GPT-5 mini (High) vs Inkling Small
Which is better for the money: GPT-5 mini (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
Inkling Small scores 8.9 points higher (25.7 vs 16.8) but costs 1.3× as much to run the benchmark ($241 vs $189; both mid-range class). Pick Inkling Small when the extra intelligence is worth the premium, otherwise GPT-5 mini (High).
| Metric | GPT-5 mini (High) | Inkling Small | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Intelligence (higher is better) | 16.8 | 25.7 | +53.0% Inkling Small is 53.0% more intelligent |
| Total AA cost (lower is better) | $188.66 | $240.85 | +27.7% Inkling Small is 27.7% more expensive |
| End-to-end time (lower is better) | 58.72s | 12.68s | −78.4% Inkling Small is 78.4% faster |
| Price per 1M tokens (in / out) | $0.25 / $2.00 | $0.30 / $1.20 | |
| Input modalities | Text, Image | Text, Image, Speech |
Inkling Small vs GPT-5 mini (High): 53.0% more intelligence, 27.7% more cost to run the AA benchmark, and 78.4% faster end-to-end.
Today's Pareto frontier
Against the frontier
- GPT-5 mini (High) is off the frontier: at the same or lower cost, Claude Haiku 5.5 (Xhigh) scores 41.20 for $158.
- Inkling Small is off the frontier: at the same or lower cost, MiMo-V2.6-Pro scores 46.30 for $207.
GPT-5 mini (High)Inkling SmallToday's Pareto frontierOpen-weights frontierEvery other model
Matchup
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