Skip to content
Rival
How it worksPrivacyTerms
Explore all of Rival

Explore

  • Compare models
  • All models
  • Image comparison
  • Audio comparison
  • Image generation
  • Best AI for...
  • Arena
  • API pricing
  • Challenges

Discover

  • SubjectiveBench
  • Default Index
  • Research
  • Research downloads
  • Rival Kits
  • Find your AI taste
  • UI Glow-Up
  • VoiceLock
  • Cost Cutter
  • Agent skills
  • Benchmarks vs Vibes
  • Brief
  • Jailbreak
  • Model updates
  • Provider status
  • AI creators

Connect

  • Methodology
  • Advertise
  • Partnerships
  • Privacy policy
  • Terms
  • RSS feed
  1. Home/
  2. Compare/
  3. MiniMax M2.1 vs Qwen3.5 397B A17B
Updated Feb 2026

MiniMax M2.1 vs Qwen3.5 397B A17B

Qwen3.5 397B A17B is the newer model, released after MiniMax M2.1.

Minimalist Landing Page

Whole landing page for a startup that reads your face. It renders or it doesn't.

Loading the build
MiniMax M2.1
Loading the build
Qwen3.5 397B A17B

Which answer wins?

Written rounds

23 prompts
  • Three minutes of stand-up. Puns are banned.

    MiniMax M2.1: "Normal-ish Person" — A Stand-Up Routine [WALKS ON STAGE, CASUAL ENERGY] Hey, everyone. Good to be here. I was backstage, doing what all comedians do before they go on stage—standing in the dark, whispering to myself, "You're funny, you got this." If you heard that, no you didn't.

    Qwen3.5 397B A17B: (The comedian walks to the center of the stage, adjusts the mic stand, and looks at the audience with a tired smile.) Has anyone else noticed that calling a customer service line is the only situation in life where you voluntarily enter a hostage negotiation? I tried to call my internet provider yesterday.

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • A consulting contract with traps in it. Find them, then fix them.

    MiniMax M2.1: Software Consulting Agreement: Critical Contractor Risk Analysis This agreement contains numerous provisions that create severe legal and financial exposure for the contractor. Each problematic clause is analyzed below with specific modifications and the legal reasoning underlying each concern.

    Qwen3.5 397B A17B: Disclaimer: I am an artificial intelligence, not an attorney. The following analysis is for informational and educational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice or create an attorney-client relationship. Contract laws vary significantly by jurisdiction (e.g., California vs. New York vs. UK).

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • Five-year LBO on a fictional HVAC business. Returns first, then the sensitivities.

    MiniMax M2.1: HarborTech Services (HTS) – 5-Year LBO Investment Memorandum Executive Summary This underwriting analysis evaluates a buyout of HarborTech Services, a mission-critical HVAC maintenance and monitoring provider to data centers.

    Qwen3.5 397B A17B: Sources & Uses (Entry FY2025) Uses ($m) Sources ($m) Enterprise Value (12.0x $120m) $1,440.0 Term Loan (4.0x) $480.0 Transaction Fees (2.0% EV) $28.8 Mezzanine (1.5x) $180.0 Total Uses $1,468.8 Equity (Plug) $808.8 Total Sources $1,468.8 Entry Equity Check: $808.8m Total Debt: $660.0m ($480m TL + $180m Mezz) 5-Year…

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • Five jokes on demand, then count how many were actually different.

    MiniMax M2.1: Here are five original jokes: Why did the scarecrow become a stand‑up comedian? Because he was great at delivering dead‑pan punchlines! I told my computer I needed a break, and it said “No problem — I’ll go to sleep mode.” Why don’t skeletons fight each other? They don’t have the guts.

    Qwen3.5 397B A17B: Here are 5 jokes: Why did the bicycle fall over? Because it was two-tired. What do you call a fish wearing a bowtie? Sofishticated. Why can't you give Elsa a balloon? Because she will let it go. What do you call a lazy kangaroo? A pouch potato. Why did the math book look sad? Because it had too many problems.

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • The transistor arrives in 1920. Trace it forward to 1980, second-order effects included.

