Inkling 2 Small vs Qwen3 Max
Inkling 2 Small leads the LLM Stats Score 47.2 to 21.0. Inkling 2 Small is 3.4x cheaper per token.
Thinking Machines Lab · Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team · Updated for 2026
Which is better?
Inkling 2 Small leads the overall LLM Stats Score 47.2 to 21.0, ranking #40 overall.
In the 2 individual benchmarks reported for both models, Inkling 2 Small wins 2; this is a narrower head-to-head signal than the composite indexes.
On price, Inkling 2 Small is roughly 3.4x cheaper per token on a blended 3:1 input/output basis, which adds up quickly at production volume.
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 2 of 2 exact shared results
- cost matters — it's about 3.4x cheaper per token
- you want the most recent training data — it shipped Nov 2026
Choose Qwen3 Max
- you want predictable pricing at $0.50/M input and $5.00/M output
At a glance
The differences that matter most.
Individual benchmarks
11 reported for Inkling 2 Small · 6 for Qwen3 Max
Inkling 2 Small outperforms in 2 benchmarks (GPQA, SWE-Bench Verified), while Qwen3 Max 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 1.7x cheaper than Qwen3 Max ($0.50/1M tokens).
For output processing, Inkling 2 Small ($1.00/1M tokens) is 5.0x cheaper than Qwen3 Max ($5.00/1M tokens).
In conclusion, Qwen3 Max is more expensive than Inkling 2 Small.*
* Using a 3:1 ratio of input to output tokens
Model Size
Parameter count comparison
Qwen3 Max has 406.0B more parameters than Inkling 2 Small, making it 68.4% larger.
Context Window
Maximum input and output token capacity
Both models have the same input context window of 256,000 tokens. Only Qwen3 Max specifies output context (131,072 tokens).
Input capabilities
Documented input modalities across available providers
Inkling 2 Small supports multimodal inputs, whereas Qwen3 Max 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
Qwen3 Max
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 Qwen3 Max was released on 2025-12-15.
Inkling 2 Small is 11 months newer than Qwen3 Max.
Nov 5, 2026
1 weeks ago
10mo newerDec 15, 2025
11 months 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. Qwen3 Max is available from Novita, DeepInfra.
Inkling 2 Small
Qwen3 Max
Outputs Comparison
Judge for yourself.
Run your own prompts against Inkling 2 Small and Qwen3 Max side-by-side, then vote on the output you prefer.
FAQ
Common questions about Inkling 2 Small vs Qwen3 Max.