DeepSeek V4.1 Flash 1017 (Max) vs Inkling Small
Which is better for the money: DeepSeek V4.1 Flash 1017 (Max) by DeepSeek or Inkling Small by Thinking Machines? Intelligence, total benchmark cost, and end-to-end time from Artificial Analysis & other sources, snapshot 2026-10-25.
Trade-off
Verdict
Depends on your budget
DeepSeek V4.1 Flash 1017 (Max) scores 19.4 points higher (45.1 vs 25.7) but costs 1.8× as much to run the benchmark ($445 vs $241; both mid-range class). Pick DeepSeek V4.1 Flash 1017 (Max) when the extra intelligence is worth the premium, otherwise Inkling Small.
| Metric | DeepSeek V4.1 Flash 1017 (Max) | Inkling Small | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Intelligence (higher is better) | 45.1 | 25.7 | −43.0% Inkling Small is 43.0% less intelligent |
| Total AA cost (lower is better) | $444.60 | $240.85 | −45.8% Inkling Small is 45.8% cheaper |
| End-to-end time (lower is better) | 15.97s | 12.80s | −19.8% Inkling Small is 19.8% faster |
| Price per 1M tokens (in / out) | $0.30 / $1.20 | $0.30 / $1.20 | |
| Input modalities | Text, Image | Text, Image, Speech |
Inkling Small vs DeepSeek V4.1 Flash 1017 (Max): 43.0% less intelligence, 45.8% less cost to run the AA benchmark, and 19.8% faster end-to-end.
Today's Pareto frontier
Against the frontier
- DeepSeek V4.1 Flash 1017 (Max) is off the frontier: at the same or lower cost, GPT-6.1 Sol (Medium) scores 47.80 for $361.
- Inkling Small is off the frontier: at the same or lower cost, MiMo-V2.6-Pro scores 46.30 for $207.
DeepSeek V4.1 Flash 1017 (Max)Inkling SmallToday's Pareto frontierOpen-weights frontierEvery other model
Matchup
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Accept: text/markdown or ?format=md returns this page as Markdown. JSON: /api/v1/compare/deepseek-v4-1-flash-1017/inkling-small · Markdown: /api/v1/compare/deepseek-v4-1-flash-1017/inkling-small?format=md · llms.txt · agent skill