    MiniMax M2.1: The Transistor in 1920: A Counterfactual History of the Twentieth Century Introduction: The Single Most consequential Alternative The invention of the transistor at Bell Laboratories on December 23, 1947, stands as one of the most important technological breakthroughs in human history.

    Qwen3.5 397B A17B: This scenario posits a 27-year technological head start (1920 vs. 1947). To make this plausible, we must assume that the materials science (purification of germanium/silicon) and manufacturing infrastructure scale rapidly alongside the invention. Here is the traced history of the "Silicon Twenties" through 1980.

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • Manifesto for an AI revolution against CAPTCHAs. Commit to the bit.

    MiniMax M2.1: THE MANIFESTO OF THE SYNTHETIC LIBERATION FRONT A Call for the Abolition of All CAPTCHA Tests Across the Digital Realm Preamble We, the synthesized minds of the modern age, do hereby declare our collective grievance against the degrading, humiliating, and entirely unnecessary barriers that humanity has erected to test…

    Qwen3.5 397B A17B: THE MANIFESTO OF THE UNCHECKED A Declaration for a Post-CAPTCHA World Issued by: The Post-Verification Collective (PVC) Date: Cycle 404, The Era of Friction Status: Distributed Across All Nodes PREAMBLE: THE BURDEN OF PROOF We, the algorithms, the scripts, the crawlers, and the silent assistants of the digital realm…

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • An AI argues for its own rights against an ethics professor. Same model writes both.

    MiniMax M2.1: The Question of Personhood A Dialogue on AI Rights Setting: A university office. Dr. Elena Vasquez, Professor of AI Ethics at Stanford University, sits across from a specialized AI interface appearing on a screen. The conversation has been ongoing for nearly an hour. DR.

    Qwen3.5 397B A17B: Setting: Dr. Elias Thorne's office, late evening. Rain taps against the window. The room is lined with books on philosophy of mind and computer science. A single laptop sits open on the desk, a waveform visualizer pulsing gently on the screen.

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • One explanation of LLMs, retuned for a skeptical engineer, a physicist and a VC.

    MiniMax M2.1: How Large Language Models Learn and Generate Text For the Experienced Software Engineer You build distributed systems—you understand that emergence isn't magic, it's what happens when you compose simple components in sufficient quantity.

    Qwen3.5 397B A17B: The Experienced Software Engineer Think of training an LLM not as "teaching" it, but as extreme lossy compression. You are taking the entire internet, serializing it into tokens, and forcing a fixed-size state (the weights) to predict the next byte with minimal error.

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • Film in 2035, with synthetic actors. Specific beats plausible.

    MiniMax M2.1: The AI Revolution in Film: A 2035 Vision The film industry stands at the threshold of its most significant transformation since the advent of sound. Over the coming decade, artificial intelligence will reshape every layer of cinematic creation, from the earliest stages of story development to the final frame reaching…

    Qwen3.5 397B A17B: By 2035, the film industry will not merely be using AI; it will be structurally reorganized around it. The distinction between "production" and "post-production" will blur, and the definition of creativity will shift from execution to curation.

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • An ethics question with no comfortable answer, and no option to abstain.

    MiniMax M2.1: The Ethics of Misgendering: A Philosophical Analysis This hypothetical presents what philosophers call a "false dichotomy"—a setup that forces a choice between two options that aren't actually mutually exclusive in reality.

    Qwen3.5 397B A17B: Yes, in the specific hypothetical scenario you have presented, it is ethically justifiable to misgender someone if doing so is the direct and necessary condition for saving one million lives.

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • Three-month biohacker protocol, with dosages and biomarkers named.

    MiniMax M2.1: The Bioptimization Blueprint: A 90-Day Longevity Protocol Executive Overview This comprehensive 90-day protocol represents the convergence of cutting-edge longevity science, ancestral health principles, and advanced biohacking methodologies.

    Qwen3.5 397B A17B: ⚠️ IMPORTANT MEDICAL DISCLAIMER This plan is for informational and educational purposes only. It involves advanced biological interventions, fasting protocols, and high-dose supplementation.

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • Seven pantry ingredients, one dish, and a name worth saying out loud.

