DeepSeek V4 Flash 0420 (Max) vs Inkling Small
Which is better for the money: DeepSeek V4 Flash 0420 (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
Inkling Small scores 1.5 points higher (25.7 vs 24.2) but costs 1.6× as much to run the benchmark ($241 vs $149; both mid-range class). Pick Inkling Small when the extra intelligence is worth the premium, otherwise DeepSeek V4 Flash 0420 (Max).
| Metric | DeepSeek V4 Flash 0420 (Max) | Inkling Small | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Intelligence (higher is better) | 24.2 | 25.7 | +6.2% Inkling Small is 6.2% more intelligent |
| Total AA cost (lower is better) | $149.48 | $240.85 | +61.1% Inkling Small is 61.1% more expensive |
| End-to-end time (lower is better) | 116.55s | 12.68s | −89.1% Inkling Small is 89.1% faster |
| 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 (Max): 6.2% more intelligence, 61.1% more cost to run the AA benchmark, and 89.1% faster end-to-end.
Today's Pareto frontier
Against the frontier
- DeepSeek V4 Flash 0420 (Max) is off the frontier: at the same or lower cost, GPT-6 Luna (Max) scores 38.10 for $122.
- 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 (Max)Inkling SmallToday's Pareto frontierOpen-weights frontierEvery other model
Matchup
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