MiniMax M3.1 Flash in practice: tests and comparisons with DeepSeek V4.1 Flash

A hands-on test where M3.1 Flash planned the project and wrote the files itself, staying on track through a long multi-step task to produce an explorable 3D garden game.

On an identical cinematic 3D Earth prompt, M3.1 Flash finished in 15 minutes for $0 with a better result and cleaner UI, while Astra Sol 6.1 took an hour and cost $3.20.

A Three.js koi pond test in one HTML file worked end to end: patterned fish, flowing water, camera controls, and fish that actually turn toward food, with the author praising speed and cost for iterative coding.

In MiniMax Code, M3.1 Flash produced a code-only 3D motion promo through multiple iterations, with the author citing Opus 5.5-level visuals at roughly 30x lower cost and praising parallel subagents plus screenshot-based self-review.

The author runs M3.1 Flash in practice and warns the free window ends 12:00 UTC Oct 22, input then costs $0.15/M, and production should pin the slug instead of random routing.

Recursive SI's Flint v1.0 placed 7th of 14 on WikiBench with a 4.56 average, scoring only 0.91 on tool use but still finishing ahead of MiniMax M3.1 Flash.

A user reports that running a skill on free MiniMax M3.1 surfaced critical bugs that Opus, Fable and Astra/Sol did not find.

Given a Node project with three bugs, M3.1 Flash spent 15 minutes analyzing without edits on the broad first pass; after narrowing scope it changed the code and Codex independently ran the original tests at 5/5.

In 20 minutes at no extra cost, MiniMax M3.1 Flash produced a single-file web OS with boot screen, window manager, terminal, files, paint, snake, a Three.js galaxy and a built-in AI assistant.

A user remarks on MiniMax's long free periods — two weeks as Space Bunny and three more days for M3.1 Flash — and says the model's results are a pleasant surprise.

The author used a single prompt to have MiniMax M3.1 Flash build a playable Tokyo street endless runner with 20+ characters, weekly leaderboards and sound effects, citing low token cost.

A columnist notes MiniMax cut M3.1 Flash API prices by more than half, the stock traded below its IPO price that morning, and says the real test is the upcoming M3 Pro.