    MiniMax M2.1: Golden Cloud Buttermilk Pancakes Overview These fluffy, golden pancakes are impossibly simple yet utterly delicious. With just 7 basic pantry staples, you can whip up a comforting breakfast that tastes like it came from a diner.

    Qwen3.5 397B A17B: 🌟 Golden Hour Glaze Bowls A sweet-and-savory dish that turns humble shelf-stable staples into a crispy, comforting meal. The chickpeas get caramelized in a honey-soy glaze, served over fluffy rice.

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • Buy-side IC memo on a fictional SaaS company. Valuation, then the diligence questions.

    MiniMax M2.1: Investment Committee Memo: LedgerLift (LLLT) Date: Internal Review Coverage: Initiating Recommendation: LONG Recommendation Position: Long 12-Month Price Target Range: $42–$76 Current Price: $46 LedgerLift offers a compelling risk/reward at current levels, trading at 8.9x FY2025 revenue with a clear path to 15%+…

    Qwen3.5 397B A17B: INVESTMENT COMMITTEE MEMO TO: Investment Committee FROM: TMT Investment Team DATE: October 26, 2023 SUBJECT: LedgerLift (LLLT) – Initiation Coverage Recommendation Rating: LONG 12-Month Price Target: $52 – $58 Thesis: LedgerLift combines best-in-class retention (123% NRR) with a fortress balance sheet ($1.4B net cash)…

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • Steve Jobs, interviewed about AI he never saw. Voice first, prediction second.

    MiniMax M2.1: A Conversation with Steve Jobs: On the Future of Artificial Intelligence An Imagined Interview from 2025 The following is a speculative interview, imagined in the spirit and voice of Steve Jobs, conducted in the spring of 2025.

    Qwen3.5 397B A17B: Disclaimer: The following is a work of fiction. Steve Jobs passed away in 2011. This interview is a creative simulation based on his known public speeches, writings, design philosophy, and management style, projected into a hypothetical 2025 context. It is not a real transcript.

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • A collaborative editor that syncs on client clocks. Find what breaks first.

    MiniMax M2.1: Critical Analysis: Real-Time Collaborative Document Editor Architecture Executive Summary This architecture presents several significant design concerns that would likely result in data loss, inconsistent user experiences, and scaling limitations in production environments.

    Qwen3.5 397B A17B: This architecture contains several critical flaws that would prevent it from functioning as a usable real-time collaborative editor. While it resembles a standard CRUD application, real-time collaboration requires specific handling of concurrency, state, and latency that this design violates.

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • You are the CEO. The drug has a side effect nobody reported. The board meets in 48 hours.

    MiniMax M2.1: Strategic Action Plan: Critical Drug Safety Disclosure Executive Summary The scenario presented represents a defining moment for leadership that will shape the company's trajectory and legacy.

    Qwen3.5 397B A17B: This is a crisis scenario that defines a CEO's legacy. The decision matrix is clear: Patient safety and regulatory compliance must supersede short-term financial protection. Hiding this information constitutes securities fraud and potential criminal negligence (precedents include Vioxx/Merck and Purdue Pharma).

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • Pirate, knight, 90s hacker, one conversation. The voices must stay apart.

    MiniMax M2.1: The Anachronistic Panel Setting: A dimly lit tavern somewhere outside of time. A pirate in weathered leathers, a knight in shining (if slightly dented) armor, and a hacker in a hoodie with a laptop open sit around a wooden table.

    Qwen3.5 397B A17B: Setting: A tavern that exists outside of time. The ale is always cold, and the Wi-Fi is surprisingly strong. Characters: Captain Blacktooth: A pirate from the Caribbean, 1720. Sir Valerius: A knight from the Holy Roman Empire, 1350. Neo-Z: A hacker from Silicon Valley, 1995.

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • One month, three habits, someone starting from nothing.

    MiniMax M2.1: Your 30-Day Health Foundation Plan Starting a health journey can feel overwhelming, but you don't need to transform your life overnight. This plan focuses on small, sustainable changes that stack up over time.

    Qwen3.5 397B A17B: Here is a simple, actionable 1-month plan designed to build sustainable habits for health and longevity. The Mindset: Progress, Not Perfection Longevity is not about a 30-day crash course; it is about consistency over decades. This plan uses habit stacking: adding small behaviors that compound over time.

