DeepSeek V4 Flash 0420 (High) vs Inkling Small
Which is better for the money: DeepSeek V4 Flash 0420 (High) 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
Inkling Small scores 1.3 points higher (25.7 vs 24.4) but costs 2.0× as much to run the benchmark ($241 vs $121; both mid-range class). Pick Inkling Small when the extra intelligence is worth the premium, otherwise DeepSeek V4 Flash 0420 (High).
| Metric | DeepSeek V4 Flash 0420 (High) | Inkling Small | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Intelligence (higher is better) | 24.4 | 25.7 | +5.3% Inkling Small is 5.3% more intelligent |
| Total AA cost (lower is better) | $121.20 | $240.85 | +98.7% Inkling Small is 98.7% more expensive |
| End-to-end time (lower is better) | Not reported | 12.95s | — not comparable |
| Price per 1M tokens (in / out) | $0.11 / $0.23 | $0.30 / $1.20 | |
| Input modalities | Text | Text, Image, Speech |
Inkling Small vs DeepSeek V4 Flash 0420 (High): 5.3% more intelligence, 98.7% more cost to run the AA benchmark, and end-to-end time not fully reported.
Today's Pareto frontier
Against the frontier
- DeepSeek V4 Flash 0420 (High) is off the frontier: at the same or lower cost, MiMo-V2.6-Flash scores 37.90 for $110.
- Inkling Small is off the frontier: at the same or lower cost, MiMo-V2.6-Pro scores 46.30 for $207.
DeepSeek V4 Flash 0420 (High)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-flash-0420-high/inkling-small · Markdown: /api/v1/compare/deepseek-v4-flash-0420-high/inkling-small?format=md · llms.txt · agent skill