Compare / GPT-4.1 vs Inkling Small

GPT-4.1 vs Inkling Small

Which is cheaper, which is more capable, and which does better at each kind of work, from 12 results on 3 sources that measured both models.

GPT-4.1
OpenAI · profile
Inkling Small
Thinkingmachines · profile
Results compared
12
Shared sources
3

GPT-4.1 or Inkling Small? The short answer

  • Inkling Small is cheaper: $0.64 against $3.50 per million tokens, 5.5 times less.
  • Inkling Small scores higher on the Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index: 25.7 against 12.7.
  • On our business benchmarks, GPT-4.1 ranks higher for agents and tool use, writing and sticking to the facts.
  • On our business benchmarks, Inkling Small ranks higher for reasoning and knowledge.

At a glance

GPT-4.1Inkling Small
Price per million tokens$2.00 in · $8.00 out$0.45 in · $1.20 out
Blended (3 in : 1 out)$3.50$0.64
Cheapest host, blended$3.50 (Azure)–
Intelligence Index12.725.7
Spring Prompt overall––
Output speed, tokens a second–173
Context window1,047,576 tokens524,288 tokens
WeightsClosedOpen
Developer based inthe USthe 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 models available today, for each kind of work, from our own benchmarks and licensed sources. The better rank is in green.

Use caseGPT-4.1Inkling Small
Agents and tool useMulti-step tasks with tools: support desks, coding agents, function calls 40 of 161 68 of 161
Reasoning and knowledgeHard questions across science, maths and general knowledge 148 of 195 58 of 195
WritingWhat people prefer in blind comparisons, and judged writing quality 54 of 187 100 of 187
Sticking to the factsSummarising without inventing things, and factual answers 92 of 153 126 of 153
Speed under pressureGood decisions against a real clock (fast chess) not measured 4 of 21

Every shared result

BenchmarkMetricGPT-4.1Inkling Small
Arena (formerly LMArena)reportedOverallArena rating 1,4081,425
Arena (formerly LMArena)reportedBusiness, management and financeArena rating 1,4151,408
Arena (formerly LMArena)reportedCreative writingArena rating 1,4021,313
Arena (formerly LMArena)reportedExpert promptsArena rating 1,4051,445
Arena (formerly LMArena)reportedInstruction followingArena rating 1,4031,393
Arena (formerly LMArena)reportedOverallArena rating 1,4151,405
Arena (formerly LMArena)reportedWriting, literature and languageArena rating 1,4051,344
Artificial AnalysisreportedArtificial Analysis Intelligence Indexindex score 12.725.7
Artificial AnalysisreportedGPQA Diamond% of questions 66.6%89.5%
Artificial AnalysisreportedHumanity's Last Exam% of questions 4.2%33.3%
Artificial AnalysisreportedLong-context reasoning (AA-LCR)% of questions 68.3%75.7%
SimpleQA Verified (Epoch AI)reportedCorrect answers% of questions 31.1%19.1%

Bold green marks the better value on that metric. Where a source reports ranges that overlap, the difference may not be meaningful; see the benchmark page for ranges.

Quick answers

Is GPT-4.1 better than Inkling Small?

It depends on the task. Among models available today, on our benchmarks and licensed sources, GPT-4.1 ranks higher for agents and tool use, writing and sticking to the facts; Inkling Small ranks higher for reasoning and knowledge.

Which is cheaper, GPT-4.1 or Inkling Small?

Inkling Small costs $0.64 per million tokens (three input to one output), against $3.50 for GPT-4.1.

Run GPT-4.1 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.