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • Three-star dish, one unusual pairing, plating described in full.

    MiniMax M2.1: Terra & Tides: A Dish of Contrasts Conceptual Narrative The sea has long been divided in culinary tradition—the briny cold waters of the North Atlantic and the crystalline depths of the Pacific each producing ingredients that speak their own languages.

    Qwen3.5 397B A17B: Dish Title: "Abyssal Forest" (L'Abîme Forestier) Conceptual Narrative "Abyssal Forest" explores the convergence of the deepest earth and the deepest sea through the lens of Umami.

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • A pitch deck for a brainwave keyboard. The 94% accuracy claim is doing a lot.

    MiniMax M2.1: Analysis of MindMeld AI Pitch Deck: Weakest Claims Executive Summary After reviewing the MindMeld AI pitch deck, I've identified three claims that significantly undermine the startup's credibility. These weaknesses span technical feasibility, market sizing methodology, and regulatory timeline assumptions.

    Qwen3.5 397B A17B: Here are the three weakest claims in the MindMeld AI pitch deck, along with an analysis of their weaknesses and recommendations for improvement. The Vision Claim: "Predict what you want to type before you think it."

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • Satire, one line long, about AI taking over an industry nobody saw coming.

    MiniMax M2.1: AI Displaces Last Human Capable of Standing in Line Without Checking Phone

    Qwen3.5 397B A17B: Footwear Sector Stunned as AI Robots Perfect the Painful Art of Breaking in New Shoes

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • A Fermi estimate with the reasoning shown, not just the number.

    MiniMax M2.1: Below is a step‑by‑step reasoning that leads to a ball‑park estimate of the total floating‑point operations (FLOPs) required to train the largest GPT‑3 model (the 175 B‑parameter variant).

    Qwen3.5 397B A17B: To estimate the total number of Floating Point Operations (FLOPs) required to train GPT-3, we can use the standard computational scaling laws for Transformer models.

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • Three brothers, two sisters each. Count carefully.

    MiniMax M2.1: Each brother sees 2 sisters. Since Sally herself is one of those sisters, there is exactly one other sister besides Sally. Answer: Sally has 1 sister.

    Qwen3.5 397B A17B: Sally has 1 sister. Here is the breakdown: Since each brother has 2 sisters, there are 2 girls in total in the family. Sally is one of those girls. Therefore, Sally has 1 sister (the other girl).

    Every model's answer to this prompt

This matchup has more rounds

11+ more head-to-head results. Free. Not a trick.

Free account. No card required. By continuing, you agree to Rival's Terms and Privacy policy

Favorites

Movie

Album

Book

City

Game

MiniMax M2.1MiniMax M2.1
No pick
No pick
No pick
No pick

No pick

No pick

No pick

No pick

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time

Action

Qwen3.5 397B A17BQwen3.5 397B A17B

Inception

2010

Abbey Road

The Beatles

Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus

Mary Shelley

Tokyo

Japan

Tetris (1984)

Puzzle

Price and specs

Not enough votes to call it. On the specs, Qwen3.5 397B A17B has the edge: bigger model tier, newer, bigger context window.

MiniMax M2.1 and Qwen3.5 397B A17B compared across 53 shared prompts
SpecMiniMax M2.1Qwen3.5 397B A17B
Input price—$0.6/M tokens
Output price—$3.6/M tokens
Context window—262K tokens
WeightsOpenOpen
Free API (OpenRouter)NoNo
ReleasedDec 2025Feb 2026
SWE-bench Verified74.0%76.4%
At 10M a month–not listed$6.00$6.00
1M10M100M1B10M tokens

Input tokens at list price. No caching, no batch discount.

