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Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite Preview vs Inkling Small

Inkling Small leads Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite Preview on coding, 27.3 to 22.7 on the Vibe Coding Index, and Inkling Small costs 1.3x less per output token ($1.20 vs $1.50 per million). Updated October 21, 2026; 63 benchmarks have a result for both.

Replace Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite Preview Replace Inkling Small
Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite PreviewGoogle
Coding
22.7
Overall
36.6
Output $/M
$1.50
23
T Inkling SmallThinking Machines
Coding
27.3
Overall
43.6
Output $/M
$1.20
40
vs boards won of 63 shared

Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite Preview or Inkling Small: which to pick

Pick Inkling Small for coding: it scores 27.3 on the Vibe Coding Index against 22.7 for Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite Preview.

Pick Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite Preview for a larger context window (1.05M against 524K tokens) and work measured by LMArena Vision: homework or MMLU Pro, where it leads.

Model AGemini 3.1 Flash Lite PreviewGoogle22.7/1003 independent benchmarks$0.18 per solved taskModel BInkling SmallThinking Machines27.3/1004 independent benchmarks$0.16 per solved task
Shared results
63
Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite Preview only
16
Inkling Small only
21
Like-for-like categories
7 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
Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite Preview 22.7 from 3 benchmarks, Inkling Small 27.3 from 4 benchmarks.
Widest category
Agentic work, 18.1 points apart on average over 5 shared benchmarks.
Widest single gap
LMArena WebDev: React: Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite Preview 1245 against Inkling Small 1399, 25.7 points apart on a 0 to 100 scale.
Output price
Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite Preview $1.50 against Inkling Small $1.20 per million output tokens, 1.3x apart.
Context window
Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite Preview takes 1.05M tokens, Inkling Small 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
CategoryGemini 3.1 Flash Lite PreviewBarsInkling SmallTies
Coding013
Intelligence01
Agentic work05
Reasoning15
Math02
Knowledge64
General1610
All shared boards2340
CodingLike-for-likeSix of these boards feed the Vibe Coding Index013
Coding benchmarks for Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite Preview and Inkling Small
BenchmarkGemini 3.1 Flash Lite PreviewInkling SmallLeader
LMArena WebDev12571409Inkling Small
AA Coding Index34.752.9Inkling Small
LiveCodeBench (Vals AI)80.1%85.9%Inkling Small
SWE-bench Verified (Vals AI)62.8%82.2%Inkling Small
Terminal-Bench 4 (Vals AI)Not measured0.0%Only Inkling Small measured
Vibe Code Bench (Vals AI)0.0%19.1%Inkling Small
Code migration (Vals AI)4.6%13.7%Inkling Small
ProgramBench (Vals AI)0.0%0.5%Inkling Small
IOI (Vals AI)Not measured9.3%Only Inkling Small measured
Terminal-Bench 2.1 (Vals AI)34.1%55.1%Inkling Small
SkillsBench (Vals AI)Not measured33.6%Only Inkling Small measured
CyberBench (Vals AI)Not measured64.1%Only Inkling Small measured
SciCodeNot measured49.7%Only Inkling Small measured
ALE-Bench797.7Not measuredOnly Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite Preview measured
LMArena Text: coding14001450Inkling Small
LMArena Text: software and IT14131447Inkling Small
LMArena WebDev: React12451399Inkling Small
LMArena WebDev: HTML12761398Inkling Small
LMArena WebDev: from an image13361410Inkling Small
SciCode4.6%Not measuredOnly Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite Preview measured
Neither model has a result on the other 19 boards here
IntelligenceLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index01
Intelligence benchmarks for Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite Preview and Inkling Small
BenchmarkGemini 3.1 Flash Lite PreviewInkling SmallLeader
AA Intelligence Index15.625.7Inkling Small
Epoch Capabilities IndexNot measured150.3Only Inkling Small measured
Agentic workLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index05
Agentic work benchmarks for Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite Preview and Inkling Small
BenchmarkGemini 3.1 Flash Lite PreviewInkling SmallLeader
AA Agentic Index1.623.5Inkling Small
Finance Agent (Vals AI)30.0%41.3%Inkling Small
Tax Agent Bench (Vals AI)3.1%15.4%Inkling Small
Legal Research Bench (Vals AI)3.4%25.5%Inkling Small
Harvey's Legal Agent Benchmark (Vals AI)Not measured2.9%Only Inkling Small measured
Excel Modeling Benchmark (Vals AI)8.6%31.8%Inkling Small
Neither model has a result on the other 35 boards here
ReasoningLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index15
Reasoning benchmarks for Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite Preview and Inkling Small
BenchmarkGemini 3.1 Flash Lite PreviewInkling SmallLeader
GPQA Diamond81.1%83.6%Inkling Small
MMMU Pro (Vals AI)82.5%Not measuredOnly Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite Preview measured
GPQA Diamond (Artificial Analysis run)Not measured89.5%Only Inkling Small measured
Humanity's Last Exam (Artificial Analysis run)Not measured33.3%Only Inkling Small measured
GPQA Diamond (Epoch AI run)Not measured88.5%Only Inkling Small measured
ARC-AGINot measured84.0%Only Inkling Small measured
ARC-AGI-2Not measured40.1%Only Inkling Small measured
Mystery game puzzlesNot measured6.0%Only Inkling Small measured
LMArena Text: hard prompts14071423Inkling Small
LMArena Text: expert13981441Inkling Small
LMArena Text: hard prompts in English14031429Inkling Small
LMArena Vision: diagrams12421251Inkling Small
LMArena Vision: homework12711257Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite Preview
Neither model has a result on the other 9 boards here
MathLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index02
Math benchmarks for Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite Preview and Inkling Small
BenchmarkGemini 3.1 Flash Lite PreviewInkling SmallLeader
