Inkling 2 Small vs MiniMax M2
Inkling 2 Small leads the LLM Stats Score 47.2 to 26.2. Inkling 2 Small is 1.1x cheaper per token.
Thinking Machines Lab · MiniMax · Updated for 2026
Which is better?
Inkling 2 Small leads the overall LLM Stats Score 47.2 to 26.2, ranking #40 overall.
In the 4 individual benchmarks reported for both models, Inkling 2 Small wins 4; this is a narrower head-to-head signal than the composite indexes.
On price, Inkling 2 Small is roughly 1.1x cheaper per token on a blended 3:1 input/output basis, which adds up quickly at production volume.
MiniMax M2 also accepts a larger context window (1,000,000 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 47.2 and ranks #40 on LLM Stats
- your work emphasizes reasoning and coding — it leads those capability indexes
- you value its reported benchmark strengths — it wins 4 of 4 exact shared results
- cost matters — it's about 1.1x cheaper per token
- you want the most recent training data — it shipped Nov 2026
Choose MiniMax M2
- you process long inputs — it offers a 1,000,000 token context window
- 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 · 16 for MiniMax M2
Inkling 2 Small outperforms in 4 benchmarks (BrowseComp, GPQA, Humanity's Last Exam, SWE-Bench Verified), while MiniMax M2 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) costs the same as MiniMax M2 ($0.30/1M tokens).
For output processing, Inkling 2 Small ($1.00/1M tokens) is 1.2x cheaper than MiniMax M2 ($1.20/1M tokens).
In conclusion, MiniMax M2 is more expensive than Inkling 2 Small.*
* Using a 3:1 ratio of input to output tokens
Model Size
Parameter count comparison
Inkling 2 Small has 364.0B more parameters than MiniMax M2, making it 158.3% larger.
Context Window
Maximum input and output token capacity
MiniMax M2 accepts 1,000,000 input tokens compared to Inkling 2 Small's 256,000 tokens. Only MiniMax M2 specifies output context (1,000,000 tokens).
Input capabilities
Documented input modalities across available providers
Inkling 2 Small supports multimodal inputs, whereas MiniMax M2 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
MiniMax M2
License
Usage and distribution terms
Inkling 2 Small is licensed under a proprietary license, while MiniMax M2 uses MIT.
License differences may affect how you can use these models in commercial or open-source projects.
Proprietary
Closed source
MIT
Open weights
Release Timeline
When each model was launched
Inkling 2 Small was released on 2026-11-05, while MiniMax M2 was released on 2025-10-27.
Inkling 2 Small is 12 months newer than MiniMax M2.
Nov 5, 2026
1 weeks ago
1.0yr newerOct 27, 2025
1.0 years ago
Knowledge Cutoff
When training data ends
Neither model specifies a knowledge cutoff date.
Unable to compare the recency of their training data.
Provider Availability
Inkling 2 Small is available from Thinking Machines Lab. MiniMax M2 is available from MiniMax, Novita.
Inkling 2 Small
MiniMax M2
Outputs Comparison
Judge for yourself.
Run your own prompts against Inkling 2 Small and MiniMax M2 side-by-side, then vote on the output you prefer.
FAQ
Common questions about Inkling 2 Small vs MiniMax M2.