MiniMax vs SambaNova Cloud: Token Pricing, Speed & Intelligence
Full comparison of MiniMax and SambaNova Cloud — live token pricing, latency, throughput, context window, strengths, weaknesses, and best use cases. Rates sourced from public APIs — verify before use.
MiniMax
MiniMax M3 — 1M context frontier model available on Together AI and Amazon Bedrock
MiniMax is a Chinese AI company offering the MiniMax M-series of large language models. MiniMax M3 is the latest generation, supporting a 1M token context window and designed for enterprise chat, long-document analysis, and agentic workflows. M3 is now available on Together AI and Amazon Bedrock, significantly expanding its global accessibility.
SambaNova Cloud
High-throughput inference on SambaNova RDU chips — gpt-oss-120b, GLM-5.3, Llama
SambaNova Cloud runs inference on SambaNova's proprietary Reconfigurable Dataflow Unit (RDU) chips, delivering very high throughput (800+ tokens/sec on gpt-oss-120b). The catalog covers gpt-oss-120b, GLM-5.3, MiniMax-M3, DeepSeek-V3.2, Meta-Llama-3.3-70B, and Gemma 4 31B. Pricing is PAYG with prompt caching on select models.
Key metric comparison
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Live token pricing
Strengths and weaknesses
MiniMax
SambaNova Cloud
Key differentiators
MiniMax M3 combines a 1M token context window with broad availability (Together AI, Amazon Bedrock) — making it one of the most accessible long-context models for global enterprise customers.
Proprietary RDU chips deliver industry-leading throughput on open-weight models at competitive per-token rates.
Frequently asked questions
MiniMax FAQs
What is MiniMax M3?
MiniMax M3 is MiniMax's latest frontier model, supporting a 1M token context window. It is designed for enterprise chat, long-document analysis, and agentic tasks with competitive pricing — available on Together AI and Amazon Bedrock. Check api.together.ai/models for current rates.
Where can I access MiniMax M3?
MiniMax M3 is available via the MiniMax API directly, through Together AI's inference platform, and on Amazon Bedrock — making it accessible without a separate MiniMax account for AWS and Together AI customers.
Is MiniMax available internationally?
Yes. The MiniMax API is accessible globally, and M3 is also available through Together AI and Amazon Bedrock for international customers who prefer not to create a direct MiniMax account.
SambaNova Cloud FAQs
What makes SambaNova Cloud different?
SambaNova runs inference on its own Reconfigurable Dataflow Unit (RDU) chips rather than NVIDIA GPUs. This delivers very high throughput — over 800 tokens/sec on gpt-oss-120b — at competitive per-token rates.
What models does SambaNova Cloud offer?
As of October 2026: gpt-oss-120b ($0.22/$0.59), GLM-5.3 ($1.40/$4.40, cached $0.14), MiniMax-M3 ($0.60/$2.40, cached $0.06), DeepSeek-V3.2 ($3.00/$4.50), Meta-Llama-3.3-70B ($0.60/$1.20), and Gemma 4 31B ($0.38/$1.15). See cloud.sambanova.ai/plans/pricing for current rates.
Does SambaNova offer prompt caching?
Yes, on GLM-5.3 (cached input $0.14/1M vs $1.40/1M standard) and MiniMax-M3 (cached input $0.06/1M vs $0.60/1M standard).
Provider resources
MiniMax — MiniMax M3 — 1M context frontier model available on Together AI and Amazon Bedrock
MiniMax is a Chinese AI company offering the MiniMax M-series of large language models. MiniMax M3 is the latest generation, supporting a 1M token context window and designed for enterprise chat, long-document analysis, and agentic workflows. M3 is now available on Together AI and Amazon Bedrock, significantly expanding its global accessibility.
MiniMax M3 combines a 1M token context window with broad availability (Together AI, Amazon Bedrock) — making it one of the most accessible long-context models for global enterprise customers.
SambaNova Cloud — High-throughput inference on SambaNova RDU chips — gpt-oss-120b, GLM-5.3, Llama
SambaNova Cloud runs inference on SambaNova's proprietary Reconfigurable Dataflow Unit (RDU) chips, delivering very high throughput (800+ tokens/sec on gpt-oss-120b). The catalog covers gpt-oss-120b, GLM-5.3, MiniMax-M3, DeepSeek-V3.2, Meta-Llama-3.3-70B, and Gemma 4 31B. Pricing is PAYG with prompt caching on select models.
Proprietary RDU chips deliver industry-leading throughput on open-weight models at competitive per-token rates.
Key strengths compared
MiniMax
- 1M token context window on MiniMax M3
- Available on Together AI and Amazon Bedrock
- Competitive pricing for long-context workloads
- Smaller international developer community
- Less third-party tooling than OpenAI
SambaNova Cloud
- Proprietary RDU chips deliver very high throughput — 800+ tokens/sec on gpt-oss-120b
- Competitive pricing on gpt-oss-120b ($0.22/$0.59 per 1M)
- Prompt caching on GLM-5.3 (cached input at $0.14/1M)
- Smaller model catalog vs OpenRouter or Together AI
- No proprietary frontier models — inference-only platform
Key weaknesses compared
MiniMax
- Smaller international developer community
- Less third-party tooling than OpenAI
SambaNova Cloud
- Smaller model catalog vs OpenRouter or Together AI
- No proprietary frontier models — inference-only platform
- RDU architecture may behave differently from GPU inference for some workloads
Provider category context
MiniMax is a frontier lab, founded in 2021. SambaNova Cloud is a inference api, founded in 2017. MiniMax as a frontier lab trains and serves its own proprietary models. SambaNova Cloud as an inference API provider hosts open-weight models — typically offering lower prices for equivalent capability tiers but without access to proprietary frontier models.
How to choose between them
Choose MiniMax if you need 1m token context window on minimax m3. Choose SambaNova Cloud if you need High-throughput inference. For high-volume production workloads, run a cost comparison using the token pricing table above with your actual prompt/completion token ratio — the cheapest provider depends heavily on your input-to-output token ratio.