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DeepSeek V4.1 Flash vs Inkling

DeepSeek V4.1 Flash leads Inkling on coding, 62.5 to 31.5 on the Vibe Coding Index, and DeepSeek V4.1 Flash costs 5.2x less per output token ($0.78 vs $4.05 per million). Updated October 21, 2026; 84 benchmarks have a result for both.

Replace DeepSeek V4.1 Flash Replace Inkling
DeepSeek V4.1 FlashDeepSeek
Coding
62.5
Overall
62.4
Output $/M
$0.78
80
T InklingThinking Machines
Coding
31.5
Overall
46.5
Output $/M
$4.05
4
vs boards won of 84 shared

DeepSeek V4.1 Flash or Inkling: which to pick

Pick DeepSeek V4.1 Flash for coding: it scores 62.5 on the Vibe Coding Index against 31.5 for Inkling, though on 5 benchmarks against 6.

Pick Inkling for work measured by AA Intelligence Index or LMArena Text: math, where it leads.

Model ADeepSeek V4.1 FlashDeepSeek62.5/1005 independent benchmarksNo cost per solved taskModel BInklingThinking Machines31.5/1006 independent benchmarks$0.76 per solved task
Shared results
84
DeepSeek V4.1 Flash only
17
Inkling only
18
Like-for-like categories
8 of 9

Only benchmarks that tested both models count toward a pick; a result only one model has is shown but not compared.

Which one for your work

Each card is decided by one number both models carry. Where only one has it, the card says so and makes no call.

At a glance

Coding index
DeepSeek V4.1 Flash 62.5 from 5 benchmarks, Inkling 31.5 from 6 benchmarks.
Widest category
Coding, 23.7 points apart on average over 18 shared benchmarks.
Widest single gap
LiveBench browser: DeepSeek V4.1 Flash 84.0% against Inkling 16.0%, 68.0 points apart on a 0 to 100 scale.
Output price
DeepSeek V4.1 Flash $0.78 against Inkling $4.05 per million output tokens, 5.2x apart.
Context window
DeepSeek V4.1 Flash takes 1.05M tokens, Inkling 524K.

Benchmark by benchmark

First the score: boards each model leads, per category, where both have a result. Then every board, a category to a fold; bars are each result on a 0 to 100 scale, so compare the two in a row, not one row with another.

