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Head-to-head comparison

Inkling vs Inkling Small

Inkling (Thinking Machines) 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 22 September 2026

As of 22 September 2026, Inkling holds the stronger ModelCap Index position (#46 vs #84); and Inkling Small is 3.4× cheaper per output token ($1.20/1M vs $4.05/1M).

Which should you choose?

Choose Inkling if…

  • you want the stronger overall ModelCap Index position — #46 against #84 (68.6 vs 56.6 points).
  • you want provider choice — 3 listed API providers against 2.
  • Arena coding is your yardstick — 1492 against 1474.

Choose Inkling Small if…

  • API cost matters — $1.20/1M output tokens against $4.05/1M, about 3.4× cheaper.
  • your workload is prompt-heavy — input tokens cost $0.45/1M against $1.00/1M.
  • LMArena Agent is your yardstick — -9.2% against -10.0%.
  • ARC-AGI-2 is your yardstick — 40.1% against 36.5%.
  • AA Humanity's Last Exam is your yardstick — 33.3% against 31.9%.
  • you want the more recently listed model — Inkling Small was listed 30 July 2026, Inkling 17 July 2026.

Inkling vs Inkling Small: specs, pricing and context

Specification comparison of Inkling and Inkling Small
FieldInklingThinking MachinesInkling SmallThinking Machines
ModelCap Index position#46#84
Index score68.656.6
EvidenceMeasuredMeasured
Input price / 1M tokens$1.00$0.45
Output price / 1M tokens$4.05$1.20
Context window1M tokens1M tokens
Max output tokens472K262K
API providers listed32
Weight accessOpen weightsOpen weights
Input modalitiesText, Image, AudioText, Image, Audio
First listed17 July 202630 July 2026
PublisherThinking MachinesThinking Machines

Evidence: 5 public benchmark observations across 5 boards · 4 public benchmark observations across 4 boards. Prices are the lowest listed API offer per million tokens observed on the OpenRouter catalogue.

Benchmark scores: Inkling vs Inkling Small

Public benchmark boards where Inkling or Inkling Small has a published result
BoardInklingInkling SmallLeads
Arena codingArena (LMArena)14921484–150014741466–1483Inkling
LMArena AgentLMArena-10.0%-10.9%–-9.1%-9.2%-10.5%–-7.8%Inkling Small
ARC-AGI-2ARC Prize Foundation36.5%40.1%X-HighInkling Small
AA Intelligence IndexArtificial Analysis25.0intelligence-index:v4.3:xhigh—Only one result
AA Humanity's Last ExamArtificial Analysis31.9%hle:may-2025:text-only-2158:no-tools:pass-at-1:source-model="Inkling (xhigh)":reasoning=true33.3%hle:may-2025:text-only-2158:no-tools:pass-at-1:source-model="Inkling Small":reasoning=trueInkling 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.

Inkling vs Inkling Small: common questions

Is Inkling better than Inkling Small?

Inkling ranks higher on the ModelCap Index as of 22 September 2026: #46 against #84. 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 do not overlap, but the aggregate Index does not predict performance on every task; compare the relevant benchmark configurations before choosing.

Is Inkling cheaper than Inkling Small?

Inkling Small is cheaper on output tokens: $1.20/1M against $4.05/1M. Input tokens are $1.00/1M for Inkling 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 $4.03 for Inkling versus $1.50 for Inkling Small. Inkling Small costs 62.7% 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, Inkling or Inkling Small?

Both publish a 1M-token context window.

Which is better for coding, Inkling or Inkling Small?

Arena coding: Inkling 1492, Inkling Small 1474 — Inkling leads.

Are Inkling and Inkling Small open-weight models?

Inkling: 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 Inkling and Inkling Small?

ModelCap currently lists 3 API providers for Inkling 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 Inkling vs Inkling Small comparison?

Every figure comes from the sealed ModelCap dataset published 22 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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