MiniMax Hailuo 02 vs Hailuo 2.3: Which AI Model Should You Choose?

Pricing, context windows, latency, capabilities, and a one-line code switch — everything you need to pick the right model.

Replicate
Video Generation
vs
Replicate
Video Generation
Verdict

MiniMax Hailuo 02 and Hailuo 2.3 are closely matched on pricing and context. The right choice depends on your specific workload — see the table below for the full breakdown.

Side-by-side specs

SpecMiniMax Hailuo 02Hailuo 2.3
ProviderReplicateReplicate
CategoryVideo GenerationVideo Generation
Input cost / 1M tokensn/an/a
Output cost / 1M tokensn/an/a
Context window——
Max output tokens——
Avg. latency—60.0s
FeaturedYes—
New—Yes
Capabilities
text
image
mp4

Pricing example

A typical chat workload of 100,000 input tokens plus 50,000 output tokens.

MiniMax Hailuo 02
n/a

100K in × n/a + 50K out × n/a

Hailuo 2.3
n/a

100K in × n/a + 50K out × n/a

Switch in one line

Both models live behind Railwail's OpenAI-compatible endpoint. Replace the model string and you are done.

JavaScript / TypeScript
import OpenAI from "openai";

const client = new OpenAI({
  apiKey: process.env.RAILWAIL_API_KEY,
  baseURL: "https://railwail.com/v1",
});

// Before — using MiniMax Hailuo 02
let r = await client.chat.completions.create({
  model: "minimax/hailuo-02",
  messages: [{ role: "user", content: "Hello" }],
});

// After — switched to Hailuo 2.3
r = await client.chat.completions.create({
  model: "minimax/hailuo-2.3",
  messages: [{ role: "user", content: "Hello" }],
});
Python
from openai import OpenAI

client = OpenAI(
    api_key=os.environ["RAILWAIL_API_KEY"],
    base_url="https://railwail.com/v1",
)

# Before — using MiniMax Hailuo 02
r = client.chat.completions.create(
    model="minimax/hailuo-02",
    messages=[{"role": "user", "content": "Hello"}],
)

# After — switched to Hailuo 2.3
r = client.chat.completions.create(
    model="minimax/hailuo-2.3",
    messages=[{"role": "user", "content": "Hello"}],
)
cURL
# Before — using MiniMax Hailuo 02
curl https://railwail.com/v1/chat/completions \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $RAILWAIL_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "model": "minimax/hailuo-02",
    "messages": [{"role": "user", "content": "Hello"}]
  }'

# After — switched to Hailuo 2.3
curl https://railwail.com/v1/chat/completions \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $RAILWAIL_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "model": "minimax/hailuo-2.3",
    "messages": [{"role": "user", "content": "Hello"}]
  }'

Which one wins for...

Quick verdicts derived from public specs. Always validate on your own workload.

Coding
MiniMax Hailuo 02

Higher coding category match or larger context wins.

Writing
MiniMax Hailuo 02

Bigger context window helps maintain long-form coherence.

Long documents
MiniMax Hailuo 02

The larger context window is the deciding factor.

Vision
MiniMax Hailuo 02

Multimodal/vision support is required for image inputs.

Real-time chat
Hailuo 2.3

Lower average latency wins for interactive UX.

Cost-sensitive
Tie

The model with the lower input-token price wins.

Frequently asked questions

Which is cheaper, MiniMax Hailuo 02 or Hailuo 2.3?
MiniMax Hailuo 02 and Hailuo 2.3 cannot be compared on per-token price: at least one of them has no per-token price listed (it is priced per run or not yet priced). See each model page for its current price.
Which has more context, MiniMax Hailuo 02 or Hailuo 2.3?
MiniMax Hailuo 02 and Hailuo 2.3 have similar context windows (— vs —).
Is MiniMax Hailuo 02 better than Hailuo 2.3 for coding?
For coding-heavy workloads we lean toward MiniMax Hailuo 02 on this comparison — it scores higher on the relevant heuristics (category, tags, or context window). Both models are usable for code via Railwail's OpenAI-compatible endpoint, so the safest path is to A/B test on your own prompts.
Can I use both MiniMax Hailuo 02 and Hailuo 2.3 via Railwail?
Yes. Both MiniMax Hailuo 02 and Hailuo 2.3 are accessible through a single Railwail API key and the OpenAI-compatible /v1/chat/completions endpoint. You only change the "model" parameter to switch between them — no SDK swap, no separate billing.
How do I switch from MiniMax Hailuo 02 to Hailuo 2.3?
Replace the model identifier "minimax/hailuo-02" with "minimax/hailuo-2.3" in your request payload. Everything else — API key, base URL, request shape — stays the same. See the code example on this page for the exact one-line change.

Try MiniMax Hailuo 02 and Hailuo 2.3 side by side

One API key, one endpoint, both models. Start free — no credit card required.