Inkling 2 Small vs o4-mini
Inkling 2 Small leads the LLM Stats Score 47.1 to 26.7. Inkling 2 Small is 4.1x cheaper per token.
Thinking Machines Lab · OpenAI · Updated for 2026
Which is better?
Inkling 2 Small leads the overall LLM Stats Score 47.1 to 26.7, ranking #41 overall.
In the 5 individual benchmarks reported for both models, Inkling 2 Small wins 5; this is a narrower head-to-head signal than the composite indexes.
On price, Inkling 2 Small is roughly 4.1x 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 5 of 5 exact shared results
- cost matters — it's about 4.1x cheaper per token
- you process long inputs — it offers a 256,000 token context window
- you want the most recent training data — it shipped Nov 2026
Choose o4-mini
- you want predictable pricing at $1.10/M input and $4.40/M output
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 · 14 for o4-mini
Inkling 2 Small outperforms in 5 benchmarks (BrowseComp, CharXiv-R, GPQA, Humanity's Last Exam, SWE-Bench Verified), while o4-mini 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 3.7x cheaper than o4-mini ($1.10/1M tokens).
For output processing, Inkling 2 Small ($1.00/1M tokens) is 4.4x cheaper than o4-mini ($4.40/1M tokens).
In conclusion, o4-mini is more expensive than Inkling 2 Small.*
* Using a 3:1 ratio of input to output tokens
Context Window
Maximum input and output token capacity
Inkling 2 Small accepts 256,000 input tokens compared to o4-mini's 200,000 tokens. Only o4-mini specifies output context (100,000 tokens).
Input capabilities
Documented input modalities across available providers
Both Inkling 2 Small and o4-mini support multimodal inputs.
They are both capable of processing various types of data, offering versatility in application.
Inkling 2 Small
o4-mini
License
Usage and distribution terms
Both models are licensed under proprietary licenses.
Both models have usage restrictions defined by their respective organizations.
Proprietary
Closed source
Proprietary
Closed source
Release Timeline
When each model was launched
Inkling 2 Small was released on 2026-11-05, while o4-mini was released on 2025-04-16.
Inkling 2 Small is 19 months newer than o4-mini.
Nov 5, 2026
5 days ago
1.6yr newerApr 16, 2025
1.6 years ago
Knowledge Cutoff
When training data ends
o4-mini has a documented knowledge cutoff of 2024-05-31, while Inkling 2 Small's cutoff date is not specified.
We can confirm o4-mini's training data extends to 2024-05-31, but cannot make a direct comparison without Inkling 2 Small's cutoff date.
—
May 2024
Provider Availability
Inkling 2 Small is available from Thinking Machines Lab. o4-mini is available from OpenAI.
Inkling 2 Small
o4-mini
Outputs Comparison
Judge for yourself.
Run your own prompts against Inkling 2 Small and o4-mini side-by-side, then vote on the output you prefer.
FAQ
Common questions about Inkling 2 Small vs o4-mini.