Inkling-Small vs Qwen3.8 Max
Qwen3.8 Max leads the LLM Stats Score 53.0 to 39.3. 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 53.0 to 39.3, ranking #8 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 53.0 and ranks #8 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. Inkling-Small can generate longer responses up to 256,000 tokens, while Qwen3.8 Max is limited to 131,072 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
4 weeks ago
Aug 2, 2026
3 weeks 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. 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.