Model comparison
Gemini 3.6 Flash vs Inkling-Small
Gemini 3.6 Flash is the stronger model overall, scoring 54.1 to 46.5 on the Noometry Index. Inkling-Small costs 2.4× less per token, which makes it the better buy when Gemini 3.6 Flash's lead doesn't matter for your workload.
Last verified . 33 shared benchmarks.
GoogleSummary
- They share 33 benchmarks with published results for both. Gemini 3.6 Flash scores higher in 8 categories and Inkling-Small in 1 category; 8 gaps are clear of the uncertainty.
- The widest gap is in reasoning, where Gemini 3.6 Flash leads 58.8 to 38.6.
- The biggest single-benchmark swing is SimpleQA Verified: 66.2% for Gemini 3.6 Flash and 19.1% for Inkling-Small.
- Inkling-Small is cheaper at $0.45 / $1.20 per million input/output tokens, against $0.75 / $3.75 for Gemini 3.6 Flash.
- Gemini 3.6 Flash accepts more context: 1.05M tokens versus 524K.
- Inkling-Small has downloadable open weights; the other is API-only.
Side by side
| Gemini 3.6 Flash | Inkling-Small | |
|---|---|---|
| Provider | Thinking Machines Lab | |
| Noometry Index | 54.1 | 46.5 |
| Released | 2026-07-21 | 2026-07-15 |
| Weights | Proprietary | Open |
| Context window | 1.05M | 524K |
| Max output | 66K | 1.05M |
| Input $ / M tokens | $0.75 | $0.45 |
| Output $ / M tokens | $3.75 | $1.20 |
| Results tracked | 46 | 33 |
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Category by category
Coding Gemini 3.6 Flash leads
Gemini 3.6 Flash: 50.0 (#48), Inkling-Small: 43.6 (#85)
| Benchmark | Gemini 3.6 Flash | Inkling-Small |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena WebDev | 1538 | 1409 |
| SciCode | 52.7% | 48.7% |
| LMArena Coding | 1491 | 1451 |
| DeepSWE | 46.7% | — |
| FrontierCode | 34.4% | — |
| WeirdML | 56.1% | — |
| ALE-Bench | 715.52 | — |
Agentic & Tool Use Not comparable
Gemini 3.6 Flash: 32.3 (#65), Inkling-Small: —
| Benchmark | Gemini 3.6 Flash | Inkling-Small |
|---|---|---|
| APEX-Agents | 46.9% | — |
| GDP.pdf | 14% | — |
Reasoning Gemini 3.6 Flash leads
Gemini 3.6 Flash: 58.8 (#22), Inkling-Small: 38.6 (#63)
| Benchmark | Gemini 3.6 Flash | Inkling-Small |
|---|---|---|
| ARC-AGI-2 | 60.4% | 40.1% |
| ARC-AGI-1 | 91.2% | 84% |
| CritPt | 10.6% | 8.3% |
| Chess Puzzles | 43% | 18% |
| LMArena Hard Prompts | 1485 | 1423 |
| Mystery Game Puzzles | 30% | 6% |
| Epoch Capabilities Index | 154.25 | 150.15 |
| NYT Connections (extended) | 89% | — |
| DTBench | 95.5% | — |
| LMCA | 44.9% | — |
Math Gemini 3.6 Flash leads
Gemini 3.6 Flash: 57.3 (#40), Inkling-Small: 45.1 (#77)
| Benchmark | Gemini 3.6 Flash | Inkling-Small |
|---|---|---|
| FrontierMath (Tiers 1-3) | 58.9% | 46.3% |
| FrontierMath Tier 4 | 22% | 17.1% |
| OTIS Mock AIME 2024-2025 | 94.2% | 90% |
| ProofBench | 36% | 6% |
| LMArena Math | 1505 | 1459 |
| MathArena Final-Answer Competitions | 70.8% | — |
Knowledge Gemini 3.6 Flash leads
Gemini 3.6 Flash: 67.8 (#8), Inkling-Small: 48.2 (#77)
| Benchmark | Gemini 3.6 Flash | Inkling-Small |
|---|---|---|
| GPQA Diamond | 94.1% | 88.5% |
| SimpleQA Verified | 66.2% | 19.1% |
| LMArena Expert | 1488 | 1442 |
Multimodal Too close to call
Gemini 3.6 Flash: 38.5 (#64), Inkling-Small: 39.1 (#62)
| Benchmark | Gemini 3.6 Flash | Inkling-Small |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Vision | 1298 | 1235 |
| Blueprint-Bench 2 | 31.2% | — |
| Furniture Assembly | 23.3% | — |
| LMArena Document | 1456 | — |
Multilingual Gemini 3.6 Flash leads
Gemini 3.6 Flash: 56.5 (#19), Inkling-Small: 51.7 (#104)
| Benchmark | Gemini 3.6 Flash | Inkling-Small |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Non-English | 1469 | 1402 |
| LMArena Chinese | 1531 | 1465 |
| LMArena French | 1504 | 1436 |
| LMArena German | 1478 | 1405 |
| LMArena Japanese | 1476 | 1405 |
| LMArena Korean | 1431 | 1363 |
| LMArena Russian | 1487 | 1391 |
| LMArena Spanish | 1475 | 1428 |
Instruction Following Gemini 3.6 Flash leads
Gemini 3.6 Flash: 77.0 (#33), Inkling-Small: 73.8 (#114)
| Benchmark | Gemini 3.6 Flash | Inkling-Small |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Instruction Following | 1466 | 1399 |
Long Context Gemini 3.6 Flash leads
Gemini 3.6 Flash: 45.1 (#50), Inkling-Small: 42.7 (#118)
| Benchmark | Gemini 3.6 Flash | Inkling-Small |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Longer Query | 1474 | 1401 |
Writing & Preference Gemini 3.6 Flash leads
Gemini 3.6 Flash: 68.2 (#27), Inkling-Small: 59.6 (#107)
| Benchmark | Gemini 3.6 Flash | Inkling-Small |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Text | 1479 | 1414 |
| LMArena Creative Writing | 1465 | 1331 |
| EQ-Bench Creative Writing | 1604 | 1491 |
| LMArena Multi-Turn | 1481 | 1418 |
Frequently asked questions
Is Gemini 3.6 Flash better than Inkling-Small?
Gemini 3.6 Flash is the stronger model overall, scoring 54.1 to 46.5 on the Noometry Index. Inkling-Small costs 2.4× less per token, which makes it the better buy when Gemini 3.6 Flash's lead doesn't matter for your workload.
Which is cheaper, Gemini 3.6 Flash or Inkling-Small?
Inkling-Small is cheaper. It lists at $0.45 per million input tokens and $1.20 per million output tokens; Gemini 3.6 Flash lists at $0.75 and $3.75.
Is Gemini 3.6 Flash or Inkling-Small better for coding?
Gemini 3.6 Flash scores higher on coding benchmarks: 50.0 versus 43.6 in the Noometry coding category.
Which has the bigger context window?
Gemini 3.6 Flash does, with 1.05M tokens against 524K.
How many benchmarks do Gemini 3.6 Flash and Inkling-Small share?
33 benchmarks have published results for both models. Gemini 3.6 Flash has 46 scored results on Noometry and Inkling-Small has 33.