MiniMax M2.1 vs Nemotron 3.5 Lightning

Price, context window & benchmark comparison

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MiniMax M2.1

MiniMax
$0.30 / $1.20
Input / Output · per 1M tokens
VS
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Nemotron 3.5 Lightning

NVIDIA
$0.08 / $0.20
Input / Output · per 1M tokens
Compare different models
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Verdict: Nemotron 3.5 Lightning is 4.8× cheaper than MiniMax M2.1 on a typical 3:1 input/output mix. Nemotron 3.5 Lightning has the larger context window (262K vs 205K).
MiniMax M2.1Nemotron 3.5 Lightning
Input price / 1M$0.30$0.08
Output price / 1M$1.20$0.20
Blended price (3:1)$0.52$0.11
Cached input / 1M$0.03$0.04
Context window205K262K
Max output131K131K
Intelligence index12.9
Coding index26.8
Providers4
Best provider uptime (30m)100.0%
Vision inputNoNo
ReasoningYesYes
Tool callingYesYes
Released2025-12-232026-08-11
Retirement2026-10-08

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FAQ

Which is cheaper, MiniMax M2.1 or Nemotron 3.5 Lightning?

Nemotron 3.5 Lightning is 4.8× cheaper than MiniMax M2.1 on a typical 3:1 input/output mix.

MiniMax M2.1 vs Nemotron 3.5 Lightning: which has a bigger context window?

MiniMax M2.1: 204,800 tokens. Nemotron 3.5 Lightning: 262,144 tokens.

How much would 1 million requests cost?

At 2,000 input + 500 output tokens per request: MiniMax M2.1 ≈ $1,200, Nemotron 3.5 Lightning ≈ $260.00.

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