Compare / Gemini 4 Argon vs Inkling Small
Gemini 4 Argon vs Inkling Small
Which is cheaper, which is more capable, and which does better at each kind of work, from 21 results on 3 sources that measured both models.
Of the 21 results both models have, the better value on each. Results whose reported ranges overlap are too close to call.
Results as of 14 October 2026 (catalogue release 2026-10-14-7d7cf32c3f6d).
Gemini 4 Argon or Inkling Small? The short answer
Pick Gemini 4 Argon: it scores higher (Intelligence Index 52.6 against 25.7) and costs less.
- Gemini 4 Argon is cheaper to run: $0.004 against $0.007 per game of bullet chess on BulletBench (2.1 times less).
- Gemini 4 Argon scores higher on the Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index: 52.6 against 25.7.
- Gemini 4 Argon is newer: released 13 Oct 2026, against 15 Jul 2026 for Inkling Small.
- On our own benchmarks, on the results both models have: Inkling Small does better for speed under pressure.
- On third-party benchmarks, on the results both models have: Gemini 4 Argon does better for agents and tool use, reasoning and knowledge, writing and sticking to the facts.
Head to head
Every fact side by side
| Gemini 4 Argon | Inkling Small | |
|---|---|---|
| Price per million tokens | $2.00 in · $10.00 out | $0.45 in · $1.20 out |
| Blended (3 in : 1 out) | $4.00 | $0.64 |
| Cheapest host, blended | – | – |
| Cost per game of bullet chess (BulletBench) | $0.004 | $0.007 |
| Intelligence Index | 52.6 | 25.7 |
| Spring Prompt overall | 75 | – |
| Output speed, tokens a second | – | 186 |
| Context window | 1,048,576 tokens | 524,288 tokens |
| Released | 13 Oct 2026 (newer) | 15 Jul 2026 |
| Weights | Closed | Open |
| Developer based in | the US | the 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.
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.
| Measure | Gemini 4 Argon | Inkling Small |
|---|---|---|
| BulletBench measured by Spring Prompt · 3 results | ||
| Cost per game · Bullet 60sUS dollars, lower is better 10 · 16 of 30 measured | $0.0036 | $0.0075no reasoning |
| Ladder Elo · Bullet 60sladder Elo, higher is better 26 · 11 of 30 measured | 147 | 529no reasoning |
| Games lost on time · Bullet 60s% of games, lower is better 28 · 1 of 30 measured | 87.5% | 0.0%no reasoning |
| Arena (formerly LMArena) reported by Arena (formerly LMArena) · 3 results | ||
| Overall · TextArena rating, higher is better 1 · 131 of 387 measured | 1,525high reasoning | 1,405 |
| Overall · Text factualityArena rating, higher is better 1 · 104 of 163 measured | 1,511high reasoning | 1,426 |
| Business, management and finance · TextArena rating, higher is better 1 · 125 of 380 measured | 1,522high reasoning | 1,409 |
| Artificial Analysis reported by Artificial Analysis · 3 results | ||
| Artificial Analysis Intelligence Indexindex score, higher is better 5 · 71 of 244 measured | 52.6high reasoning | 25.7 |
| Humanity's Last Exam% of questions, higher is better 3 · 68 of 243 measured | 57.1%high reasoning | 33.3% |
| Terminal-Bench 4.0% of tasks, higher is better 4 · 53 of 113 measured | 57.1%high reasoning | 1.0% |
Show all 21 results (12 more)
| Measure | Gemini 4 Argon | Inkling Small |
|---|---|---|
| BulletBench measured by Spring Prompt · 2 results | ||
| Invalid moves · Bullet 60s% of moves, lower is better 1 · 30 of 30 measured | 0.0% | 7.2%no reasoning |
| Median move time · Bullet 60smilliseconds, lower is better 28 · 7 of 30 measured | 2.9 s | 0.6 sno reasoning |
