GPT-5.6 Luna (Low) vs Inkling Small
Which is better for the money: GPT-5.6 Luna (Low) by OpenAI 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 4.7 points higher (25.7 vs 21.0) but costs 8.9× as much to run the benchmark ($241 vs $27.0; mid-range vs budget cost classes). They are not alternatives at one budget: pick Inkling Small when you need intelligence above 21.0, and GPT-5.6 Luna (Low) when 21.0 is enough.
| Metric | GPT-5.6 Luna (Low) | Inkling Small | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Intelligence (higher is better) | 21.0 | 25.7 | +22.4% Inkling Small is 22.4% more intelligent |
| Total AA cost (lower is better) | $27.02 | $240.85 | +791.4% Inkling Small is 8.9× more expensive |
| End-to-end time (lower is better) | 5.90s | 12.95s | +119.5% Inkling Small is 119.5% slower |
| Price per 1M tokens (in / out) | $0.20 / $1.20 | $0.30 / $1.20 | |
| Input modalities | Text, Image | Text, Image, Speech |
Inkling Small vs GPT-5.6 Luna (Low): 22.4% more intelligence, 791.4% more cost to run the AA benchmark, and 119.5% slower end-to-end.
Today's Pareto frontier
Against the frontier
- GPT-5.6 Luna (Low) is off the frontier: at the same or lower cost, GPT-6 Luna (Low) scores 21.50 for $10.6.
- Inkling Small is off the frontier: at the same or lower cost, MiMo-V2.6-Pro scores 46.30 for $207.
GPT-5.6 Luna (Low)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/gpt-5-6-luna-low/inkling-small · Markdown: /api/v1/compare/gpt-5-6-luna-low/inkling-small?format=md · llms.txt · agent skill