Grok 4.6 (Xhigh) vs Inkling 2 Small
Which is better for the money: Grok 4.6 (Xhigh) by SpaceXAI 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
Grok 4.6 (Xhigh) scores 0.4 points higher (31.0 vs 30.6) but costs 4.3× as much to run the benchmark ($3391 vs $792; flagship vs premium cost classes). They are not alternatives at one budget: pick Grok 4.6 (Xhigh) when you need intelligence above 30.6, and Inkling 2 Small when 30.6 is enough.
| Metric | Grok 4.6 (Xhigh) | Inkling 2 Small | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Intelligence (higher is better) | 31.0 | 30.6 | −1.3% Inkling 2 Small is 1.3% less intelligent |
| Total AA cost (lower is better) | $3,390.87 | $791.81 | −76.6% Inkling 2 Small is 76.6% cheaper |
| End-to-end time (lower is better) | 55.21s | 20.92s | −62.1% Inkling 2 Small is 62.1% faster |
| Price per 1M tokens (in / out) | $2.00 / $6.00 | $0.30 / $1.00 | |
| Input modalities | Text, Image | Text, Image |
Inkling 2 Small vs Grok 4.6 (Xhigh): 1.3% less intelligence, 76.6% less cost to run the AA benchmark, and 62.1% faster end-to-end.
Today's Pareto frontier
Against the frontier
- Grok 4.6 (Xhigh) is off the frontier: at the same or lower cost, GPT-6 Astra (High) scores 54.80 for $3204.
- Inkling 2 Small is off the frontier: at the same or lower cost, GPT-6.1 Sol (Xhigh) scores 52.50 for $718.
Grok 4.6 (Xhigh)Inkling 2 SmallToday's Pareto frontierEvery other model
Matchup
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Accept: text/markdown or ?format=md returns this page as Markdown. JSON: /api/v1/compare/grok-4-6-xhigh/inkling-2-small · Markdown: /api/v1/compare/grok-4-6-xhigh/inkling-2-small?format=md · llms.txt · agent skill