Inkling 2 Small vs Beam 1.0
Which is better for the money: Inkling 2 Small by Thinking Machines or Beam 1.0 by Reflection? 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 12.9 points higher (30.6 vs 17.7) but costs 3.2× as much to run the benchmark ($792 vs $250; premium vs mid-range cost classes). They are not alternatives at one budget: pick Inkling 2 Small when you need intelligence above 17.7, and Beam 1.0 when 17.7 is enough.
| Metric | Inkling 2 Small | Beam 1.0 | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Intelligence (higher is better) | 30.6 | 17.7 | −42.2% Beam 1.0 is 42.2% less intelligent |
| Total AA cost (lower is better) | $791.81 | $249.83 | −68.4% Beam 1.0 is 68.4% cheaper |
| End-to-end time (lower is better) | 20.92s | 8.03s | −61.6% Beam 1.0 is 61.6% faster |
| Price per 1M tokens (in / out) | $0.30 / $1.00 | $0.40 / $1.20 | |
| Input modalities | Text, Image | Text |
Beam 1.0 vs Inkling 2 Small: 42.2% less intelligence, 68.4% less cost to run the AA benchmark, and 61.6% faster 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.
- Beam 1.0 is off the frontier: at the same or lower cost, GPT-6.1 Terra (Medium) scores 38.20 for $190.
Inkling 2 SmallBeam 1.0Today's Pareto frontierOpen-weights frontierEvery other model
Matchup
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