Compare / DeepSeek-V4.1-Flash-1017 vs Inkling Small

DeepSeek-V4.1-Flash-1017 vs Inkling Small

Which is cheaper, which is more capable, and which does better at each kind of work, from 12 results on 2 sources that measured both models.

DeepSeekDeepSeek-V4.1-Flash-1017 Released 17 Oct 2026 · $0.30 in · $1.20 out
Thinking MachinesInkling Small Released 15 Jul 2026 · $0.45 in · $1.20 out
DeepSeek-V4.1-Flash-1017 wins 91 too close to callInkling Small wins 2

Of the 12 results both models have, the better value on each. Results whose reported ranges overlap are too close to call.

Results as of 20 October 2026 (catalogue release 2026-10-20-96eb40c3ec63).

DeepSeek-V4.1-Flash-1017 or Inkling Small? The short answer

Pick DeepSeek-V4.1-Flash-1017: it scores higher (Intelligence Index 45.1 against 25.7) and costs less.

  • DeepSeek-V4.1-Flash-1017 is cheaper to run: $0.005 against $0.007 per game of bullet chess on BulletBench (37% less).
  • DeepSeek-V4.1-Flash-1017 scores higher on the Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index: 45.1 against 25.7.
  • DeepSeek-V4.1-Flash-1017 is newer: released 17 Oct 2026, against 15 Jul 2026 for Inkling Small.
  • On third-party benchmarks, on the results both models have: DeepSeek-V4.1-Flash-1017 does better for agents and tool use and reasoning and knowledge.

Head to head

45.1
Intelligence Index
25.7
$0.52
Price per million tokens, blendedlower is better
$0.64
212
Output speed, tokens a second
181
1,048,576
Context window, tokens
524,288

Every fact side by side

DeepSeek-V4.1-Flash-1017Inkling Small
Price per million tokens$0.30 in · $1.20 out$0.45 in · $1.20 out
Blended (3 in : 1 out)$0.52$0.64
Cheapest host, blended––
Cost per game of bullet chess (BulletBench)$0.005$0.007
Cached input, per million$0.006 cached input–
Intelligence Index45.125.7
Spring Prompt overall44–
Output speed, tokens a second212181
Context window1,048,576 tokens524,288 tokens
Released17 Oct 2026 (newer)15 Jul 2026
WeightsOpenOpen
Developer based inChinathe US

Prices are the developer's list price where we have read it, otherwise the typical host on OpenRouter; see every model's price. Intelligence and speed from Artificial Analysis.

Which is better for what

Each model's rank among the models on sale today, for each kind of work, from our own benchmarks and licensed sources. Further right is better; the better rank is in green.

Product listingsTurning a sparse product feed and photos into listings that can go live 21 of 24 not measured
Decks from an analysisTurning a finished analysis into a deck you could present as it is 12 of 24 not measured
User surveysPlanning a user survey and reading its results without being misled 5 of 13 not measured
Marketing planningPlanning a year of ad spend without overspending 11 of 24 not measured
Agents and tool useMulti-step tasks with tools: support desks, coding agents, function calls 22 of 168 75 of 168
Reasoning and knowledgeHard questions across science, maths and general knowledge 22 of 202 65 of 202
WritingWhat people prefer in blind comparisons, and judged writing quality not measured 104 of 189
Sticking to the factsSummarising without inventing things, and factual answers not measured 128 of 153
Speed under pressureGood decisions against a real clock (fast chess) 21 of 27 6 of 27

From our research

Every shared result

Each model's best result on every measure both have, grouped by benchmark, with the setting that produced it. Under each measure, every model that benchmark has measured is a grey tick, best to the right, so you can see where the two sit in the field. The headline measures of each benchmark come first; the rest are under "Show all". Green marks the better value; where a source reports ranges that overlap, neither is marked.

MeasureDeepSeek-V4.1-Flash-1017Inkling Small
BulletBench measured by Spring Prompt · 3 results
Cost per game · Bullet 60sUS dollars, lower is better 13 · 18 of 32 measured $0.0047low reasoning $0.0075no reasoning
Ladder Elo · Bullet 60sladder Elo, higher is better 27 · 11 of 32 measured 147low reasoning 529no reasoning
Games lost on time · Bullet 60s% of games, lower is better 29 · 1 of 32 measured 87.5%low reasoning 0.0%no reasoning
Artificial Analysis reported by Artificial Analysis · 3 results
Artificial Analysis Intelligence Indexindex score, higher is better 16 · 76 of 249 measured 45.1max reasoning 25.7
Humanity's Last Exam% of questions, higher is better 27 · 72 of 248 measured 43.3%max reasoning 33.3%
Terminal-Bench 4.0% of tasks, higher is better 16 · 57 of 118 measured 33.8%max reasoning 1.0%
Show all 12 results (6 more)
MeasureDeepSeek-V4.1-Flash-1017Inkling Small
BulletBench measured by Spring Prompt · 2 results
Invalid moves · Bullet 60s% of moves, lower is better 1 · 32 of 32 measured 0.0%low reasoning 7.2%no reasoning
Median move time · Bullet 60smilliseconds, lower is better 31 · 8 of 32 measured 3.3 slow reasoning 0.6 sno reasoning
Artificial Analysis reported by Artificial Analysis · 4 results
Long-context reasoning (AA-LCR)% of questions, higher is better 19 · 81 of 239 measured 82.7%max reasoning 75.7%
Output speedtokens per second, higher is better 15 · 18 of 78 measured 212max reasoning 181
SciCode% of problems, higher is better 24 · 54 of 119 measured 55.9%max reasoning 49.7%
Time to first answer tokenseconds, lower is better 46 · 50 of 78 measured 10.5max reasoning 12.9

Quick answers

Is DeepSeek-V4.1-Flash-1017 better than Inkling Small?

Pick DeepSeek-V4.1-Flash-1017: it scores higher (Intelligence Index 45.1 against 25.7) and costs less.

Which is cheaper, DeepSeek-V4.1-Flash-1017 or Inkling Small?

DeepSeek-V4.1-Flash-1017 is cheaper to run: $0.005 against $0.007 per game of bullet chess on BulletBench (37% less).

Which is faster, DeepSeek-V4.1-Flash-1017 or Inkling Small?

DeepSeek-V4.1-Flash-1017 writes about 212 tokens a second on its usual API, against 181 for Inkling Small (Artificial Analysis).

Which is better for agents and tool use, DeepSeek-V4.1-Flash-1017 or Inkling Small?

DeepSeek-V4.1-Flash-1017 ranks 22 of 168 models on sale for multi-step tasks with tools: support desks, coding agents, function calls, against 75 for Inkling Small.

Which is better for reasoning and knowledge, DeepSeek-V4.1-Flash-1017 or Inkling Small?

DeepSeek-V4.1-Flash-1017 ranks 22 of 202 models on sale for hard questions across science, maths and general knowledge, against 65 for Inkling Small.

Which is better for speed under pressure, DeepSeek-V4.1-Flash-1017 or Inkling Small?

Inkling Small ranks 6 of 27 models on sale for good decisions against a real clock (fast chess), against 21 for DeepSeek-V4.1-Flash-1017.

Which has the bigger context window, DeepSeek-V4.1-Flash-1017 or Inkling Small?

DeepSeek-V4.1-Flash-1017: 1,048,576 tokens, against 524,288 for Inkling Small.

Run DeepSeek-V4.1-Flash-1017 and Inkling Small on your own prompt

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