniMax M2.5 as the default general assistant.

Recommended Workload Routing

Repo / coding agentsMiniMax M2.5

Higher SWE-bench (75.8%).

High-volume chatMiniMax M2.5

Lower output list price ($0.9/1M).

Voice / low-latency UIQwen3.8 27B

Lower TTFT (140 ms).

Long-document RAGQwen3.8 27B

Larger window (262k).

Screenshots / visionMiniMax M2.5

MiniMax M2.5 is the side marked multimodal in the catalog.

Target Workload	Recommended Pick	Evaluation Rationale
Repo / coding agents	MiniMax M2.5	Higher SWE-bench (75.8%).
High-volume chat	MiniMax M2.5	Lower output list price ($0.9/1M).
Voice / low-latency UI	Qwen3.8 27B	Lower TTFT (140 ms).
Long-document RAG	Qwen3.8 27B	Larger window (262k).
Screenshots / vision	MiniMax M2.5	MiniMax M2.5 is the side marked multimodal in the catalog.

Related Editorial Dispatches & Benchmark Notes

View all news

launchAug 14, 2026

Qwen3.8 27B (Aug 14): dense enough to self-host, not a frontier MoE

Alibaba open-weight 27B drop. Local/open-weight lists should see it. It will not win frontier-agents.

launchFeb 12, 2026

MiniMax M2.5: the Feb 2026 SWE-bench specialist still on the board

Tied near the top of official SWE-bench bash-only in Feb 2026. Coding lists should still see it.

Community Sentiment

Cast Your Matchup Vote

0 total votes

Community Discussions (0)

No comments posted on this matchup yet. Be the first to share an evaluation note!

Share card

The real PNG is generated at /compare/minimax-m2-5-vs-qwen-3-8-27b/opengraph-image for crawlers.

PNG

CompareLLM Matrix

Verified head-to-head card

LIVE

MiniMax

MiniMax M2.5

Elo 1,478

LiveBench64.4%

SWE-bench75.8%

Speed90 tok/s

Output cost$0.9/1M

Alibaba

Qwen3.8 27B

Elo 1,398

LiveBench60.6%

SWE-bench58.8%

Speed152 tok/s

Output cost$3.2/1M

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is better overall, MiniMax M2.5 or Qwen3.8 27B?: MiniMax M2.5 has the higher preference Elo in our latest snapshot (1,478). “Better” still depends on coding, price, and latency — see the table.
Which is better at coding, MiniMax M2.5 or Qwen3.8 27B?: MiniMax M2.5 leads SWE-bench at 75.8% vs 58.8%. SWE-bench is one harness, not your repo.
Which is cheaper to run in production?: MiniMax M2.5 output tokens are $0.9/1M versus $3.2/1M. Input prices and retry rates still move the real bill.
Which is faster, MiniMax M2.5 or Qwen3.8 27B?: Qwen3.8 27B has the lower time-to-first-token (140 ms vs 250 ms). Tokens/sec is a separate column if you care about long completions.
Which has the larger context window?: Qwen3.8 27B accepts 262k tokens versus 205k.
Can I self-host either model?: Both MiniMax M2.5 and Qwen3.8 27B are marked open-weights. Hosting cost is not in this table.
Are these scores from CompareLLM’s own evals?: No. V1 aggregates public leaderboards (and optional first-party latency pings). Each cell names its source and date. Read /methodology.
What does preference Elo mean on this page?: Preference Elo is a crowd vote from LMArena / Arena. People see two hidden answers and pick the one they like more. The model that wins more often gets a higher Elo. That means people preferred it — not that it passed a school test. It is not SWE-bench, not accuracy, and not a number we invent. MiniMax M2.5 and Qwen3.8 27B Elo cells are dated snapshots from the named source — we do not compute Arena ourselves.

Similar Head-to-Head Comparisons

All MiniMax M2.5 matchups →|All Qwen3.8 27B matchups →

Qwen3.8 27B vs Qwen 3 Max (previous qwen)Qwen QwQ 32B vs MiniMax M2.5 Qwen 3 Max vs MiniMax M2.5 Qwen3 235B vs MiniMax M2.5 Qwen 2.5 Coder 32B vs Qwen3.8 27B Llama 4 Maverick vs MiniMax M2.5

MiniMax M2.5 vs Qwen3.8 27B benchmark

Interactive Comparison Diagram

Matchup Breakdown

Tug-of-War Matchup Matrix

Category wins across intelligence, speed, and pricing efficiency.

