Grok 4.5 vs Inkling-Small
Grok 4.5 leads the LLM Stats Score 47.0 to 39.3. Inkling-Small is 5.7x cheaper per token.
xAI · Thinking Machines Lab · Updated for 2026
Which is better?
Grok 4.5 leads the overall LLM Stats Score 47.0 to 39.3, ranking #19 overall.
In the 5 individual benchmarks reported for both models, Grok 4.5 wins 5; this is a narrower head-to-head signal than the composite indexes.
On price, Inkling-Small is roughly 5.7x cheaper per token on a blended 3:1 input/output basis, which adds up quickly at production volume.
Grok 4.5 also accepts a larger context window (500,000 input tokens), making it the stronger choice for long documents and large codebases.
Based on current LLM Stats indexes, shared benchmarks, pricing, and model metadata for 2026.
Choose Grok 4.5
- overall performance matters — it scores 47.0 and ranks #19 on LLM Stats
- your work emphasizes reasoning and agents — it leads those capability indexes
- you value its reported benchmark strengths — it wins 5 of 5 exact shared results
- you process long inputs — it offers a 500,000 token context window
Choose Inkling-Small
- cost matters — it's about 5.7x cheaper per token
- you want the most recent training data — it shipped Jul 2026
- you need open weights you can self-host or fine-tune
At a glance
The differences that matter most.
Capability indexes
Additional strengths measured across groups of related public benchmarks
Individual benchmarks
14 reported for Grok 4.5 · 24 for Inkling-Small
Grok 4.5 outperforms in 5 benchmarks (Artificial Analysis, GPQA, SWE-Bench Pro, Tau3 Banking, Terminal-Bench 2.1), while Inkling-Small is better at 0 benchmarks.
Grok 4.5 significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.
Human preference
Blind head-to-head votes and playground preference scores
Pricing Analysis
Price comparison per million tokens
For input processing, Grok 4.5 ($2.00/1M tokens) is 6.7x more expensive than Inkling-Small ($0.30/1M tokens).
For output processing, Grok 4.5 ($6.00/1M tokens) is 5.0x more expensive than Inkling-Small ($1.20/1M tokens).
In conclusion, Grok 4.5 is more expensive than Inkling-Small.*
* Using a 3:1 ratio of input to output tokens
Context Window
Maximum input and output token capacity
Grok 4.5 accepts 500,000 input tokens compared to Inkling-Small's 256,000 tokens. Only Inkling-Small specifies output context (256,000 tokens).
Input capabilities
Documented input modalities across available providers
Both Grok 4.5 and Inkling-Small support multimodal inputs.
They are both capable of processing various types of data, offering versatility in application.
Grok 4.5
Inkling-Small
License
Usage and distribution terms
Grok 4.5 is licensed under a proprietary license, while Inkling-Small uses Apache 2.0.
License differences may affect how you can use these models in commercial or open-source projects.
Proprietary
Closed source
Apache 2.0
Open weights
Release Timeline
When each model was launched
Grok 4.5 was released on 2026-07-16, while Inkling-Small was released on 2026-07-30.
Inkling-Small is 0 month newer than Grok 4.5.
Jul 16, 2026
1 months ago
Jul 30, 2026
4 weeks ago
2w newerKnowledge Cutoff
When training data ends
Grok 4.5 has a documented knowledge cutoff of 2026-02-01, while Inkling-Small's cutoff date is not specified.
We can confirm Grok 4.5's training data extends to 2026-02-01, but cannot make a direct comparison without Inkling-Small's cutoff date.
Feb 2026
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Provider Availability
Grok 4.5 is available from xAI. Inkling-Small is available from Thinking Machines Lab.
Grok 4.5
Inkling-Small
Outputs Comparison
Judge for yourself.
Run your own prompts against Grok 4.5 and Inkling-Small side-by-side, then vote on the output you prefer.
FAQ
Common questions about Grok 4.5 vs Inkling-Small.