AIME83.3%Not measuredOnly Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite Preview measured
OTIS Mock AIMENot measured90.0%Only Inkling Small measured
FrontierMath, tiers 1 to 3Not measured46.3%Only Inkling Small measured
FrontierMath, tier 4Not measured17.1%Only Inkling Small measured
ProofBenchNot measured6.0%Only Inkling Small measured
LMArena Text: math14281459Inkling Small
LMArena Text: mathematical work14171441Inkling Small
Neither model has a result on the other 6 boards here
KnowledgeLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index64
Knowledge benchmarks for Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite Preview and Inkling Small
BenchmarkGemini 3.1 Flash Lite PreviewInkling SmallLeader
MMLU Pro86.2%85.6%Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite Preview
LegalBench (Vals AI)83.8%83.0%Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite Preview
CaseLaw (Vals AI)55.0%Not measuredOnly Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite Preview measured
CorpFin (Vals AI)59.4%69.6%Inkling Small
TaxEval (Vals AI)71.8%75.5%Inkling Small
MortgageTax (Vals AI)68.0%62.3%Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite Preview
MedCode (Vals AI)47.6%37.9%Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite Preview
SimpleQA VerifiedNot measured19.1%Only Inkling Small measured
LMArena Text: science14251428Inkling Small
LMArena Text: medicine and healthcare14281413Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite Preview
LMArena Text: legal and government14181415Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite Preview
LMArena Text: business and finance13891413Inkling Small
FACTS Benchmark Suite51.4%Not measuredOnly Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite Preview measured
Neither model has a result on the other 5 boards here
Web designDirectional onlyPublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index8 boards, none shared
Web design benchmarks for Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite Preview and Inkling Small
BenchmarkGemini 3.1 Flash Lite PreviewInkling SmallLeader
Design Arena: websites1083Not measuredOnly Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite Preview measured
Design Arena: UI components1072Not measuredOnly Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite Preview measured
Design Arena: game dev1029Not measuredOnly Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite Preview measured
Design Arena: data viz1045Not measuredOnly Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite Preview measured
Design Arena: 3D1048Not measuredOnly Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite Preview measured
Design Arena: all code categories1072Not measuredOnly Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite Preview measured
Design Arena: SVG1052Not measuredOnly Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite Preview measured
Design Arena: ASCII art1167Not measuredOnly Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite Preview measured
Neither model has a result on the other 1 board here
GeneralLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index1610
General benchmarks for Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite Preview and Inkling Small
BenchmarkGemini 3.1 Flash Lite PreviewInkling SmallLeader
Vals IndexNot measured27.6%Only Inkling Small measured
Public Benefits Bench (Vals AI)Not measured59.4%Only Inkling Small measured
SAGE (Vals AI)49.5%32.7%Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite Preview
MedScribe (Vals AI)63.9%84.1%Inkling Small
Vals Multimodal Index41.4%50.0%Inkling Small
Long context reasoning (AA-LCR)Not measured75.7%Only Inkling Small measured
LMArena Text14161413Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite Preview
LMArena Text: instruction following13771399Inkling Small
LMArena Text: creative writing14011334Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite Preview
LMArena Vision12401237Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite Preview
LMArena Text: English14141421Inkling Small
LMArena Text: non-English14101401Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite Preview
LMArena Text: Chinese14601464Inkling Small
LMArena Text: German14301408Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite Preview
LMArena Text: Japanese14131401Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite Preview
LMArena Text: Korean13921367Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite Preview
LMArena Text: French14241435Inkling Small
LMArena Text: Spanish14211422Inkling Small
LMArena Text: Russian14201394Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite Preview
LMArena Text: Polish14431428Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite Preview
LMArena Text: multi-turn14171416Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite Preview
LMArena Text: longer queries13941402Inkling Small
LMArena Text: writing and language14081357Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite Preview
LMArena Text: entertainment and media13861352Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite Preview
LMArena Vision: English12321243Inkling Small
LMArena Vision: Chinese12781292Inkling Small
LMArena Vision: reading text12461243Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite Preview
LMArena Vision: humor12661207Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite Preview
LMArena Vision: captioning1259Not measuredOnly Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite Preview measured
LMArena Vision: recognizing things1308Not measuredOnly Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite Preview measured
LMArena Vision: creative writing12481205Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite Preview
Neither model has a result on the other 15 boards here
Image generationNot comparablePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index0 boards, none shared
Image generation benchmarks for Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite Preview and Inkling Small
BenchmarkGemini 3.1 Flash Lite PreviewInkling SmallLeader
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

Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite Preview$0.0010Fits in one request
Inkling Small$0.0010Fits in one request

Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite Preview costs less

Repository review

50K input + 3K output tokens

Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite Preview$0.017Fits in one request
Inkling Small$0.026Fits in one request

Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite Preview costs less

Agent loop

200K input + 10K output tokens

Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite Preview$0.065Fits in one request
Inkling Small$0.102Fits in one request

Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite Preview 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 Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite Preview and Inkling Small
SpecificationGoogle Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite PreviewThinking Machines Inkling Small
MakerGoogleThinking Machines
WeightsNo public weights listedOpen weights
ReleasedMarch 3, 2026July 30, 2026
Context window1.05M524K
Input $/Mtok$0.25$0.45
Output $/Mtok$1.50$1.20
Coding index22.727.3
Independent measurements behind it34
Cost per solved task$0.18$0.16
SourceOpenRouter listingOpenRouter listing

Questions

Is Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite Preview better than Inkling Small for coding?

Pick Inkling Small for coding: it scores 27.3 on the Vibe Coding Index against 22.7 for Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite Preview. Pick Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite Preview for a larger context window (1.05M against 524K tokens) and work measured by LMArena Vision: homework or MMLU Pro, where it leads.

Which is cheaper, Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite Preview or Inkling Small?

Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite Preview costs $0.25 per million input tokens and $1.50 per million output tokens; Inkling Small costs $0.45 and $1.20. Per solved SWE-bench Verified task, Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite Preview costs $0.18 and Inkling Small $0.16.

Which has the bigger context window, Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite Preview or Inkling Small?

Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite Preview, with 1.05M tokens against 524K.

How many benchmarks is the Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite Preview vs Inkling Small comparison based on?

63 benchmarks have a result for both models as of October 21, 2026. Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite Preview's coding index rests on 3 independent benchmarks and Inkling Small's on 4. Where only one model has a result, the page says so instead of naming a winner.

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<iframe src="https://llmbenchmark.ai/embed/compare/gemini-3-1-flash-lite-preview-vs-thinkingmachines-inkling-small" title="Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite Preview vs Inkling Small, LLMBenchmark.ai" width="100%" height="360" style="border:0;max-width:100%" loading="lazy"></iframe>
<p style="font:13px/1.4 sans-serif;margin:6px 0 0">Source: <a href="https://llmbenchmark.ai/compare/gemini-3-1-flash-lite-preview-vs-thinkingmachines-inkling-small">LLMBenchmark.ai, Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite Preview vs Inkling Small</a></p>