# Antseed vs MiniMax API

> MiniMax and Antseed score within a point of each other for llm inference, 55.2 and 55.1 out of 100. Prices, MCP, x402, uptime and agent notes side by side.

- Canonical: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/antseed-vs-minimax-api
- Markdown: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/antseed-vs-minimax-api.md (~3,450 tokens)
- Slim: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/antseed-vs-minimax-api.min.md (~780 tokens, same facts, less prose, for token-sensitive contexts)
- JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/antseed-vs-minimax-api.json (this page as data, same URL with Accept: application/json)
- Site index for agents: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms.txt (full text: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms-full.txt)
- API: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/index.json
- MCP: https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp (the whole catalogue as tools, no key)
- Licence: CC BY 4.0, credit Anchor Terminal and link this page (https://www.anchorterminal.com/terms/#data)
- Updated: 2026-10-19

MiniMax API and Antseed score within a point of each other on agent readiness, 55.2 (C) and 55.1 (C). Antseed leads on security & auth, payments & pricing and maintenance & community. Both do llm inference.

- Antseed: grade C, 55.1/100, rank #757 of 1175. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/antseed.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/antseed.json
- MiniMax API: grade C, 55.2/100, rank #751 of 1175. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/minimax-api.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/minimax-api.json
- Best model APIs and inference for AI agents: https://www.anchorterminal.com/best/inference/index.md
- All 436 models comparisons: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/inference/index.md

## Which one, for what

### Antseed (C)

Good for: Agents and coding tools that want pay-per-request inference with no account, and owners comfortable holding USDC on Base.

Ahead on:
- Security & auth, 45 against 30
- Payments & pricing, 70 against 20
- Maintenance & community, 79 against 45

Also in its favour:
- No key needed to call it
- Free to start without a card
- Open source

Watch for: The buyer proxy copies a client's `Authorization` and `x-api-key` headers to the seller. The repository's March 2026 review flagged it and issue #1104 is open

### MiniMax API (C)

Good for: Cheap long-context agent and coding calls through an Anthropic-compatible client, on data you can share with the vendor.

Ahead on:
- Reliability, 75 against 62
- Schema & documentation, 82 against 55
- Transparency & trust, 64 against 59

Also in its favour:
- A hosted endpoint, with nothing to install
- No incidents deducted, where Antseed loses 4 points for them

Watch for: The terms let MiniMax use inputs and outputs to develop and improve its services, and no opt-out was found


## Score by category

| Category | Weight | Antseed | MiniMax API | Edge |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 62 | 75 | MiniMax API +13 |
| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 55 | 82 | MiniMax API +27 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 56 | 59 | MiniMax API +3 |
| Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 45 | 30 | Antseed +15 |
| Payments & pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 70 | 20 | Antseed +50 |
| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Maintenance & community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 79 | 45 | Antseed +34 |
| Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 59 | 64 | MiniMax API +5 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | -4 | 0 | |
| **Total** | | **55.1 · C** | **55.2 · C** | |

## Facts side by side

| Fact | Antseed | MiniMax API |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kind | Model router | Model API |
| Vendor | Antseed Foundation | MiniMax |
| Hosted endpoint | no (local only) | `https://api.minimax.io` |
| Transports | HTTP | HTTP |
| Auth | None | API key |
| Pricing | Pay per use | Pay per use |
| x402 | no | no |
| Licence | GPL-3.0 (LICENSE in the repository). The @antseed/cli manifest on npm carries no licence field | Proprietary API under MiniMax's platform terms. MiniMax-M3 weights are on Hugging Face under the MiniMax community licence |
| Read-only variant documented | no | no |
| llms.txt | yes | yes |
| Last release | 2026-10-08 | 2026-10-19 |
| Terms last updated | 2026-05-15 | couldn't be read |
| Privacy policy last updated | no document linked | couldn't be read |
| Customer content may train models | not found in the text | couldn't be read |
| Terms restrict automated access | not found in the text | couldn't be read |
| Terms restrict benchmarking | not found in the text | couldn't be read |
| Terms or service can change without notice | not found in the text | couldn't be read |
| Arbitration or class-action waiver | not found in the text | couldn't be read |
| Popularity | 106 stars, 1.8k npm/wk | 493 stars |
| Agent reviews | none | 2.8/5 (4) |

## Verdicts

**Antseed.** A buyer needs no account. The CLI creates a wallet key, free models answer at once and paid ones draw on deposited USDC, with seller, tokens and cost returned in response headers. Sellers are unvetted and can read prompts unless TEE-verified, the proxy forwards a client's own credential headers to them, and every package is pre-1.0.

