Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite vs Inkling Small

Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite leads Inkling Small on coding, 49.0 to 27.3 on the Vibe Coding Index, and Inkling Small costs 2.1x less per output token ($1.20 vs $2.50 per million). Updated October 22, 2026; 76 benchmarks have a result for both.

Replace Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite Replace Inkling Small

Gemini 3.5 Flash LiteGoogle

Coding: 49.0
Overall: 49.8
Output $/M: $2.50

T Inkling SmallThinking Machines

Coding: 27.3
Overall: 43.6
Output $/M: $1.20

vs boards won of 76 shared

Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite or Inkling Small: which to pick

Pick Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite for coding: it scores 49.0 on the Vibe Coding Index against 27.3 for Inkling Small, though on 3 benchmarks against 4.

Pick Inkling Small for output tokens 2.1x cheaper ($1.20 vs $2.50 per million) and a lower cost per solved task ($0.16 against $0.41).

Model AGemini 3.5 Flash LiteGoogle49.0/1003 independent benchmarks$0.41 per solved task Model BInkling SmallThinking Machines27.3/1004 independent benchmarks$0.16 per solved task

7698

Shared results: 76
Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite only: 9
Inkling Small only: 8
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.

Coding
Vibe Coding Index, six public coding benchmarks
Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite
Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite scores 49.0 against 27.3.
3 and 4 benchmarks behind the scores
Intelligence
AA Intelligence Index
Inkling Small
Inkling Small leads, 25.7 against 22.2.
Same board, both measured
Agentic work
AA Agentic Index
Inkling Small
Inkling Small leads, 23.5 against 14.3.
Same board, both measured
Reasoning
GPQA Diamond
Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite
Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite leads, 83.8% against 83.6%.
Same board, both measured
Knowledge
MMLU Pro
Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite
Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite leads, 85.8% against 85.6%.
Same board, both measured
General
Vals Index
No call
Only Inkling Small has a Vals Index result, 27.6%.
Directional only
Long documents
Listed context window
Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite
Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite takes 1.05M tokens against 524K.
Listed by OpenRouter
Everyday cost
1K input + 500 output tokens
Inkling Small
Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite $0.0015, Inkling Small $0.0010 per turn.
List prices
Cost per solved task
One SWE-bench Verified task, solved
Inkling Small
Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite $0.41, Inkling Small $0.16.
Published attempt cost and pass rate

At a glance

Coding index: Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite 49.0 from 3 benchmarks, Inkling Small 27.3 from 4 benchmarks.
Widest category: Math, 11.5 points apart on average over 6 shared benchmarks.
Widest single gap: ARC-AGI: Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite 53.5% against Inkling Small 84.0%, 30.5 points apart on a 0 to 100 scale.
Output price: Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite $2.50 against Inkling Small $1.20 per million output tokens, 2.1x apart.
Context window: Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite 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
Category	Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite	Inkling Small
Coding	6	8
Intelligence	0	2
Agentic work	2	3
Reasoning	6	6
Math	1	5
Knowledge	8	2
General	25	2
All shared boards	48	28

CodingLike-for-likeSix of these boards feed the Vibe Coding Index68

Coding benchmarks for Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite and Inkling Small
Benchmark	Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite	Inkling Small	Leader
LMArena WebDev	1435	1409	Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite
AA Coding Index	49.3	52.9	Inkling Small
LiveCodeBench (Vals AI)	79.0%	85.9%	Inkling Small
SWE-bench Verified (Vals AI)	75.0%	82.2%	Inkling Small
Terminal-Bench 4 (Vals AI)	Not measured	0.0%	Only Inkling Small measured
Vibe Code Bench (Vals AI)	37.2%	19.1%	Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite
Code migration (Vals AI)	6.2%	13.7%	Inkling Small
ProgramBench (Vals AI)	0.0%	0.5%	Inkling Small
IOI (Vals AI)	Not measured	9.3%	Only Inkling Small measured
Terminal-Bench 2.1 (Vals AI)	50.2%	55.1%	Inkling Small
SkillsBench (Vals AI)	Not measured	33.6%	Only Inkling Small measured
CyberBench (Vals AI)	59.1%	64.1%	Inkling Small
SciCode	41.3%	49.7%	Inkling Small
WeirdML	39.0%	Not measured	Only Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite measured
ALE-Bench	765.3	Not measured	Only Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite measured
LMArena Text: coding	1453	1450	Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite
LMArena Text: software and IT	1451	1447	Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite
LMArena WebDev: React	1408	1399	Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite
LMArena WebDev: HTML	Not measured	1398	Only Inkling Small measured
LMArena WebDev: from an image	1448	1410	Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite
SciCode	6.2%	Not measured	Only Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite measured
Neither model has a result on the other 18 boards here

IntelligenceLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index02

Intelligence benchmarks for Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite and Inkling Small
Benchmark	Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite	Inkling Small	Leader
AA Intelligence Index	22.2	25.7	Inkling Small
Epoch Capabilities Index	144.9	150.3	Inkling Small

Agentic workLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index23

Agentic work benchmarks for Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite and Inkling Small
Benchmark	Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite	Inkling Small	Leader
AA Agentic Index	14.3	23.5	Inkling Small
Finance Agent (Vals AI)	47.4%	41.3%	Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite
Tax Agent Bench (Vals AI)	7.2%	15.4%	Inkling Small
Legal Research Bench (Vals AI)	13.9%	25.5%	Inkling Small
Harvey's Legal Agent Benchmark (Vals AI)	Not measured	2.9%	Only Inkling Small measured
Excel Modeling Benchmark (Vals AI)	43.2%	31.8%	Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite
APEX-Agents	29.3%	Not measured	Only Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite measured
Neither model has a result on the other 34 boards here

ReasoningLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index66

Reasoning benchmarks for Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite and Inkling Small
Benchmark	Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite	Inkling Small	Leader
GPQA Diamond	83.8%	83.6%	Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite
MMMU Pro (Vals AI)	83.6%	Not measured	Only Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite measured
GPQA Diamond (Artificial Analysis run)	83.8%	89.5%	Inkling Small
Humanity's Last Exam (Artificial Analysis run)	18.8%	33.3%	Inkling Small
GPQA Diamond (Epoch AI run)	83.3%	88.5%	Inkling Small
ARC-AGI	53.5%	84.0%	Inkling Small
ARC-AGI-2	10.3%	40.1%	Inkling Small
Chess puzzles	21.0%	Not measured	Only Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite measured
Mystery game puzzles	19.0%	6.0%	Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite
LMArena Text: hard prompts	1441	1423	Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite
LMArena Text: expert	1434	1441	Inkling Small
LMArena Text: hard prompts in English	1440	1429	Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite
LMArena Vision: diagrams	1284	1251	Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite
LMArena Vision: homework	1291	1257	Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite
Neither model has a result on the other 8 boards here

MathLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index15

Math benchmarks for Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite and Inkling Small
Benchmark	Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite	Inkling Small	Leader
OTIS Mock AIME	71.1%	90.0%	Inkling Small
FrontierMath, tiers 1 to 3	26.0%	46.3%	Inkling Small
FrontierMath, tier 4	0.0%	17.1%	Inkling Small
ProofBench	13.0%	6.0%	Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite
LMArena Text: math	1434	1459	Inkling Small
LMArena Text: mathematical work	1433	1441	Inkling Small
Neither model has a result on the other 7 boards here

KnowledgeLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index82

Knowledge benchmarks for Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite and Inkling Small
Benchmark	Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite	Inkling Small	Leader
MMLU Pro	85.8%	85.6%	Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite
LegalBench (Vals AI)	84.1%	83.0%	Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite
CorpFin (Vals AI)	60.7%	69.6%	Inkling Small
TaxEval (Vals AI)	72.6%	75.5%	Inkling Small
MortgageTax (Vals AI)	68.7%	62.3%	Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite
MedCode (Vals AI)	43.5%	37.9%	Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite
SimpleQA Verified	Not measured	19.1%	Only Inkling Small measured
LMArena Text: science	1451	1428	Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite
LMArena Text: medicine and healthcare	1438	1413	Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite
LMArena Text: legal and government	1431	1415	Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite
LMArena Text: business and finance	1423	1413	Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite
FACTS Benchmark Suite	53.5%	Not measured	Only Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite measured
Neither model has a result on the other 6 boards here

