GPT-5.6 Sol (Xhigh) vs Inkling Small
Which is better for the money: GPT-5.6 Sol (Xhigh) 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
GPT-5.6 Sol (Xhigh) scores 18.3 points higher (44.0 vs 25.7) but costs 8.6× as much to run the benchmark ($2082 vs $241; flagship vs mid-range cost classes). They are not alternatives at one budget: pick GPT-5.6 Sol (Xhigh) when you need intelligence above 25.7, and Inkling Small when 25.7 is enough.
| Metric | GPT-5.6 Sol (Xhigh) | Inkling Small | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Intelligence (higher is better) | 44.0 | 25.7 | −41.6% Inkling Small is 41.6% less intelligent |
| Total AA cost (lower is better) | $2,082.28 | $240.85 | −88.4% Inkling Small is 88.4% cheaper |
| End-to-end time (lower is better) | 35.36s | 12.80s | −63.8% Inkling Small is 63.8% faster |
| Price per 1M tokens (in / out) | $4.00 / $20.0 | $0.30 / $1.20 | |
| Input modalities | Text, Image | Text, Image, Speech |
Inkling Small vs GPT-5.6 Sol (Xhigh): 41.6% less intelligence, 88.4% less cost to run the AA benchmark, and 63.8% faster end-to-end.
Today's Pareto frontier
Against the frontier
- GPT-5.6 Sol (Xhigh) 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.
GPT-5.6 Sol (Xhigh)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-sol-xhigh/inkling-small · Markdown: /api/v1/compare/gpt-5-6-sol-xhigh/inkling-small?format=md · llms.txt · agent skill