Inkling-Small vs Qwen3.8 Max
Qwen3.8 Max leads the LLM Stats Score 52.0 to 38.5. Inkling-Small is 4.7x cheaper per token.
Thinking Machines Lab · Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team · Updated for 2026
Which is better?
Qwen3.8 Max leads the overall LLM Stats Score 52.0 to 38.5, ranking #11 overall.
In the 7 individual benchmarks reported for both models, Qwen3.8 Max wins 7; this is a narrower head-to-head signal than the composite indexes.
On price, Inkling-Small is roughly 4.7x 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-Small
- cost matters — it's about 4.7x cheaper per token
Choose Qwen3.8 Max
- overall performance matters — it scores 52.0 and ranks #11 on LLM Stats
- your work emphasizes reasoning and coding — it leads those capability indexes
- you value its reported benchmark strengths — it wins 7 of 7 exact shared results
- you want the most recent training data — it shipped Aug 2026
At a glance
The differences that matter most.
Capability indexes
Additional strengths measured across groups of related public benchmarks
Individual benchmarks
24 reported for Inkling-Small · 42 for Qwen3.8 Max
Inkling-Small outperforms in 0 benchmarks, while Qwen3.8 Max is better at 7 benchmarks (GPQA, Humanity's Last Exam, IFBench, MMMU-Pro, SWE-Bench Pro, Terminal-Bench 2.1, Toolathlon).
Qwen3.8 Max 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-Small ($0.30/1M tokens) is 5.5x cheaper than Qwen3.8 Max ($1.65/1M tokens).
For output processing, Inkling-Small ($1.20/1M tokens) is 4.1x cheaper than Qwen3.8 Max ($4.95/1M tokens).
In conclusion, Qwen3.8 Max is more expensive than Inkling-Small.*
* Using a 3:1 ratio of input to output tokens
Model Size
Parameter count comparison
Qwen3.8 Max has 2124.0B more parameters than Inkling-Small, making it 769.6% larger.
Context Window
Maximum input and output token capacity
Both models have the same input context window of 256,000 tokens. Both models can generate responses up to 256,000 tokens.
Input capabilities
Documented input modalities across available providers
Both Inkling-Small and Qwen3.8 Max support multimodal inputs.
They are both capable of processing various types of data, offering versatility in application.
Inkling-Small
Qwen3.8 Max
License
Usage and distribution terms
Inkling-Small is licensed under Apache 2.0, while Qwen3.8 Max uses Qwen3.8-Max License.
License differences may affect how you can use these models in commercial or open-source projects.
Apache 2.0
Open weights
Qwen3.8-Max License
Open weights
Release Timeline
When each model was launched
Inkling-Small was released on 2026-07-30, while Qwen3.8 Max was released on 2026-08-02.
Qwen3.8 Max is 0 month newer than Inkling-Small.
Jul 30, 2026
1 months ago
Aug 2, 2026
1 months ago
3d newerKnowledge Cutoff
When training data ends
Neither model specifies a knowledge cutoff date.
Unable to compare the recency of their training data.
Provider Availability
Inkling-Small is available from Thinking Machines Lab, DeepInfra. Qwen3.8 Max is available from DeepInfra, Fireworks, Novita, Together.
Inkling-Small
Qwen3.8 Max
Outputs Comparison
Judge for yourself.
Run your own prompts against Inkling-Small and Qwen3.8 Max side-by-side, then vote on the output you prefer.
FAQ
Common questions about Inkling-Small vs Qwen3.8 Max.