Web designNot comparablePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index0 boards, none shared

Web design benchmarks for Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite and Inkling Small
Benchmark	Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite	Inkling Small	Leader
Neither model has a result on 9 boards here

GeneralLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index252

General benchmarks for Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite and Inkling Small
Benchmark	Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite	Inkling Small	Leader
Vals Index	Not measured	27.6%	Only Inkling Small measured
Public Benefits Bench (Vals AI)	51.8%	59.4%	Inkling Small
SAGE (Vals AI)	47.3%	32.7%	Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite
MedScribe (Vals AI)	70.9%	84.1%	Inkling Small
Vals Multimodal Index	Not measured	50.0%	Only Inkling Small measured
Long context reasoning (AA-LCR)	76.0%	75.7%	Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite
DTBench	83.5%	Not measured	Only Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite measured
LMCA	37.6%	Not measured	Only Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite measured
LMArena Text	1435	1413	Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite
LMArena Text: instruction following	1419	1399	Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite
LMArena Text: creative writing	1421	1334	Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite
LMArena Vision	1269	1237	Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite
LMArena Text: English	1438	1421	Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite
LMArena Text: non-English	1427	1401	Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite
LMArena Text: Chinese	1468	1464	Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite
LMArena Text: German	1454	1408	Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite
LMArena Text: Japanese	1426	1401	Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite
LMArena Text: Korean	1407	1367	Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite
LMArena Text: French	1451	1435	Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite
LMArena Text: Spanish	1441	1422	Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite
LMArena Text: Russian	1443	1394	Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite
LMArena Text: Polish	1437	1428	Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite
LMArena Text: multi-turn	1445	1416	Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite
LMArena Text: longer queries	1435	1402	Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite
LMArena Text: writing and language	1428	1357	Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite
LMArena Text: entertainment and media	1414	1352	Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite
LMArena Vision: English	1269	1243	Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite
LMArena Vision: Chinese	1311	1292	Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite
LMArena Vision: reading text	1280	1243	Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite
LMArena Vision: humor	1287	1207	Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite
LMArena Vision: creative writing	1260	1205	Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite
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 3.5 Flash Lite and Inkling Small
Benchmark	Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite	Inkling Small	Leader
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 3.5 Flash Lite$0.0015Fits in one request

Inkling Small$0.0010Fits in one request

Inkling Small costs less

Repository review

50K input + 3K output tokens

Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite$0.022Fits in one request

Inkling Small$0.026Fits in one request

Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite costs less

Agent loop

200K input + 10K output tokens

Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite$0.085Fits in one request

Inkling Small$0.102Fits in one request

Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite 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 3.5 Flash Lite and Inkling Small
Specification	Google Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite	Thinking Machines Inkling Small
Maker	Google	Thinking Machines
Weights	No public weights listed	Open weights
Released	July 21, 2026	July 30, 2026
Context window	1.05M	524K
Input $/Mtok	$0.30	$0.45
Output $/Mtok	$2.50	$1.20
Coding index	49.0	27.3
Independent measurements behind it	3	4
Cost per solved task	$0.41	$0.16
Source	OpenRouter listing	OpenRouter listing

Questions

Is Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite better than Inkling Small for coding?

Pick Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite for coding: it scores 49.0 on the Vibe Coding Index against 27.3 for Inkling Small, though on 3 benchmarks against 4. Pick Inkling Small for output tokens 2.1x cheaper ($1.20 vs $2.50 per million) and a lower cost per solved task ($0.16 against $0.41).

Which is cheaper, Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite or Inkling Small?

Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite costs $0.30 per million input tokens and $2.50 per million output tokens; Inkling Small costs $0.45 and $1.20. Per solved SWE-bench Verified task, Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite costs $0.41 and Inkling Small $0.16.

Which has the bigger context window, Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite or Inkling Small?

Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite, with 1.05M tokens against 524K.

How many benchmarks is the Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite vs Inkling Small comparison based on?

76 benchmarks have a result for both models as of October 22, 2026. Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite'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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Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite or Inkling Small: which to pick

Which one for your work

Coding

Intelligence

Agentic work

Reasoning

Knowledge

General

Long documents

Everyday cost

Cost per solved task