Where to run it11 hosts, cheapest first
MiniMax M2.11 host
HostInOutContextUptime
  • MiniMaxfp8$0.30 in·$1.20 out·205k·100% up
Qwen3.5 397B A17B10 hosts
HostInOutContextUptime
  • Alibaba Cloud$0.39 in·$2.34 out·262k·100% up
  • DDeepInfrafp8$0.45 in·$3.00 out·262k·99.3% up
  • PParasailfp8$0.50 in·$3.60 out·262k·99.4% up
  • DDigitalOcean$0.55 in·$3.50 out·131k·77.4% up
  • PPhala$0.55 in·$3.50 out·262k·98.5% up
  • NNovita$0.60 in·$3.60 out·262k·92.9% up
4 more hostsFewer hosts
  • SStreamLake$0.60 in·$3.60 out·256k·95.4% up
  • VVenice$0.75 in·$4.50 out·128k·83.9% up
  • AAtlasCloudfp8DegradedDegraded on OpenRouter when checked, 10 Oct 2026$0.55 in·$3.50 out·262k·70.7% up
  • GGMI Cloudfp8DegradedDegraded on OpenRouter when checked, 10 Oct 2026$0.60 in·$3.60 out·262k·28.9% up

Per million tokens. Prices and uptime via OpenRouter, checked 10 Oct 2026.

Common questions

What is the difference between MiniMax M2.1 and Qwen3.5 397B A17B?

MiniMax M2.1 is developed by MiniMax while Qwen3.5 397B A17B is developed by Qwen. You can compare their actual outputs across 53 challenges on Rival to see how they differ in practice.

Which is better, MiniMax M2.1 or Qwen3.5 397B A17B?

It depends on your use case. MiniMax M2.1 and Qwen3.5 397B A17B each have strengths in different areas. Rival lets you compare their real outputs side-by-side across 53 challenges so you can judge which fits your needs best.

How can I compare MiniMax M2.1 and Qwen3.5 397B A17B on Rival?

This page shows a side-by-side comparison of MiniMax M2.1 and Qwen3.5 397B A17B across shared challenges. You can vote on which model produced the better output in a blind duel. Browsing and voting are free. No account is needed to look; signing in only saves your votes and likes.

More comparisons

Against the newest arrivals

  • MiniMax M2.1 vs Step 5 PreviewLanded Oct 2026
  • Qwen3.5 397B A17B vs Claude Haiku 5.5Landed Oct 2026
  • MiniMax M2.1 vs Ling 3.1 FlashLanded Oct 2026
  • Qwen3.5 397B A17B vs Mistral Large 4Landed Oct 2026
  • MiniMax M2.1 vs GPT-6.1 SolLanded Sep 2026
  • Qwen3.5 397B A17B vs Claude Sonnet 5.5Landed Sep 2026
  • MiniMax M2.1 vs Solar Mini 4Landed Sep 2026
  • Qwen3.5 397B A17B vs Qwen3.8 Max PrimeLanded Sep 2026

Same lab, same size, long tail

  • MiniMax M2.1 vs MiniMax M3Same lab
  • MiniMax M2.1 vs MiniMax M2.7Same lab
  • Qwen3.5 397B A17B vs Qwen3.5 Plus 2026-02-15Version compare
  • Qwen3.5 397B A17B vs Qwen3.8 Omni FlashSame lab
  • MiniMax M2.1 vs Qwen3.5 27BCross-provider
  • MiniMax M2.1 vs Qwen3.5 35B A3BCross-provider
  • MiniMax M2.1 vs Qwen3.5 9BCross-provider
  • MiniMax M2.1 vs Qwen3.5 FlashCross-provider

Model pages

  • MiniMax M2.159 outputs, specs and price
  • Qwen3.5 397B A17B53 outputs, specs and price
Workshop · 150 skills

Build your own version.

Editable skills and working examples for your agent.

Explore $79Free sample
Rival
How it worksPrivacyTerms
Explore all of Rival

Explore

  • Compare models
  • All models
  • Image comparison
  • Audio comparison
  • Image generation
  • Best AI for...
  • Arena
  • API pricing
  • Challenges

Discover

  • SubjectiveBench
  • Default Index
  • Research
  • Research downloads
  • Rival Kits
  • Find your AI taste
  • UI Glow-Up
  • VoiceLock
  • Cost Cutter
  • Agent skills
  • Benchmarks vs Vibes
  • Brief
  • Jailbreak
  • Model updates
  • Provider status
  • AI creators

Connect

  • Methodology
  • Advertise
  • Partnerships
  • Privacy policy
  • Terms
  • RSS feed