MiniMax H3 vs MiniMax H3 Max

What each one accepts

Rates and clip costs

Charged from a prepaid USD balance, no taxes added. A failed generation is $0.

Ignore what the word "Max" suggests. Here, H3 Max is the stripped-down sibling: it tops out at 768P, starts at 480P and accepts no references. The full feature set, with 2K, a prompt-driven stereo soundtrack and references for a character's face, movement and voice, lives in regular H3. Max is useful mostly as a cheap 480P sketchpad and for plain prompt or keyframe clips.

When to pick MiniMax H3

• The delivery is 2K, for YouTube or for grading later.
• You want the soundtrack written into the prompt: lines, room tone, effects.
• A recurring character needs a consistent face and voice, taken from photos and voice samples.
• A sample clip should drive the movement.

When to pick MiniMax H3 Max

• You plan many low-cost 480P test renders.
• A still cover or graphic should come alive from its first frame.
• An intro morphs one keyframe into another.
• Viewers watch on phones, where 768P is plenty.

Differences you will notice

• Price. MiniMax H3 is billed at from $0.161 per second (2K) and MiniMax H3 Max at from $0.104 per second (768P). The odd part: at 768P the lighter Max is about 4% dearer per second than full H3. Max is only the budget option at 480P, roughly 35% under H3's 768P rate. Full H3 at 2K runs about 1.56 times Max at 768P.
• Extra charges. On H3, every reference image past five is billed, and so is the running time of any reference video. Max cannot take references, so those charges never apply.
• Tiers. H3: 768P and 2K (2560x1440). Max: 480P and 768P.
• Ways to start. H3 accepts a prompt, a start and end frame, or a reference set of as many as nine pictures, three videos and three sound files. Max accepts a prompt and start and end frames, nothing more.
• Audio, duration, prompt. Native stereo is documented for H3. For Max the catalog is silent on sound, so render a test before relying on it. Durations are 4-15 s on H3 and 5-15 s on Max, with 6 s as the default on both. H3 caps prompts at 7,000 characters; Max has no published cap.

How to decide

Choose by the tier you need. 2K, sound or references point to H3; throwaway 480P drafts or a simple keyframe animation point to Max. At 768P, H3 is both cheaper and more capable, so Max has no case there. For the record, my video ranking on the Polish blog had H3 Max say a difficult Polish line flawlessly in 14-16 s per clip, while full H3 tripped on a single word. I ran it with a different provider whose H3 Max does not match the description in this catalog, so treat that result with care. The whole family is covered in the MiniMax H3 (Hailuo) guide.

Questions

So what does "Max" actually stand for here?

Just the variant name. It marks the version with 480P and 768P only, no 2K and no references. If you want the higher resolution, that is regular H3.

How cheap is a 480P clip on Max?

The rate quoted above is the 768P one; 480P comes in about 37% lower. You will see the exact figure in Studio as soon as you pick the tier, before anything is charged.

Will Max give me sound?

Nothing in the catalog confirms it, and there is no audio setting to switch on. When the soundtrack matters, go with regular H3, whose rate already includes stereo.

Samples from the makers

These clips and images come from the vendors, not from my runs.