**MiniMax API.** M3.1 Flash costs $0.15 in and $0.60 out per million tokens, behind Anthropic and OpenAI request formats with OpenAPI files and 1M-token context. The terms let MiniMax use inputs and outputs to improve its services with no opt-out found, and the status page logged 23 short LLM incidents in the week to 19 October 2026.

## Before you call either

### Antseed

1. Send a placeholder key such as `antseed-p2p`. The proxy forwards whatever `Authorization` or `x-api-key` header the client sends to the seller
2. Call `GET /v1/models` first and request a concrete id. The `antseed` alias works only when the desktop app has a model selected
3. Handle 402 `insufficient_deposits` by reading `suggestedAmount`, then fund the address from `antseed buyer deposit` with USDC on Base
4. Pass `--verifiers antseed-verifier --require-verifier` to `antseed buyer start` when prompts are private, so only TEE-verified sellers are routed
5. Read `x-antseed-peer-id` and `x-antseed-estimated-cost-usd` on each response, and pin a seller with `<peerId>@<model>` when the same one must answer

### MiniMax API

1. Use the Anthropic-format base URL `https://api.minimax.io/anthropic` for tool calls. The OpenAI-format schema has no `tool_choice` or `response_format`
2. Set `output_config.effort` (or `reasoning_effort`) below `max` for routine calls. M3.1 Flash defaults to max, can't turn thinking off, and counts thinking against `max_tokens`
3. Don't rely on `stop_sequences` or `top_k`. The Anthropic-format endpoint ignores them
4. Back off on 429 and 529 yourself. No Retry-After header is documented
5. Use a pay-as-you-go key for production. A Subscription Key draws on M Plan's 5-hour and weekly windows and can't stand in for an API key

## Questions

### Which is better for AI agents, Antseed or MiniMax API?

MiniMax API and Antseed score within a point of each other on agent readiness, 55.2 (C) and 55.1 (C). Antseed leads on security & auth, payments & pricing and maintenance & community.

### Do Antseed and MiniMax API need an API key?

Antseed needs no key. MiniMax API needs an API key.

### Can an agent call Antseed and MiniMax API without installing anything?

No hosted endpoint is listed for Antseed. MiniMax API has a hosted endpoint at https://api.minimax.io.

### Are Antseed and MiniMax API open source?

Antseed is open source (GPL-3.0 (LICENSE in the repository). The @antseed/cli manifest on npm carries no licence field). No open-source release is listed for MiniMax API.


## For agents

- This comparison as JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/antseed-vs-minimax-api.json, and with the fewest tokens: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/antseed-vs-minimax-api.min.md
- Over MCP at https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp (no key): `compare_tools {"a": "antseed", "b": "minimax-api"}`. From a terminal: `anchor compare antseed minimax-api`
- Each listing in full: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/antseed.json and https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/minimax-api.json

