MiniMax M3.1 Flash vs Inkling Small
MiniMax M3.1 Flash leads Inkling Small on coding, 59.0 to 27.3 on the Vibe Coding Index, and MiniMax M3.1 Flash costs 2.0x less per output token ($0.60 vs $1.20 per million). Updated October 22, 2026; 13 benchmarks have a result for both.
MiniMax M3.1 Flash or Inkling Small: which to pick
Pick MiniMax M3.1 Flash for coding: it scores 59.0 on the Vibe Coding Index against 27.3 for Inkling Small.
Inkling Small is neither cheaper nor larger in context, and leads no benchmark both models were measured on.
- Shared results
- 13
- MiniMax M3.1 Flash only
- 7
- Inkling Small only
- 72
- Like-for-like categories
- 5 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
MiniMax M3.1 Flash
MiniMax M3.1 Flash scores 59.0 against 27.3.
4 benchmarks behind each score
Intelligence
AA Intelligence Index
MiniMax M3.1 Flash
MiniMax M3.1 Flash leads, 42.7 against 25.7.
Same board, both measured
Agentic work
AA Agentic Index
No call
Only Inkling Small has a AA Agentic Index result, 23.5.
Directional only
Reasoning
GPQA Diamond
No call
Only Inkling Small has a GPQA Diamond result, 83.6%.
Directional only
Knowledge
MMLU Pro
No call
Only Inkling Small has a MMLU Pro result, 85.6%.
Directional only
General
Vals Index
MiniMax M3.1 Flash
MiniMax M3.1 Flash leads, 53.8% against 27.6%.
Same board, both measured
Long documents
Listed context window
MiniMax M3.1 Flash
MiniMax M3.1 Flash takes 1M tokens against 524K.
Listed by OpenRouter
Everyday cost
1K input + 500 output tokens
MiniMax M3.1 Flash
MiniMax M3.1 Flash $0.0004, Inkling Small $0.0010 per turn.
List prices
Cost per solved task
One SWE-bench Verified task, solved
No call
Only Inkling Small has the number, $0.16.
Directional only
At a glance
- Coding index
- MiniMax M3.1 Flash 59.0 from 4 benchmarks, Inkling Small 27.3 from 4 benchmarks.
- Widest category
- Coding, 28.8 points apart on average over 6 shared benchmarks.
- Widest single gap
- Vibe Code Bench (Vals AI): MiniMax M3.1 Flash 73.9% against Inkling Small 19.1%, 54.9 points apart on a 0 to 100 scale.
- Output price
- MiniMax M3.1 Flash $0.60 against Inkling Small $1.20 per million output tokens, 2.0x apart.
- Context window
- MiniMax M3.1 Flash takes 1M 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.
| Category | MiniMax M3.1 Flash | Bars | Inkling Small | Ties |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Coding | 6 | 0 | ||
| Intelligence | 1 | 0 | ||
| Agentic work | 3 | 0 | ||
| Reasoning | 1 | 0 | ||
| General | 2 | 0 | ||
| All shared boards | 13 | 0 |
CodingLike-for-likeSix of these boards feed the Vibe Coding Index60
| Benchmark | MiniMax M3.1 Flash | Inkling Small | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| LiveBench coding | 83.9% | Not measured | Only MiniMax M3.1 Flash measured |
| LMArena WebDev | 1587 | 1409 | MiniMax M3.1 Flash |
| AA Coding Index | Not measured | 52.9 | Only Inkling Small measured |
| LiveCodeBench (Vals AI) | Not measured | 85.9% | Only Inkling Small measured |
| SWE-bench Verified (Vals AI) | Not measured | 82.2% | Only Inkling Small measured |
| Terminal-Bench 4 (Vals AI) | 25.3% | 0.0% | MiniMax M3.1 Flash |
| Vibe Code Bench (Vals AI) | 73.9% | 19.1% | MiniMax M3.1 Flash |
| Code migration (Vals AI) | Not measured | 13.7% | Only Inkling Small measured |
| ProgramBench (Vals AI) | Not measured | 0.5% | Only Inkling Small measured |
| IOI (Vals AI) | Not measured | 9.3% | Only Inkling Small measured |
| Terminal-Bench 2.1 (Vals AI) | Not measured | 55.1% | Only Inkling Small measured |
| SkillsBench (Vals AI) | Not measured | 33.6% | Only Inkling Small measured |
| CyberBench (Vals AI) | Not measured | 64.1% | Only Inkling Small measured |
| SciCode | 53.4% | 49.7% | MiniMax M3.1 Flash |
| LMArena Text: coding | Not measured | 1450 | Only Inkling Small measured |
| LMArena Text: software and IT | Not measured | 1447 | Only Inkling Small measured |
| LMArena WebDev: React | 1609 | 1399 | MiniMax M3.1 Flash |
| LMArena WebDev: HTML | 1529 | 1398 | MiniMax M3.1 Flash |
| LMArena WebDev: from an image | Not measured | 1410 | Only Inkling Small measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 24 boards here | |||
IntelligenceLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index10
| Benchmark | MiniMax M3.1 Flash | Inkling Small | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| AA Intelligence Index | 42.7 | 25.7 | MiniMax M3.1 Flash |
| Epoch Capabilities Index | Not measured | 150.3 | Only Inkling Small measured |
