MiniMax M2 / M2.5 vs Windsurf
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
Windsurf
Codeium's AI code editor that tries to out-Cursor Cursor -- strong autocomplete with a growing agentic mode
Powered by Claude / GPT / Gemini (user selects)
| Category | MiniMax M2 / M2.5 | Windsurf |
|---|---|---|
| Ease of Use | 6.5 | 8.0 |
| Output Quality | 9.0 | 7.0 |
| Value | 9.5 | 8.0 |
| Features | 8.5 | 7.0 |
| Overall | 8.4 | 7.5 |
Pricing Comparison
| Feature | MiniMax M2 / M2.5 | Windsurf |
|---|---|---|
| Free Tier | Yes | Yes |
| Starting Price | $0 | $0 |
Benchmark Head-to-Head
MiniMax M2.5 (230B/10B active MoE) benchmarks — Windsurf 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 7)
- ✓Better value for money (9.5/10)
- ✓More features (8.5 vs 7)
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 Windsurf if...
- ✓Easier to use (8 vs 6.5)
Developers who want a Cursor-like experience at a lower price point with solid free-tier autocomplete.
Visit WindsurfOur Verdict
MiniMax M2 / M2.5 edges out Windsurf with a 8.4 vs 7.5 overall score. Both are solid picks, but MiniMax M2 / M2.5 has the advantage in output quality.