Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite vs Inkling 2 Small
Which is better for the money: Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite by Google or Inkling 2 Small by Thinking Machines? Intelligence, total benchmark cost, and end-to-end time from Artificial Analysis & other sources, snapshot 2026-11-06.
Trade-off
Verdict
Depends on your budget
Inkling 2 Small scores 24.4 points higher (30.6 vs 6.2) but costs 3.5× as much to run the benchmark ($792 vs $224; premium vs mid-range cost classes). They are not alternatives at one budget: pick Inkling 2 Small when you need intelligence above 6.2, and Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite when 6.2 is enough.
| Metric | Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite | Inkling 2 Small | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Intelligence (higher is better) | 6.2 | 30.6 | +393.5% Inkling 2 Small is 4.9× more intelligent |
| Total AA cost (lower is better) | $224.32 | $791.81 | +253.0% Inkling 2 Small is 3.5× more expensive |
| End-to-end time (lower is better) | 6.27s | 19.24s | +206.9% Inkling 2 Small is 206.9% slower |
| Price per 1M tokens (in / out) | $0.25 / $1.50 | $0.30 / $1.00 | |
| Input modalities | Text, Image, Speech, Video | Text, Image |
Inkling 2 Small vs Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite: 393.5% more intelligence, 253.0% more cost to run the AA benchmark, and 206.9% slower end-to-end.
Today's Pareto frontier
Against the frontier
- Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite is off the frontier: at the same or lower cost, GPT-6.1 Terra (Medium) scores 38.20 for $190.
- Inkling 2 Small is off the frontier: at the same or lower cost, GPT-6.1 Sol (Xhigh) scores 52.50 for $718.
Gemini 3.1 Flash-LiteInkling 2 SmallToday's Pareto frontierEvery other model
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