Inkling 2 Small vs Inkling Small
Which is better for the money: Inkling 2 Small by Thinking Machines or Inkling 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
Inkling 2 Small scores 17.7 points higher (30.6 vs 12.9) but costs 3.5× as much to run the benchmark ($792 vs $225; premium vs mid-range cost classes). They are not alternatives at one budget: pick Inkling 2 Small when you need intelligence above 12.9, and Inkling Small when 12.9 is enough.
| Metric | Inkling 2 Small | Inkling Small | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Intelligence (higher is better) | 30.6 | 12.9 | −57.8% Inkling Small is 57.8% less intelligent |
| Total AA cost (lower is better) | $791.81 | $224.77 | −71.6% Inkling Small is 71.6% cheaper |
| End-to-end time (lower is better) | 20.92s | 26.60s | +27.2% Inkling Small is 27.2% slower |
| Price per 1M tokens (in / out) | $0.30 / $1.00 | $0.30 / $1.20 | |
| Input modalities | Text, Image | Text, Image, Speech |
Inkling Small vs Inkling 2 Small: 57.8% less intelligence, 71.6% less cost to run the AA benchmark, and 27.2% slower end-to-end.
Today's Pareto frontier
Against the frontier
- Inkling 2 Small is off the frontier: at the same or lower cost, GPT-6.1 Sol (Xhigh) scores 52.50 for $718.
- Inkling Small is off the frontier: at the same or lower cost, GPT-6.1 Terra (Medium) scores 38.20 for $190.
Inkling 2 SmallInkling SmallToday's Pareto frontierOpen-weights frontierEvery other model
Matchup
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