Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview vs Inkling Small
Which is better for the money: Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview by Google 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
Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview scores 4.0 points higher (29.7 vs 25.7) but costs 8.0× as much to run the benchmark ($1935 vs $241; premium vs mid-range cost classes). They are not alternatives at one budget: pick Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview when you need intelligence above 25.7, and Inkling Small when 25.7 is enough.
| Metric | Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview | Inkling Small | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Intelligence (higher is better) | 29.7 | 25.7 | −13.5% Inkling Small is 13.5% less intelligent |
| Total AA cost (lower is better) | $1,935.39 | $240.85 | −87.6% Inkling Small is 87.6% cheaper |
| End-to-end time (lower is better) | 24.21s | 12.68s | −47.6% Inkling Small is 47.6% faster |
| Price per 1M tokens (in / out) | $2.00 / $12.0 | $0.30 / $1.20 | |
| Input modalities | Text, Image, Speech, Video | Text, Image, Speech |
Inkling Small vs Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview: 13.5% less intelligence, 87.6% less cost to run the AA benchmark, and 47.6% faster end-to-end.
Today's Pareto frontier
Against the frontier
- Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview is off the frontier: at the same or lower cost, GPT-6.1 Sol (Max) scores 51.80 for $1082.
- Inkling Small is off the frontier: at the same or lower cost, MiMo-V2.6-Pro scores 46.30 for $207.
Gemini 3.1 Pro PreviewInkling 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/gemini-3-1-pro-preview/inkling-small · Markdown: /api/v1/compare/gemini-3-1-pro-preview/inkling-small?format=md · llms.txt · agent skill