Thinking Machines: Inkling Small (batch)
Analysis Summary
Thinking Machines Inkling Small is a multimodal model supporting text, images, and audio, with a 524,288-token context window, tool use, and function calling. Those features make it interesting for workflows that combine meeting material, visual assets, and structured actions in one request. The supplied record does not include benchmark results, so its reasoning, coding, and instruction-following quality remain unverified.
Potential uses include media summarisation, content intake, document processing, and early tool-enabled prototypes. Its pricing of $0.50 per million input tokens and $1.20 per million output tokens is manageable for experimentation, but there is insufficient evidence to make it a default client model. Test it against an established model before assigning it production-critical work.
Assessed September 7, 2026
Editorial notes
Inkling Small supports text, image, and audio inputs, a 524K context window, and tool calling at moderate pricing. It has no benchmark data in the supplied record, so its business role remains exploratory.
Rankings consider pricing, capabilities, benchmarks, and real-world applicability and are refreshed as new models launch. Feedback?
DFO Verdict
Inkling Small supports text, image, and audio inputs, a 524K context window, and tool calling at moderate pricing. It has no benchmark data in the supplied record, so its business role remains exploratory.
How Thinking Machines: Inkling Small (batch) compares
Its 524K-token context window is larger than 76% of the models we list. At $0.50 per million input tokens it is cheaper than 39% of comparable models.
Dark bar = input · light bar = output, scaled to the priciest peer.
1M tokens ≈ 8 full-length novels or ~2,500 pages of business documents in a single request.
Strongest on value. The pulled-in technical corner is the trade-off, and if the shape matters more than the price, this is your model.
Compare shapes side-by-side →Pricing
| Token Type | Cost per 1M tokens | Cost per 1K tokens |
|---|---|---|
| Input | $0.50 | $0.000500 |
| Output | $1.20 | $0.001200 |
What would Thinking Machines: Inkling Small (batch) cost your business?
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A website chatbot handling around 100 customer conversations a day, a few short messages each.
Full calculator with 779 models → Price Calculator
These numbers get smaller with the right architecture.
We route routine calls to cheap models and save Thinking Machines: Inkling Small (batch) for the hard ones. Most clients cut their estimate by 60-80%.
Talk to our teamAbout Thinking Machines: Inkling Small (batch)
Inkling Small is an open-weight multimodal mixture-of-experts model from Thinking Machines Lab, with 12B active parameters out of 276B total. It is positioned as the smaller, more efficient member of..
Frequently asked questions about Thinking Machines: Inkling Small (batch)
How much does Thinking Machines: Inkling Small (batch) cost?
Thinking Machines: Inkling Small (batch) costs $0.50 per million input tokens and $1.20 per million output tokens.
What is the context window of Thinking Machines: Inkling Small (batch)?
Thinking Machines: Inkling Small (batch) has a context window of 524,288 tokens (524K).
What can Thinking Machines: Inkling Small (batch) do?
Thinking Machines: Inkling Small (batch) supports image/vision input, tool use, and function calling.
Who created Thinking Machines: Inkling Small (batch)?
Thinking Machines: Inkling Small (batch) is developed by Thinking Machines and was released on July 30, 2026.