Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite vs Inkling 2 Small
Which is better for the money: Gemini 3.5 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 18.9 points higher (30.6 vs 11.7) but costs 1.2× as much to run the benchmark ($792 vs $654; both premium class). Pick Inkling 2 Small when the extra intelligence is worth the premium, otherwise Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite.
| Metric | Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite | Inkling 2 Small | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Intelligence (higher is better) | 11.7 | 30.6 | +161.5% Inkling 2 Small is 2.6× more intelligent |
| Total AA cost (lower is better) | $653.82 | $791.81 | +21.1% Inkling 2 Small is 21.1% more expensive |
| End-to-end time (lower is better) | 9.15s | 20.92s | +128.6% Inkling 2 Small is 128.6% slower |
| Price per 1M tokens (in / out) | $0.30 / $2.50 | $0.30 / $1.00 | |
| Input modalities | Text, Image, Speech, Video | Text, Image |
Inkling 2 Small vs Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite: 161.5% more intelligence, 21.1% more cost to run the AA benchmark, and 128.6% slower end-to-end.
Today's Pareto frontier
Against the frontier
- Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite is off the frontier: at the same or lower cost, GPT-6.1 Sol (High) scores 50.30 for $573.
- Inkling 2 Small is off the frontier: at the same or lower cost, GPT-6.1 Sol (Xhigh) scores 52.50 for $718.
Gemini 3.5 Flash-LiteInkling 2 SmallToday's Pareto frontierEvery other model
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