Inkling 2 Small vs Llama 3.1 8B Instruct
Inkling 2 Small leads the LLM Stats Score 47.1 to -3.2. Llama 3.1 8B Instruct is 21.1x cheaper per token.
Thinking Machines Lab · Meta · Updated for 2026
Which is better?
Inkling 2 Small leads the overall LLM Stats Score 47.1 to -3.2, ranking #41 overall.
In the 1 individual benchmarks reported for both models, Inkling 2 Small wins 1; this is a narrower head-to-head signal than the composite indexes.
On price, Llama 3.1 8B Instruct is roughly 21.1x cheaper per token on a blended 3:1 input/output basis, which adds up quickly at production volume.
Inkling 2 Small also accepts a larger context window (256,000 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 Inkling 2 Small
- overall performance matters — it scores 47.1 and ranks #41 on LLM Stats
- your work emphasizes reasoning and coding — it leads those capability indexes
- you value its reported benchmark strengths — it wins 1 of 1 exact shared results
- you process long inputs — it offers a 256,000 token context window
- you want the most recent training data — it shipped Nov 2026
Choose Llama 3.1 8B Instruct
- cost matters — it's about 21.1x cheaper per token
- 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
11 reported for Inkling 2 Small · 18 for Llama 3.1 8B Instruct
Inkling 2 Small outperforms in 1 benchmarks (GPQA), while Llama 3.1 8B Instruct is better at 0 benchmarks.
Inkling 2 Small 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, Inkling 2 Small ($0.30/1M tokens) is 15.0x more expensive than Llama 3.1 8B Instruct ($0.02/1M tokens).
For output processing, Inkling 2 Small ($1.00/1M tokens) is 33.3x more expensive than Llama 3.1 8B Instruct ($0.03/1M tokens).
In conclusion, Inkling 2 Small is more expensive than Llama 3.1 8B Instruct.*
* Using a 3:1 ratio of input to output tokens
Model Size
Parameter count comparison
Inkling 2 Small has 586.0B more parameters than Llama 3.1 8B Instruct, making it 7325.0% larger.
Context Window
Maximum input and output token capacity
Inkling 2 Small accepts 256,000 input tokens compared to Llama 3.1 8B Instruct's 131,072 tokens. Only Llama 3.1 8B Instruct specifies output context (131,072 tokens).
Input capabilities
Documented input modalities across available providers
Inkling 2 Small supports multimodal inputs, whereas Llama 3.1 8B Instruct does not.
Inkling 2 Small can handle both text and other forms of data like images, making it suitable for multimodal applications.
Inkling 2 Small
Llama 3.1 8B Instruct
License
Usage and distribution terms
Inkling 2 Small is licensed under a proprietary license, while Llama 3.1 8B Instruct uses Llama 3.1 Community License.
License differences may affect how you can use these models in commercial or open-source projects.
Proprietary
Closed source
Llama 3.1 Community License
Open weights
Release Timeline
When each model was launched
Inkling 2 Small was released on 2026-11-05, while Llama 3.1 8B Instruct was released on 2024-07-23.
Inkling 2 Small is 28 months newer than Llama 3.1 8B Instruct.
Nov 5, 2026
4 days ago
2.3yr newerJul 23, 2024
2.3 years ago
Knowledge Cutoff
When training data ends
Llama 3.1 8B Instruct has a documented knowledge cutoff of 2023-12-31, while Inkling 2 Small's cutoff date is not specified.
We can confirm Llama 3.1 8B Instruct's training data extends to 2023-12-31, but cannot make a direct comparison without Inkling 2 Small's cutoff date.
—
Dec 2023
Provider Availability
Inkling 2 Small is available from Thinking Machines Lab. Llama 3.1 8B Instruct is available from DeepInfra, Lambda, Groq, Sambanova, Cerebras, Hyperbolic, Together, Fireworks, Bedrock.
Inkling 2 Small
Llama 3.1 8B Instruct
Outputs Comparison
Judge for yourself.
Run your own prompts against Inkling 2 Small and Llama 3.1 8B Instruct side-by-side, then vote on the output you prefer.
FAQ
Common questions about Inkling 2 Small vs Llama 3.1 8B Instruct.