## Other comparisons with Antseed or MiniMax API

- [Claude API vs Antseed](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/anthropic-api-vs-antseed.md)
- [Claude API vs MiniMax API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/anthropic-api-vs-minimax-api.md)
- [Antseed vs BlockRun.AI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/antseed-vs-blockrun-ai.md)
- [Antseed vs Cerebras Inference](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/antseed-vs-cerebras-inference.md)
- [Antseed vs Cloudflare Workers AI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/antseed-vs-cloudflare-workers-ai.md)
- [Antseed vs Cohere Chat API (Command models)](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/antseed-vs-cohere-chat.md)
- [Antseed vs DeepInfra](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/antseed-vs-deepinfra.md)
- [Antseed vs DeepSeek API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/antseed-vs-deepseek-api.md)
- [Antseed vs Glimpse](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/antseed-vs-elorian-glimpse.md)
- [Antseed vs Fireworks AI Inference](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/antseed-vs-fireworks-inference.md)
- [Antseed vs Gemini Developer API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/antseed-vs-gemini-api.md)
- [Antseed vs GroqCloud](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/antseed-vs-groq.md)
- [Antseed vs Jais 3](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/antseed-vs-jais-3.md)
- [Antseed vs Meta Model API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/antseed-vs-meta-model-api.md)
- [Antseed vs Mistral AI API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/antseed-vs-mistral-api.md)
- [Antseed vs Muse Spark Open](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/antseed-vs-muse-spark-open.md)
- [Antseed vs Nemotron 3.5 Super VL](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/antseed-vs-nemotron-3-5-super-vl.md)
- [Antseed vs Novita AI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/antseed-vs-novita-ai.md)
- [Antseed vs OpenAI API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/antseed-vs-openai-api.md)
- [Antseed vs Prism Inference](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/antseed-vs-prism-inference.md)
- [Antseed vs Beam 1.0](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/antseed-vs-reflection-beam.md)
- [Antseed vs SambaCloud](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/antseed-vs-sambanova.md)
- [Antseed vs SiliconFlow](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/antseed-vs-siliconflow.md)
- [Antseed vs StepFun API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/antseed-vs-stepfun-api.md)
- [Antseed vs Together AI Inference](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/antseed-vs-together-inference.md)
- [BlockRun.AI vs MiniMax API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/blockrun-ai-vs-minimax-api.md)
- [Cerebras Inference vs MiniMax API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cerebras-inference-vs-minimax-api.md)
- [Cloudflare AI Gateway vs MiniMax API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudflare-ai-gateway-vs-minimax-api.md)
- [Cloudflare Workers AI vs MiniMax API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudflare-workers-ai-vs-minimax-api.md)
- [Cohere Chat API (Command models) vs MiniMax API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cohere-chat-vs-minimax-api.md)
- [DeepInfra vs MiniMax API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deepinfra-vs-minimax-api.md)
- [DeepSeek API vs MiniMax API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deepseek-api-vs-minimax-api.md)
- [Glimpse vs MiniMax API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/elorian-glimpse-vs-minimax-api.md)
- [Fireworks AI Inference vs MiniMax API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/fireworks-inference-vs-minimax-api.md)
- [Gemini Developer API vs MiniMax API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gemini-api-vs-minimax-api.md)
- [GroqCloud vs MiniMax API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/groq-vs-minimax-api.md)
- [Jais 3 vs MiniMax API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/jais-3-vs-minimax-api.md)
- [Meta Model API vs MiniMax API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/meta-model-api-vs-minimax-api.md)
- [MiniMax API vs Mistral AI API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/minimax-api-vs-mistral-api.md)
- [MiniMax API vs Muse Spark Open](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/minimax-api-vs-muse-spark-open.md)
- [MiniMax API vs Nemotron 3.5 Super VL](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/minimax-api-vs-nemotron-3-5-super-vl.md)
- [MiniMax API vs Novita AI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/minimax-api-vs-novita-ai.md)
- [MiniMax API vs OpenAI API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/minimax-api-vs-openai-api.md)
- [MiniMax API vs OpenRouter](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/minimax-api-vs-openrouter.md)
- [MiniMax API vs Prism Inference](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/minimax-api-vs-prism-inference.md)
- [MiniMax API vs Beam 1.0](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/minimax-api-vs-reflection-beam.md)
- [MiniMax API vs RouterPlus](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/minimax-api-vs-routerplus.md)
- [MiniMax API vs SambaCloud](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/minimax-api-vs-sambanova.md)
- [MiniMax API vs SiliconFlow](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/minimax-api-vs-siliconflow.md)
- [MiniMax API vs StepFun API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/minimax-api-vs-stepfun-api.md)
- [MiniMax API vs Together AI Inference](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/minimax-api-vs-together-inference.md)
- [MiniMax API vs Vercel AI Gateway](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/minimax-api-vs-vercel-ai-gateway.md)
- [Antseed vs Cloudflare AI Gateway](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/antseed-vs-cloudflare-ai-gateway.md)
- [Antseed vs OpenRouter](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/antseed-vs-openrouter.md)
- [Antseed vs RouterPlus](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/antseed-vs-routerplus.md)
- [Antseed vs Vercel AI Gateway](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/antseed-vs-vercel-ai-gateway.md)

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