GPT-5.6 Terra (High) vs Inkling Small
Which is better for the money: GPT-5.6 Terra (High) 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 Terra (High) scores 8.5 points higher (34.2 vs 25.7) but costs 3.2× as much to run the benchmark ($768 vs $241; premium vs mid-range cost classes). They are not alternatives at one budget: pick GPT-5.6 Terra (High) when you need intelligence above 25.7, and Inkling Small when 25.7 is enough.
| Metric | GPT-5.6 Terra (High) | Inkling Small | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Intelligence (higher is better) | 34.2 | 25.7 | −24.9% Inkling Small is 24.9% less intelligent |
| Total AA cost (lower is better) | $767.78 | $240.85 | −68.6% Inkling Small is 68.6% cheaper |
| End-to-end time (lower is better) | 6.57s | 12.95s | +97.1% Inkling Small is 97.1% slower |
| Price per 1M tokens (in / out) | $2.00 / $12.0 | $0.30 / $1.20 | |
| Input modalities | Text, Image | Text, Image, Speech |
Inkling Small vs GPT-5.6 Terra (High): 24.9% less intelligence, 68.6% less cost to run the AA benchmark, and 97.1% slower end-to-end.
Today's Pareto frontier
Against the frontier
- GPT-5.6 Terra (High) is off the frontier: at the same or lower cost, GPT-6.1 Sol (Xhigh) scores 51.00 for $662.
- Inkling Small is off the frontier: at the same or lower cost, MiMo-V2.6-Pro scores 46.30 for $207.
GPT-5.6 Terra (High)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-terra-high/inkling-small · Markdown: /api/v1/compare/gpt-5-6-terra-high/inkling-small?format=md · llms.txt · agent skill