Happy Valley

MiniMax vs OpenLLM

MiniMax and OpenLLM are both AI assistants tools. MiniMax is aimed at developers and small businesses, while OpenLLM is aimed at developers and freelancers. MiniMax costs less, from $22/mo versus $30/mo for OpenLLM. Both have a free plan.

MiniMax

Low-cost agentic coding models, video and speech via API and M Plan

OpenLLM

Routes coding agents through your AI plans, API keys and local models

PricingFreemium · $22Freemium · $30
Starting price$22/mo$30/mo
Free planYesYes
Free trial—3 days
Built forDevelopers, Small businesses, Enterprise, CreatorsDevelopers, Freelancers
Platformsweb, macos, windows, linux, ios, androidmacos, linux
Country— · 2022—
Rating——

Choose MiniMax if

Developers and cost-sensitive teams that run agentic coding and automation workloads and want low token prices behind Anthropic- or OpenAI-style APIs.

  • Very low token prices for agentic coding workloads
  • Drop-in base URL for tools built on the Anthropic SDK
  • One platform covers text, video, speech and image generation

Look elsewhere if: Teams that need top-tier frontier models with mature enterprise admin and compliance controls (Claude, Gemini).

Choose OpenLLM if

Individual developers who pay for several AI plans and want every coding agent to use them through one endpoint with automatic fallback.

  • Free tier is generous at 50M non-cached tokens a month
  • Existing config such as ~/.claude is left unmodified
  • Keeps agents running through rate limits with fallback chains

Look elsewhere if: Teams that need a self-hosted, governed gateway or pay-per-token access to many models without accounts (LiteLLM, OpenRouter).

MiniMax vs OpenLLM pricing

MiniMax

  • MiniMax Code Free$0Limited M3.1 Flash, image and speech use in MiniMax Code
  • M3.1 Flash API$0.15/1M input tokensOutput $0.60/1M, cached input $0.015/1M; pay-as-you-go
  • M3 API$0.30/1M input tokensUp to 512k input, after permanent 50% off; output $1.20/1M
  • M Plan Go$22/moM3.1 Flash, image and speech models; $220 billed yearly
  • M Plan Explore$55/mo3x Go usage, adds H3 video; $550 billed yearly

OpenLLM

  • Free$050M non-cached tokens/mo included, 2 devices, no card
  • Pro$30/moUnlimited tokens, 5 devices, hosted gateway; 3-day trial

MiniMax · Key features

  • MiniMax-M3.1-Flash at $0.15 input and $0.60 output per 1M tokens
  • 1M-token context window on M3.1 Flash and M3
  • Effort setting on M3.1 Flash, from low to max, to trade thinking depth for cost
  • Anthropic- and OpenAI-compatible endpoints, plus the Responses API
  • M Plan key usable in Claude Code, Codex, Cursor and OpenCode
  • MiniMax Code agent on web, desktop, CLI, iOS and Android

Cons

  • M Plan is for individual interactive use, not production traffic
  • Usage resets in 5-hour and weekly windows that can cut sessions short
  • M2.5 and M2.7 retire on November 18, 2026, forcing migrations

OpenLLM · Key features

  • One OpenAI- and Anthropic-compatible endpoint and key for every connected model
  • Use Claude, ChatGPT, Kimi Code and Grok subscriptions from other agents
  • Fallback model chains when a model is rate-limited or unavailable
  • Auto-detection of local Ollama and LM Studio model servers
  • Shared MCP memory across Claude Code, Codex, Grok Build and OpenCode
  • Browser-side AES-256-GCM key vault with a user-held recovery phrase

Cons

  • No Windows support for the local daemon
  • Single-user today, with no team features
  • Losing the recovery phrase means re-entering every key

MiniMax vs OpenLLM: FAQ

Which is cheaper, MiniMax or OpenLLM?

MiniMax starts at $22/mo and OpenLLM at $30/mo. Both prices are checked on the vendors' own pricing pages.

Do MiniMax and OpenLLM have a free plan?

Yes, both MiniMax and OpenLLM have a free plan; paid plans add more usage and features.

Which is better for small businesses, MiniMax or OpenLLM?

MiniMax lists small businesses as a core audience, while OpenLLM is aimed more at developers and freelancers.

Not sure yet?