MiniMax M2.5 (7)vsQwen3.8 27B (3)

MiniMax M2.5: 7W (70%)Overall: MiniMax M2.5Qwen3.8 27B: 3W (30%)

← MiniMax M2.5Qwen3.8 27B →

MiniMax M2.5 (5/5)

Intelligence & Reasoning

Preference Elo, Coding proficiency, SWE-bench & LiveBench accuracy

Preference Elo

1,478vs1,398

Coding Elo

1,536vs1,422

SWE-bench

75.8%vs58.8%

LiveBench

64.4%vs60.6%

GPQA Diamond

76.2%vs73.4%

MiniMax M2.5: 5WQwen3.8 27B: 0W

Qwen3.8 27B (2/2)

Speed & Latency

Generation throughput and time to first token responsiveness

Output speed

90 tok/svs152 tok/s

Time to first token

250 msvs140 ms

MiniMax M2.5: 0WQwen3.8 27B: 2W

MiniMax M2.5 (2/3)

Pricing & Capacity

Cost per million tokens and max context window length

Output price

$0.9/1Mvs$3.2/1M

Input price

$0.22/1Mvs$0.45/1M

Context window

205kvs262k

MiniMax M2.5: 2WQwen3.8 27B: 1W

Recommended Workload Routing

Repo / coding agentsMiniMax M2.5

Higher SWE-bench (75.8%).

High-volume chatMiniMax M2.5

Lower output list price ($0.9/1M).

Voice / low-latency UIQwen3.8 27B

Lower TTFT (140 ms).

Long-document RAGQwen3.8 27B

Larger window (262k).

Screenshots / visionMiniMax M2.5

MiniMax M2.5 is the side marked multimodal in the catalog.

Target Workload	Recommended Pick	Evaluation Rationale
Repo / coding agents	MiniMax M2.5	Higher SWE-bench (75.8%).
High-volume chat	MiniMax M2.5	Lower output list price ($0.9/1M).
Voice / low-latency UI	Qwen3.8 27B	Lower TTFT (140 ms).
Long-document RAG	Qwen3.8 27B	Larger window (262k).
Screenshots / vision	MiniMax M2.5	MiniMax M2.5 is the side marked multimodal in the catalog.

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is better overall, MiniMax M2.5 or Qwen3.8 27B?

MiniMax M2.5 has the higher preference Elo in our latest snapshot (1,478). “Better” still depends on coding, price, and latency — see the table.

Which is better at coding, MiniMax M2.5 or Qwen3.8 27B?

MiniMax M2.5 leads SWE-bench at 75.8% vs 58.8%. SWE-bench is one harness, not your repo.

Which is cheaper to run in production?

MiniMax M2.5 output tokens are $0.9/1M versus $3.2/1M. Input prices and retry rates still move the real bill.

Which is faster, MiniMax M2.5 or Qwen3.8 27B?

Qwen3.8 27B has the lower time-to-first-token (140 ms vs 250 ms). Tokens/sec is a separate column if you care about long completions.

Which has the larger context window?

Qwen3.8 27B accepts 262k tokens versus 205k.

Can I self-host either model?

Both MiniMax M2.5 and Qwen3.8 27B are marked open-weights. Hosting cost is not in this table.

Are these scores from CompareLLM’s own evals?

No. V1 aggregates public leaderboards (and optional first-party latency pings). Each cell names its source and date. Read /methodology.

What does preference Elo mean on this page?

Preference Elo is a crowd vote from LMArena / Arena. People see two hidden answers and pick the one they like more. The model that wins more often gets a higher Elo. That means people preferred it — not that it passed a school test. It is not SWE-bench, not accuracy, and not a number we invent. MiniMax M2.5 and Qwen3.8 27B Elo cells are dated snapshots from the named source — we do not compute Arena ourselves.

Swap or Add Any Model to this Matchup

Interactive Comparison Diagram

Tug-of-War Matchup Matrix

Intelligence & Reasoning

Speed & Latency

Pricing & Capacity

Multi-Dimensional Capability Radar

MiniMax M2.5

Qwen3.8 27B

MiniMax M2.5

Full Benchmark Score Matrix

Workload Cost & Savings Calculator

Key Selection Recommendations

Recommended Workload Routing

Related Editorial Dispatches & Benchmark Notes

Qwen3.8 27B (Aug 14): dense enough to self-host, not a frontier MoE

MiniMax M2.5: the Feb 2026 SWE-bench specialist still on the board

Cast Your Matchup Vote

Community Discussions (0)

Share card

CompareLLM Matrix

MiniMax M2.5

Qwen3.8 27B

Frequently Asked Questions

Related news

Similar Head-to-Head Comparisons

Swap or Add Any Model to this Matchup

Interactive Comparison Diagram

Tug-of-War Matchup Matrix

Intelligence & Reasoning

Speed & Latency

Pricing & Capacity

Multi-Dimensional Capability Radar

MiniMax M2.5

Qwen3.8 27B

MiniMax M2.5

Full Benchmark Score Matrix

Workload Cost & Savings Calculator

Key Selection Recommendations

Recommended Workload Routing

Related Editorial Dispatches & Benchmark Notes

Qwen3.8 27B (Aug 14): dense enough to self-host, not a frontier MoE

MiniMax M2.5: the Feb 2026 SWE-bench specialist still on the board

Cast Your Matchup Vote

Community Discussions (0)

Share card

CompareLLM Matrix

MiniMax M2.5

Qwen3.8 27B

Frequently Asked Questions

Related news

Similar Head-to-Head Comparisons