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Head-to-head comparison

Qwen3 235B A22B vs Inkling Small

Qwen3 235B A22B (Qwen) 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 15 September 2026

As of 15 September 2026, Inkling Small holds the stronger ModelCap Index position (#70 vs #82); Inkling Small is 1.5× cheaper per output token ($1.20/1M vs $1.82/1M); and Inkling Small offers the longer context window (1M vs 131K tokens).

Which should you choose?

Choose Qwen3 235B A22B if…

  • ModelCap publishes no field on which Qwen3 235B A22B leads Inkling Small for this pair.

Choose Inkling Small if…

  • you want the stronger overall ModelCap Index position — #70 against #82 (52.7 vs 50.6 points).
  • API cost matters — $1.20/1M output tokens against $1.82/1M, about 1.5× cheaper.
  • your workload is prompt-heavy — input tokens cost $0.45/1M against $0.455/1M.
  • you need the longer context window — 1M tokens against 131K.
  • you want provider choice — 3 listed API providers against 1.
  • Arena coding is your yardstick — 1474 against 1445.
  • you want the more recently listed model — Inkling Small was listed 30 July 2026, Qwen3 235B A22B 28 April 2025.

Qwen3 235B A22B vs Inkling Small: specs, pricing and context

Specification comparison of Qwen3 235B A22B and Inkling Small
FieldQwen3 235B A22BQwenInkling SmallThinking Machines
ModelCap Index position#82#70
Index score50.652.7
EvidenceMeasuredMeasured
Input price / 1M tokens$0.455$0.45
Output price / 1M tokens$1.82$1.20
Context window131K tokens1M tokens
Max output tokens8K262K
API providers listed13
Weight accessOpen weightsOpen weights
Input modalitiesTextText, Image, Audio
First listed28 April 202530 July 2026
PublisherQwenThinking Machines

Evidence: 2 public benchmark observations across 2 boards · 5 public benchmark observations across 5 boards. Prices are the lowest listed API offer per million tokens observed on the OpenRouter catalogue.

Benchmark scores: Qwen3 235B A22B vs Inkling Small

Public benchmark boards where Qwen3 235B A22B or Inkling Small has a published result
BoardQwen3 235B A22BInkling SmallLeads
Arena codingArena (LMArena)14451438–1453No thinking14741466–1483Inkling Small
LMArena AgentLMArena—-7.8%-9.4%–-6.3%Only one result
ARC-AGI-2ARC Prize Foundation—40.1%X-HighOnly one result
AA Intelligence IndexArtificial Analysis—26.1intelligence-index:v4.3:reasoning-unspecifiedOnly one result
AA Humanity's Last ExamArtificial Analysis—33.3%hle:may-2025:text-only-2158:no-tools:pass-at-1:source-model="Inkling Small":reasoning=trueOnly one result

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.

Qwen3 235B A22B vs Inkling Small: common questions

Is Qwen3 235B A22B better than Inkling Small?

Inkling Small ranks higher on the ModelCap Index as of 15 September 2026: #70 against #82. 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. Their published uncertainty intervals overlap, so the rank difference alone does not establish a reliable capability advantage for your workload.

Is Qwen3 235B A22B cheaper than Inkling Small?

Inkling Small is cheaper on output tokens: $1.20/1M against $1.82/1M. Input tokens are $0.455/1M for Qwen3 235B A22B and $0.45/1M for Inkling Small. Prices are the lowest listed API offer ModelCap observed, in USD per million tokens. For 1,000 requests with 2,000 input and 500 output tokens each (2M input + 0.5M output), the listed-rate estimate is $1.82 for Qwen3 235B A22B versus $1.50 for Inkling Small. Inkling Small costs 17.6% less in this scenario. This excludes caching, batch discounts, prompt-length tiers, tool charges and retries; verify the selected endpoint before budgeting.

Which has the bigger context window, Qwen3 235B A22B or Inkling Small?

Inkling Small has the larger context window: 1M tokens against 131K.

Which is better for coding, Qwen3 235B A22B or Inkling Small?

Arena coding: Qwen3 235B A22B 1445, Inkling Small 1474 — Inkling Small leads.

Are Qwen3 235B A22B and Inkling Small open-weight models?

Qwen3 235B A22B: Open weights. 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 Qwen3 235B A22B and Inkling Small?

ModelCap currently lists 1 API provider for Qwen3 235B A22B and 3 for Inkling Small, from the OpenRouter catalogue snapshot the site serves; each model page lists the providers and their prices.

How current is this Qwen3 235B A22B vs Inkling Small comparison?

Every figure comes from the sealed ModelCap dataset published 15 September 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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