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Head-to-head comparison

o3 vs Inkling Small

o3 (OpenAI) and Inkling Small (Thinking Machines) compared on the ModelCap Index, API price, context window, provider availability, weight access and every public benchmark board they share. Figures are the same ones shown on the live rankings; nothing here is a hidden score.

Snapshot as of 20 August 2026

As of 20 August 2026, Inkling Small holds the stronger ModelCap Index position (#35 vs #38); Inkling Small is 6.7× cheaper per output token ($1.20/1M vs $8.00/1M); Inkling Small offers the longer context window (524K vs 200K tokens); and Inkling Small ships open weights.

Which should you choose?

Choose o3 if…

  • ModelCap publishes no field on which o3 leads Inkling Small for this pair.

Choose Inkling Small if…

  • you want the stronger overall ModelCap Index position — #35 against #38 (57.8 vs 55.6 points).
  • API cost matters — $1.20/1M output tokens against $8.00/1M, about 6.7× cheaper.
  • your workload is prompt-heavy — input tokens cost $0.45/1M against $2.00/1M.
  • you need the longer context window — 524K tokens against 200K.
  • you want to self-host: Inkling Small ships open weights while o3 is api only.
  • you want provider choice — 2 listed API providers against 1.
  • ARC-AGI-2 is your yardstick — 40.1% against 6.5%.
  • Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index is your yardstick — 41.2 against 31.1.
  • you want the more recently listed model — Inkling Small was listed 30 July 2026, o3 16 April 2025.

o3 vs Inkling Small: specs, pricing and context

Specification comparison of o3 and Inkling Small
Fieldo3OpenAIInkling SmallThinking Machines
ModelCap Index position#38#35
Index score55.657.8
EvidenceMeasuredMeasured
Input price / 1M tokens$2.00$0.45
Output price / 1M tokens$8.00$1.20
Context window200K tokens524K tokens
Max output tokens100K262K
API providers listed12
Weight accessAPI onlyOpen weights
Input modalitiesImage, Text, FileText, Image, Audio
First listed16 April 202530 July 2026
PublisherOpenAIThinking Machines

Evidence: 4 public benchmark observations across 4 boards · 3 public benchmark observations across 3 boards. Prices are the lowest listed API offer per million tokens observed on the OpenRouter catalogue.

Benchmark scores: o3 vs Inkling Small

Public benchmark boards where o3 or Inkling Small has a published result
Boardo3Inkling SmallLeads
Arena codingArena (LMArena)14601453–1466—Only one result
LMArena AgentLMArena—-6.8%-8.6%–-5.1%Only one result
ARC-AGI-2ARC Prize Foundation6.5%High40.1%X-HighInkling Small
SWE-benchSWE-bench (Princeton / SWE-agent team)58.4%—Only one result
BFCL V4UC Berkeley (Gorilla)63.1Prompt—Only one result
Artificial Analysis Intelligence IndexArtificial Analysis31.1intelligence-index41.2intelligence-indexInkling Small

Scores are the sources' own published figures for each model's best evaluated configuration; ModelCap never re-runs a benchmark.

Want a different pairing? Open the interactive comparison tool to swap either model for any current ranked language model.

o3 vs Inkling Small: common questions

Is o3 better than Inkling Small?

Inkling Small ranks higher on the ModelCap Index as of 20 August 2026: #35 against #38. That is a capability ranking built from public benchmark evidence with published uncertainty; whether it is "better" for you also depends on price, context and where you can run it.

Is o3 cheaper than Inkling Small?

Inkling Small is cheaper on output tokens: $1.20/1M against $8.00/1M. Input tokens are $2.00/1M for o3 and $0.45/1M for Inkling Small. Prices are the lowest listed API offer ModelCap observed, in USD per million tokens.

Which has the bigger context window, o3 or Inkling Small?

Inkling Small has the larger context window: 524K tokens against 200K.

Which is better for coding, o3 or Inkling Small?

The two models do not share a coding benchmark board on ModelCap yet, so no head-to-head coding score is published; the ModelCap Index position is the closest overall signal.

Are o3 and Inkling Small open-weight models?

o3: API only. Inkling Small: Open weights. Open weights mean the checkpoint can be downloaded and self-hosted under its licence; API-only models are available solely through hosted endpoints.

Where can I run o3 and Inkling Small?

ModelCap currently lists 1 API provider for o3 and 2 for Inkling Small, from the OpenRouter catalogue snapshot the site serves; each model page lists the providers and their prices.

How current is this o3 vs Inkling Small comparison?

Every figure comes from the sealed ModelCap dataset published 20 August 2026; the page re-renders within a minute of each data refresh, and the ModelCap Index positions are the same ones shown on the live rankings.

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