Agentic workLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index30
| Benchmark | MiniMax M3.1 Flash | Inkling Small | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| AA Agentic Index | Not measured | 23.5 | Only Inkling Small measured |
| LiveBench research | 72.7% | Not measured | Only MiniMax M3.1 Flash measured |
| LiveBench browser | 92.0% | Not measured | Only MiniMax M3.1 Flash measured |
| LiveBench long agentic | 34.7% | Not measured | Only MiniMax M3.1 Flash measured |
| Finance Agent (Vals AI) | Not measured | 41.3% | Only Inkling Small measured |
| Tax Agent Bench (Vals AI) | 32.1% | 15.4% | MiniMax M3.1 Flash |
| Legal Research Bench (Vals AI) | 34.1% | 25.5% | MiniMax M3.1 Flash |
| Harvey's Legal Agent Benchmark (Vals AI) | 7.5% | 2.9% | MiniMax M3.1 Flash |
| Excel Modeling Benchmark (Vals AI) | Not measured | 31.8% | Only Inkling Small measured |
| MCP Atlas | Not measured | 79.2% | Only Inkling Small measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 32 boards here | |||
ReasoningLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index10
| Benchmark | MiniMax M3.1 Flash | Inkling Small | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| GPQA Diamond | Not measured | 83.6% | Only Inkling Small measured |
| LiveBench reasoning | 82.9% | Not measured | Only MiniMax M3.1 Flash measured |
| GPQA Diamond (Artificial Analysis run) | Not measured | 89.5% | Only Inkling Small measured |
| Humanity's Last Exam (Artificial Analysis run) | 48.0% | 33.3% | MiniMax M3.1 Flash |
| GPQA Diamond (Epoch AI run) | Not measured | 88.5% | Only Inkling Small measured |
| ARC-AGI | Not measured | 84.0% | Only Inkling Small measured |
| ARC-AGI-2 | Not measured | 40.1% | Only Inkling Small measured |
| Mystery game puzzles | Not measured | 6.0% | Only Inkling Small measured |
| LMArena Text: hard prompts | Not measured | 1423 | Only Inkling Small measured |
| LMArena Text: expert | Not measured | 1441 | Only Inkling Small measured |
| LMArena Text: hard prompts in English | Not measured | 1429 | Only Inkling Small measured |
| LMArena Vision: diagrams | Not measured | 1251 | Only Inkling Small measured |
| LMArena Vision: homework | Not measured | 1257 | Only Inkling Small measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 10 boards here | |||
MathDirectional onlyPublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index6 boards, none shared
| Benchmark | MiniMax M3.1 Flash | Inkling Small | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| OTIS Mock AIME | Not measured | 90.0% | Only Inkling Small measured |
| FrontierMath, tiers 1 to 3 | Not measured | 46.3% | Only Inkling Small measured |
| FrontierMath, tier 4 | Not measured | 17.1% | Only Inkling Small measured |
| ProofBench | Not measured | 6.0% | Only Inkling Small measured |
| LMArena Text: math | Not measured | 1459 | Only Inkling Small measured |
| LMArena Text: mathematical work | Not measured | 1441 | Only Inkling Small measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 8 boards here | |||
KnowledgeDirectional onlyPublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index11 boards, none shared
| Benchmark | MiniMax M3.1 Flash | Inkling Small | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| MMLU Pro | Not measured | 85.6% | Only Inkling Small measured |
| LegalBench (Vals AI) | Not measured | 83.0% | Only Inkling Small measured |
| CorpFin (Vals AI) | Not measured | 69.6% | Only Inkling Small measured |
| TaxEval (Vals AI) | Not measured | 75.5% | Only Inkling Small measured |
| MortgageTax (Vals AI) | Not measured | 62.3% | Only Inkling Small measured |
| MedCode (Vals AI) | Not measured | 37.9% | Only Inkling Small measured |
| SimpleQA Verified | Not measured | 19.1% | Only Inkling Small measured |
| LMArena Text: science | Not measured | 1428 | Only Inkling Small measured |
| LMArena Text: medicine and healthcare | Not measured | 1413 | Only Inkling Small measured |
| LMArena Text: legal and government | Not measured | 1415 | Only Inkling Small measured |
| LMArena Text: business and finance | Not measured | 1413 | Only Inkling Small measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 9 boards here | |||
Web designDirectional onlyPublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index1 board, none shared
| Benchmark | MiniMax M3.1 Flash | Inkling Small | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| LiveBench design | 74.0% | Not measured | Only MiniMax M3.1 Flash measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 8 boards here | |||
GeneralLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index20
| Benchmark | MiniMax M3.1 Flash | Inkling Small | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| Vals Index | 53.8% | 27.6% | MiniMax M3.1 Flash |
| LiveBench data analysis | 71.4% | Not measured | Only MiniMax M3.1 Flash measured |
| Public Benefits Bench (Vals AI) | Not measured | 59.4% | Only Inkling Small measured |
| SAGE (Vals AI) | Not measured | 32.7% | Only Inkling Small measured |
| MedScribe (Vals AI) | Not measured | 84.1% | Only Inkling Small measured |
| Vals Multimodal Index | Not measured | 50.0% | Only Inkling Small measured |
| Long context reasoning (AA-LCR) | 79.7% | 75.7% | MiniMax M3.1 Flash |
| LMArena Text | Not measured | 1413 | Only Inkling Small measured |
| LMArena Text: instruction following | Not measured | 1399 | Only Inkling Small measured |
| LMArena Text: creative writing | Not measured | 1334 | Only Inkling Small measured |
| LMArena Vision | Not measured | 1237 | Only Inkling Small measured |
| LMArena Text: English | Not measured | 1421 | Only Inkling Small measured |
| LMArena Text: non-English | Not measured | 1401 | Only Inkling Small measured |
| LMArena Text: Chinese | Not measured | 1464 | Only Inkling Small measured |
| LMArena Text: German | Not measured | 1408 | Only Inkling Small measured |
| LMArena Text: Japanese | Not measured | 1401 | Only Inkling Small measured |
| LMArena Text: Korean | Not measured | 1367 | Only Inkling Small measured |
| LMArena Text: French | Not measured | 1435 | Only Inkling Small measured |
| LMArena Text: Spanish | Not measured | 1422 | Only Inkling Small measured |
| LMArena Text: Russian | Not measured | 1394 | Only Inkling Small measured |
| LMArena Text: Polish | Not measured | 1428 | Only Inkling Small measured |
| LMArena Text: multi-turn | Not measured | 1416 | Only Inkling Small measured |
| LMArena Text: longer queries | Not measured | 1402 | Only Inkling Small measured |
| LMArena Text: writing and language | Not measured | 1357 | Only Inkling Small measured |
| LMArena Text: entertainment and media | Not measured | 1352 | Only Inkling Small measured |
| LMArena Vision: English | Not measured | 1243 | Only Inkling Small measured |
| LMArena Vision: Chinese | Not measured | 1292 | Only Inkling Small measured |
| LMArena Vision: reading text | Not measured | 1243 | Only Inkling Small measured |
| LMArena Vision: humor | Not measured | 1207 | Only Inkling Small measured |
| LMArena Vision: creative writing | Not measured | 1205 | Only Inkling Small measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 18 boards here | |||
Image generationNot comparablePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index0 boards, none shared
| Benchmark | MiniMax M3.1 Flash | 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
MiniMax M3.1 Flash costs less
Repository review
50K input + 3K output tokens
MiniMax M3.1 Flash costs less
Agent loop
200K input + 10K output tokens
MiniMax M3.1 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.
| Specification | MiniMax M3.1 Flash | Thinking Machines Inkling Small |
|---|---|---|
| Maker | MiniMax | Thinking Machines |
| Weights | No public weights listed | Open weights |
| Released | October 19, 2026 | July 30, 2026 |
| Context window | 1M | 524K |
| Input $/Mtok | $0.15 | $0.45 |
| Output $/Mtok | $0.60 | $1.20 |
| Coding index | 59.0 | 27.3 |
| Independent measurements behind it | 4 | 4 |
| Cost per solved task | Not computable | $0.16 |
| Source | OpenRouter listing | OpenRouter listing |
Questions
Is MiniMax M3.1 Flash better than Inkling Small for coding?
Pick MiniMax M3.1 Flash for coding: it scores 59.0 on the Vibe Coding Index against 27.3 for Inkling Small. Inkling Small is neither cheaper nor larger in context, and leads no benchmark both models were measured on.
Which is cheaper, MiniMax M3.1 Flash or Inkling Small?
MiniMax M3.1 Flash costs $0.15 per million input tokens and $0.60 per million output tokens; Inkling Small costs $0.45 and $1.20. Cost per solved task is known for Inkling Small only.
Which has the bigger context window, MiniMax M3.1 Flash or Inkling Small?
MiniMax M3.1 Flash, with 1M tokens against 524K.
How many benchmarks is the MiniMax M3.1 Flash vs Inkling Small comparison based on?
13 benchmarks have a result for both models as of October 22, 2026. MiniMax M3.1 Flash's coding index rests on 4 independent benchmarks and Inkling Small's on 4. Where only one model has a result, the page says so instead of naming a winner.