Minimax lists 12 models and Scaledown 2. Scaledown is cheaper on a typical model ($0.03 per 1M tokens median). Below: line-up, price tiers, the cheapest model for each capability, and what each costs for five real workloads.
| Minimax | Scaledown | |
|---|---|---|
| Models listed | 12 | 2 |
| Models with published pricing | 12 | 2 |
| Typical price (median, 3:1 blend per 1M) | $0.52 | $0.03 |
| Cheapest paid model | MiniMax: MiniMax-01 ($0.43) | ScaleDown: Extract ($0.03) |
| Longest context | MiniMax: MiniMax M3 (1.0M) | ScaleDown: Extract (1M) |
| Free models | 3 | 0 |
| Newest model | MiniMax: MiniMax M3 (2026-05-31) | ScaleDown: Extract (2026-10-13) |
| Price changes in the last 90 days | 25 | 0 |
For each workload: the cheapest model from each provider that can actually do it (fits the context window; tool calling required for the agent), and its monthly cost at list price.
| Workload (per month) | Minimax | Scaledown |
|---|---|---|
| Customer-support chatbot 50,000 conversations — each a 6-turn conversation | $37.00 with MiniMax: MiniMax-01 | $3.00 with ScaleDown: Extract |
| RAG search over documents 20,000 questions — each a question answered from ~8 retrieved passages | $35.00 with MiniMax: MiniMax-01 | $4.80 with ScaleDown: Extract |
| Coding / tool-using agent 2,000 tasks — each a multi-step task with tool calls and file context | $42.84 with MiniMax: MiniMax M2 | no suitable model |
| Batch summarisation 10,000 documents — each a 6,000-word report summarised to a page | $22.60 with MiniMax: MiniMax-01 | $3.20 with ScaleDown: Extract |
| Long-document analysis 500 documents — each a 150-page contract or codebase read in one pass | $11.10 with MiniMax: MiniMax-01 | $2.00 with ScaleDown: Extract |
| You need | Minimax | Scaledown |
|---|---|---|
| Any model | MiniMax: MiniMax-01 ($0.43) | ScaleDown: Extract ($0.03) |
| With tool calling | MiniMax: MiniMax M2 ($0.45) | none listed |
| With image input | MiniMax: MiniMax-01 ($0.43) | ScaleDown: Extract ($0.03) |
| With reasoning mode | MiniMax: MiniMax M2 ($0.45) | none listed |
| 128K+ context | MiniMax: MiniMax-01 ($0.43) | ScaleDown: Extract ($0.03) |
| 1M+ context | MiniMax: MiniMax-01 ($0.43) | ScaleDown: Extract ($0.03) |
| Model type | Minimax | Scaledown |
|---|---|---|
| text+image+file->text | 0 | 2 |
| text+image+video->text | 3 | 0 |
| text+image->text | 1 | 0 |
| text->text | 8 | 0 |
| Price per 1M (3:1 blend) | Minimax | Scaledown |
|---|---|---|
| Free | 3 | 0 |
| Under $0.50 | 3 | 2 |
| $0.50 – $3 | 6 | 0 |
| $3 – $10 | 0 | 0 |
| $10 and up | 0 | 0 |
Scaledown is cheaper on a typical model: a median of $0.03 per 1M tokens (3:1 input/output) against $0.52 for Minimax. The cheapest paid models are MiniMax: MiniMax-01 at $0.43 and ScaleDown: Extract at $0.03.
It depends on the job: Minimax offers the broader line-up (12 models vs 2), Scaledown the lower typical price, Minimax the longest context (1.0M tokens). The workload table above shows which wins for chat, RAG, agents, batch jobs and long documents.
Minimax: Minimax lists 12 models and Scaledown lists 2.
Minimax: Minimax's longest is MiniMax: MiniMax M3 at 1.0M tokens; Scaledown's is ScaleDown: Extract at 1M.
Minimax: 3 free models (e.g. MiniMax: MiniMax M2.5 (free)). Scaledown: none.
Minimax: 4 of 12 models accept images. Scaledown: 2 of 2.