Boards won, where both have a result
CategoryDeepSeek V4.1 FlashBarsInklingTies
Coding180
Intelligence11
Agentic work90
Reasoning90
Math51
Knowledge52
Web design90
General240
All shared boards804
CodingLike-for-likeSix of these boards feed the Vibe Coding Index180
Coding benchmarks for DeepSeek V4.1 Flash and Inkling
BenchmarkDeepSeek V4.1 FlashInklingLeader
LiveBench coding90.2%64.0%DeepSeek V4.1 Flash
LMArena WebDev16181414DeepSeek V4.1 Flash
AA Coding IndexNot measured52.1Only Inkling measured
LiveCodeBench (Vals AI)Not measured85.5%Only Inkling measured
SWE-bench Verified (Vals AI)Not measured77.6%Only Inkling measured
Terminal-Bench 4 (Vals AI)19.7%0.5%DeepSeek V4.1 Flash
Vibe Code Bench (Vals AI)84.7%19.2%DeepSeek V4.1 Flash
Code migration (Vals AI)45.6%11.8%DeepSeek V4.1 Flash
ProgramBench (Vals AI)0.5%0.0%DeepSeek V4.1 Flash
IOI (Vals AI)40.3%14.9%DeepSeek V4.1 Flash
Terminal-Bench 2.1 (Vals AI)74.5%47.6%DeepSeek V4.1 Flash
SWE-bench Multimodal (Vals AI)46.5%Not measuredOnly DeepSeek V4.1 Flash measured
Vibe Code Bench 1-100 (Vals AI)16.4%7.3%DeepSeek V4.1 Flash
SkillsBench (Vals AI)69.8%26.1%DeepSeek V4.1 Flash
CyberBench (Vals AI)73.7%66.8%DeepSeek V4.1 Flash
SciCode51.9%47.0%DeepSeek V4.1 Flash
FrontierCode43.9%14.0%DeepSeek V4.1 Flash
FrontierSWENot measured4.1%Only Inkling measured
WeirdMLNot measured32.3%Only Inkling measured
ALE-Bench1092.3946.0DeepSeek V4.1 Flash
LMArena Text: coding15021466DeepSeek V4.1 Flash
LMArena Text: software and IT14961465DeepSeek V4.1 Flash
LMArena WebDev: React16281404DeepSeek V4.1 Flash
LMArena WebDev: HTML16121399DeepSeek V4.1 Flash
LMArena WebDev: from an image1606Not measuredOnly DeepSeek V4.1 Flash measured
Neither model has a result on the other 14 boards here
IntelligenceLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index11
Intelligence benchmarks for DeepSeek V4.1 Flash and Inkling
BenchmarkDeepSeek V4.1 FlashInklingLeader
AA Intelligence Index24.725.0Inkling
Epoch Capabilities Index155.9148.4DeepSeek V4.1 Flash
Agentic workLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index90
Agentic work benchmarks for DeepSeek V4.1 Flash and Inkling
BenchmarkDeepSeek V4.1 FlashInklingLeader
AA Agentic IndexNot measured22.5Only Inkling measured
Design Arena: agents building web appsNot measured1196Only Inkling measured
LiveBench research86.8%59.9%DeepSeek V4.1 Flash
LiveBench browser84.0%16.0%DeepSeek V4.1 Flash
LiveBench long agentic40.1%14.1%DeepSeek V4.1 Flash
SREBench (Vals AI)0.8%0.0%DeepSeek V4.1 Flash
Finance Agent (Vals AI)53.5%46.6%DeepSeek V4.1 Flash
Tax Agent Bench (Vals AI)26.6%15.3%DeepSeek V4.1 Flash
Legal Research Bench (Vals AI)41.4%28.4%DeepSeek V4.1 Flash
Harvey's Legal Agent Benchmark (Vals AI)Not measured3.8%Only Inkling measured
Excel Modeling Benchmark (Vals AI)57.2%38.4%DeepSeek V4.1 Flash
BioMysteryBench (Vals AI)67.8%Not measuredOnly DeepSeek V4.1 Flash measured
Terminal-Bench-Science (Vals AI)0.0%Not measuredOnly DeepSeek V4.1 Flash measured
Vals Science Index29.6%Not measuredOnly DeepSeek V4.1 Flash measured
APEX-Agents39.5%33.8%DeepSeek V4.1 Flash
Neither model has a result on the other 26 boards here
ReasoningLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index90
Reasoning benchmarks for DeepSeek V4.1 Flash and Inkling
BenchmarkDeepSeek V4.1 FlashInklingLeader
GPQA DiamondNot measured87.1%Only Inkling measured
LiveBench reasoning86.7%78.3%DeepSeek V4.1 Flash
MysteryMechanism (Vals AI)21.2%Not measuredOnly DeepSeek V4.1 Flash measured
MMMU Pro (Vals AI)Not measured78.5%Only Inkling measured
GPQA Diamond (Artificial Analysis run)Not measured87.2%Only Inkling measured
Humanity's Last Exam (Artificial Analysis run)39.2%31.9%DeepSeek V4.1 Flash
GPQA Diamond (Epoch AI run)89.8%88.3%DeepSeek V4.1 Flash
ARC-AGI94.5%79.5%DeepSeek V4.1 Flash
ARC-AGI-272.9%36.5%DeepSeek V4.1 Flash
SimpleBenchNot measured50.0%Only Inkling measured
Chess puzzles48.0%21.0%DeepSeek V4.1 Flash
Mystery game puzzles43.0%Not measuredOnly DeepSeek V4.1 Flash measured
LMArena Text: hard prompts14831451DeepSeek V4.1 Flash
LMArena Text: expert15011466DeepSeek V4.1 Flash
LMArena Text: hard prompts in English14881448DeepSeek V4.1 Flash
LMArena Vision: diagrams1297Not measuredOnly DeepSeek V4.1 Flash measured
LMArena Vision: homework1307Not measuredOnly DeepSeek V4.1 Flash measured
Neither model has a result on the other 5 boards here
MathLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index51
Math benchmarks for DeepSeek V4.1 Flash and Inkling
BenchmarkDeepSeek V4.1 FlashInklingLeader
OTIS Mock AIME98.3%88.9%DeepSeek V4.1 Flash
FrontierMath, tiers 1 to 367.4%33.3%DeepSeek V4.1 Flash
FrontierMath, tier 426.8%4.9%DeepSeek V4.1 Flash
ProofBench54.0%0.0%DeepSeek V4.1 Flash
LMArena Text: math14781479Inkling
LMArena Text: mathematical work14851460DeepSeek V4.1 Flash
Neither model has a result on the other 7 boards here
KnowledgeLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index52
Knowledge benchmarks for DeepSeek V4.1 Flash and Inkling
BenchmarkDeepSeek V4.1 FlashInklingLeader
MMLU ProNot measured86.3%Only Inkling measured
LegalBench (Vals AI)83.3%83.0%DeepSeek V4.1 Flash
CorpFin (Vals AI)Not measured68.6%Only Inkling measured
TaxEval (Vals AI)Not measured75.3%Only Inkling measured
MortgageTax (Vals AI)Not measured64.0%Only Inkling measured
MedCode (Vals AI)41.2%41.2%Inkling
SimpleQA Verified42.9%40.3%DeepSeek V4.1 Flash
LMArena Text: science14691455DeepSeek V4.1 Flash
LMArena Text: medicine and healthcare14841447DeepSeek V4.1 Flash
LMArena Text: legal and government14431448Inkling
LMArena Text: business and finance14611438DeepSeek V4.1 Flash
Neither model has a result on the other 7 boards here
Web designLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index90
Web design benchmarks for DeepSeek V4.1 Flash and Inkling
BenchmarkDeepSeek V4.1 FlashInklingLeader
Design Arena: websites13091224DeepSeek V4.1 Flash
Design Arena: UI components13151201DeepSeek V4.1 Flash
Design Arena: game dev13301166DeepSeek V4.1 Flash
Design Arena: data viz12901159DeepSeek V4.1 Flash
Design Arena: 3D13561161DeepSeek V4.1 Flash
Design Arena: all code categories13201206DeepSeek V4.1 Flash
Design Arena: SVG12441110DeepSeek V4.1 Flash
Design Arena: ASCII art12651089DeepSeek V4.1 Flash
LiveBench design79.2%58.3%DeepSeek V4.1 Flash
GeneralLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index240
General benchmarks for DeepSeek V4.1 Flash and Inkling
BenchmarkDeepSeek V4.1 FlashInklingLeader
Vals IndexNot measured29.0%Only Inkling measured
LiveBench data analysis79.3%72.8%DeepSeek V4.1 Flash
Public Benefits Bench (Vals AI)64.3%58.5%DeepSeek V4.1 Flash
SAGE (Vals AI)47.9%36.5%DeepSeek V4.1 Flash
MedScribe (Vals AI)85.5%85.4%DeepSeek V4.1 Flash
Vals Multimodal IndexNot measured49.4%Only Inkling measured
Long context reasoning (AA-LCR)84.0%77.3%DeepSeek V4.1 Flash
DTBench89.9%87.5%DeepSeek V4.1 Flash
LMCA47.0%37.6%DeepSeek V4.1 Flash
Surface Evolver Bench46.3%Not measuredOnly DeepSeek V4.1 Flash measured
Furniture assembly34.2%Not measuredOnly DeepSeek V4.1 Flash measured
LMArena Text14641442DeepSeek V4.1 Flash
LMArena Text: instruction following14731425DeepSeek V4.1 Flash
LMArena Text: creative writing14371390DeepSeek V4.1 Flash
LMArena Vision1278Not measuredOnly DeepSeek V4.1 Flash measured
LMArena Text: English14731442DeepSeek V4.1 Flash
LMArena Text: non-English14491434DeepSeek V4.1 Flash
LMArena Text: Chinese15011493DeepSeek V4.1 Flash
LMArena Text: German14701445DeepSeek V4.1 Flash
LMArena Text: Japanese14321429DeepSeek V4.1 Flash
LMArena Text: Korean14361403DeepSeek V4.1 Flash
LMArena Text: French14651455DeepSeek V4.1 Flash
LMArena Text: Spanish14591449DeepSeek V4.1 Flash
LMArena Text: Russian14671430DeepSeek V4.1 Flash
LMArena Text: Polish14571450DeepSeek V4.1 Flash
LMArena Text: multi-turn14611437DeepSeek V4.1 Flash
LMArena Text: longer queries14731435DeepSeek V4.1 Flash
LMArena Text: writing and language14501404DeepSeek V4.1 Flash
LMArena Text: entertainment and media14451394DeepSeek V4.1 Flash
LMArena Vision: English1288Not measuredOnly DeepSeek V4.1 Flash measured
LMArena Vision: Chinese1327Not measuredOnly DeepSeek V4.1 Flash measured
LMArena Vision: reading text1282Not measuredOnly DeepSeek V4.1 Flash measured
LMArena Vision: humor1260Not measuredOnly DeepSeek V4.1 Flash measured
LMArena Vision: creative writing1275Not measuredOnly DeepSeek V4.1 Flash measured
Neither model has a result on the other 12 boards here
Image generationNot comparablePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index0 boards, none shared
Image generation benchmarks for DeepSeek V4.1 Flash and Inkling
BenchmarkDeepSeek V4.1 FlashInklingLeader
Neither model has a result on 5 boards here

