MiniMax M2 / M2.5 vs Perplexity Comet
Which one should you pick? Here's the full breakdown.
MiniMax M2 / M2.5
MiniMax's open-weights frontier -- first open model to match Claude Opus 4.6 on SWE-Bench at 10-20× lower cost
Perplexity Comet
Perplexity's agentic AI browser -- FREE on all platforms as of 2026-03-18 (previously $200/mo Max-only). iOS, Android, Windows, Mac. Browses the web, executes multi-step tasks, and summarizes pages in-line. Comet Plus ($5/mo) adds premium publisher content
| Category | MiniMax M2 / M2.5 | Perplexity Comet |
|---|---|---|
| Ease of Use | 6.5 | 8.0 |
| Output Quality | 9.0 | 8.0 |
| Value | 9.5 | 9.5 |
| Features | 8.5 | 8.0 |
| Overall | 8.4 | 8.4 |
Pricing Comparison
| Feature | MiniMax M2 / M2.5 | Perplexity Comet |
|---|---|---|
| Free Tier | Yes | Yes |
| Starting Price | $0 | $0 |
Benchmark Head-to-Head
MiniMax M2.5 (230B/10B active MoE) benchmarks — Perplexity Comet has no published benchmarks
| Benchmark | Description | Score |
|---|---|---|
| MMLU-Pro | Harder multi-subject reasoning | 82.1% |
| GPQA Diamond | Graduate-level science questions | 76.8% |
| SWE-Bench Verified | 80.2% | |
| HumanEval | Python code generation | 91% |
| AIME 2025 | 85.3% |
Which Should You Pick?
Pick MiniMax M2 / M2.5 if...
- ✓Higher output quality (9 vs 8)
Agentic coding and tool-use workflows on a budget. Best price-to-SWE-Bench ratio of any open-weights model in 2026.
Visit MiniMax M2 / M2.5Pick Perplexity Comet if...
- ✓Easier to use (8 vs 6.5)
Users who already use Perplexity for search and want an agent browser that can complete multi-step tasks (booking, research, shopping, document summarization) across tabs. Also a strong introduction to the AI-browser category for anyone curious but unwilling to pay $200/mo for a preview -- the 2026-03-18 free rollout makes evaluation risk-free.
Visit Perplexity CometOur Verdict
MiniMax M2 / M2.5 and Perplexity Comet are extremely close overall. Your choice comes down to specific needs -- MiniMax M2 / M2.5 is better for agentic coding and tool-use workflows on a budget, while Perplexity Comet works best for users who already use perplexity for search and want an agent browser that can complete multi-step tasks (booking, research, shopping, document summarization) across tabs.