| Arena (formerly LMArena) reported by Arena (formerly LMArena) · 8 results | ||
| Confirmed task success · AgentIPS effect estimate, higher is better 3 · 46 of 48 measured | 0.15high reasoning, arena agent | -0.20arena agent |
| Creative writing · TextArena rating, higher is better 1 · 192 of 385 measured | 1,519high reasoning | 1,311 |
| Expert prompts · TextArena rating, higher is better 7 · 106 of 338 measured | 1,539high reasoning | 1,445 |
| Instruction following · TextArena rating, higher is better 1 · 134 of 387 measured | 1,528high reasoning | 1,394 |
| Praise over complaint · AgentIPS effect estimate, higher is better 4 · 46 of 48 measured | 0.28high reasoning, arena agent | -0.22arena agent |
| Steerability · AgentIPS effect estimate, higher is better 1 · 48 of 48 measured | 0.13high reasoning, arena agent | -0.14arena agent |
| Tool grounding · AgentIPS effect estimate, higher is better 29 · 40 of 48 measured | 0.00high reasoning, arena agent | -0.00arena agent |
| Writing, literature and language · TextArena rating, higher is better 1 · 175 of 386 measured | 1,522high reasoning | 1,342 |
| Artificial Analysis reported by Artificial Analysis · 2 results | ||
| Long-context reasoning (AA-LCR)% of questions, higher is better 44 · 77 of 234 measured | 79.7%high reasoning | 75.7% |
| SciCode% of problems, higher is better 3 · 51 of 114 measured | 61.8%high reasoning | 49.7% |
Compare them with other models
- Gemini 4 Argon vs Claude Opus 5.5Most intelligent at $3–10 per million tokens
- Gemini 4 Argon vs Claude Sonnet 5.5Cheapest with similar intelligence
- Gemini 4 Argon vs GPT-6 AstraJust above overall
- Gemini 4 Argon vs Muse WonderJust below overall
- Inkling Small vs Gemini 3.5 Flash-LiteFastest with similar intelligence
- Inkling Small vs Claude Opus 5.5Most intelligent available today
Quick answers
Is Gemini 4 Argon better than Inkling Small?
Pick Gemini 4 Argon: it scores higher (Intelligence Index 52.6 against 25.7) and costs less.
Which is cheaper, Gemini 4 Argon or Inkling Small?
Gemini 4 Argon is cheaper to run: $0.004 against $0.007 per game of bullet chess on BulletBench (2.1 times less).
Which is better for agents and tool use, Gemini 4 Argon or Inkling Small?
Gemini 4 Argon ranks 3 of 166 models on sale for multi-step tasks with tools: support desks, coding agents, function calls, against 73 for Inkling Small.
Which is better for reasoning and knowledge, Gemini 4 Argon or Inkling Small?
Gemini 4 Argon ranks 3 of 200 models on sale for hard questions across science, maths and general knowledge, against 63 for Inkling Small.
Which is better for writing, Gemini 4 Argon or Inkling Small?
Gemini 4 Argon ranks 1 of 189 models on sale for what people prefer in blind comparisons, and judged writing quality, against 104 for Inkling Small.
Which is better for sticking to the facts, Gemini 4 Argon or Inkling Small?
Gemini 4 Argon ranks 1 of 153 models on sale for summarising without inventing things, and factual answers, against 128 for Inkling Small.
Which is better for speed under pressure, Gemini 4 Argon or Inkling Small?
Inkling Small ranks 6 of 25 models on sale for good decisions against a real clock (fast chess), against 20 for Gemini 4 Argon.
Which has the bigger context window, Gemini 4 Argon or Inkling Small?
Gemini 4 Argon: 1,048,576 tokens, against 524,288 for Inkling Small.
Run Gemini 4 Argon and Inkling Small on your own prompt
Benchmarks aren't your data. Try both side by side in the playground, with the cost of every answer.