What each workload costs

Three fixed token mixes at each model's listed price, so per-token rates become a bill.

Chat turn

1K input + 500 output tokens

DeepSeek V4.1 Flash$0.0006Fits in one request
Inkling$0.0030Fits in one request

DeepSeek V4.1 Flash costs less

Repository review

50K input + 3K output tokens

DeepSeek V4.1 Flash$0.013Fits in one request
Inkling$0.061Fits in one request

DeepSeek V4.1 Flash costs less

Agent loop

200K input + 10K output tokens

DeepSeek V4.1 Flash$0.050Fits in one request
Inkling$0.235Fits in one request

DeepSeek V4.1 Flash costs less

Listed OpenRouter rates, without cache or batch discounts. A workload that does not fit a model's context window would need splitting.

Specification differences

The leading value in a row is marked; a row with a missing value names no leader. Our two rows are marked in red.

Specifications of DeepSeek V4.1 Flash and Inkling
SpecificationDeepSeek V4.1 FlashThinking Machines Inkling
MakerDeepSeekThinking Machines
WeightsOpen weightsOpen weights
ReleasedSeptember 10, 2026July 17, 2026
Context window1.05M524K
Input $/Mtok$0.21$0.975
Output $/Mtok$0.78$4.05
Coding index62.531.5
Independent measurements behind it56
Cost per solved taskNot computable$0.76
SourceOpenRouter listingOpenRouter listing

Questions

Is DeepSeek V4.1 Flash better than Inkling for coding?

Pick DeepSeek V4.1 Flash for coding: it scores 62.5 on the Vibe Coding Index against 31.5 for Inkling, though on 5 benchmarks against 6. Pick Inkling for work measured by AA Intelligence Index or LMArena Text: math, where it leads.

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

DeepSeek V4.1 Flash costs $0.21 per million input tokens and $0.78 per million output tokens; Inkling costs $0.975 and $4.05. Cost per solved task is known for Inkling only.

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

DeepSeek V4.1 Flash, with 1.05M tokens against 524K.

How many benchmarks is the DeepSeek V4.1 Flash vs Inkling comparison based on?

84 benchmarks have a result for both models as of October 21, 2026. DeepSeek V4.1 Flash's coding index rests on 5 independent benchmarks and Inkling's on 6. Where only one model has a result, the page says so instead of naming a winner.

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<p style="font:13px/1.4 sans-serif;margin:6px 0 0">Source: <a href="https://llmbenchmark.ai/compare/deepseek-v4-1-flash-vs-thinkingmachines-inkling">LLMBenchmark.ai, DeepSeek V4.1 Flash vs Inkling</a></p>