Nemotron 3 Ultra vs Inkling Small
Nemotron 3 Ultra leads Inkling Small on coding, 30.0 to 27.3 on the Vibe Coding Index, and Inkling Small costs 2.0x less per output token ($1.20 vs $2.40 per million). Updated October 23, 2026; 55 benchmarks have a result for both.
Nemotron 3 Ultra or Inkling Small: which to pick
Pick Nemotron 3 Ultra for coding: it scores 30.0 on the Vibe Coding Index against 27.3 for Inkling Small, though on 3 benchmarks against 4.
Pick Inkling Small for output tokens 2.0x cheaper ($1.20 vs $2.40 per million) and a larger context window (524K against 262K tokens).
- Shared results
- 55
- Nemotron 3 Ultra only
- 16
- Inkling Small only
- 30
- 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
Nemotron 3 Ultra
Nemotron 3 Ultra scores 30.0 against 27.3.
3 and 4 benchmarks behind the scores
Intelligence
AA Intelligence Index
Inkling Small
Inkling Small leads, 25.7 against 22.9.
Same board, both measured
Agentic work
AA Agentic Index
Inkling Small
Inkling Small leads, 23.5 against 20.1.
Same board, both measured
Reasoning
GPQA Diamond
Nemotron 3 Ultra
Nemotron 3 Ultra leads, 86.1% against 83.6%.
Same board, both measured
Knowledge
MMLU Pro
Nemotron 3 Ultra
Nemotron 3 Ultra leads, 85.8% against 85.6%.
Same board, both measured
Web design
Design Arena: websites
No call
Only Nemotron 3 Ultra has a Design Arena: websites result, 1145.
Directional only
General
Vals Index
No call
Only Inkling Small has a Vals Index result, 27.6%.
Directional only
Long documents
Listed context window
Inkling Small
Inkling Small takes 524K tokens against 262K.
Listed by OpenRouter
Everyday cost
1K input + 500 output tokens
Inkling Small
Nemotron 3 Ultra $0.0018, 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
- Nemotron 3 Ultra 30.0 from 3 benchmarks, Inkling Small 27.3 from 4 benchmarks.
- Widest category
- Agentic work, 6.6 points apart on average over 5 shared benchmarks.
- Widest single gap
- MCP Atlas: Nemotron 3 Ultra 63.1% against Inkling Small 79.2%, 16.1 points apart on a 0 to 100 scale.
- Output price
- Nemotron 3 Ultra $2.40 against Inkling Small $1.20 per million output tokens, 2.0x apart.
- Context window
- Nemotron 3 Ultra takes 262K 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 | Nemotron 3 Ultra | Bars | Inkling Small | Ties |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Coding | 3 | 7 | ||
| Intelligence | 0 | 2 | ||
| Agentic work | 0 | 5 | ||
| Reasoning | 5 | 3 | ||
| Math | 1 | 3 | ||
| Knowledge | 6 | 3 | ||
| General | 15 | 2 | ||
| All shared boards | 30 | 25 |
CodingLike-for-likeSix of these boards feed the Vibe Coding Index37
| Benchmark | Nemotron 3 Ultra | Inkling Small | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| LMArena WebDev | Not measured | 1409 | Only Inkling Small measured |
| AA Coding Index | 49.3 | 52.9 | Inkling Small |
| LiveCodeBench (Vals AI) | 86.0% | 85.9% | Nemotron 3 Ultra |
| SWE-bench Verified (Vals AI) | 69.0% | 82.2% | Inkling Small |
| Terminal-Bench 4 (Vals AI) | Not measured | 0.0% | Only Inkling Small measured |
| Vibe Code Bench (Vals AI) | 7.6% | 19.1% | Inkling Small |
| Code migration (Vals AI) | 4.9% | 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) | 50.9% | 55.1% | Inkling Small |
| SkillsBench (Vals AI) | Not measured | 33.6% | Only Inkling Small measured |
| CyberBench (Vals AI) | Not measured | 64.1% | Only Inkling Small measured |
| SciCode | 40.3% | 49.7% | Inkling Small |
| Terminal-Bench Hard (Artificial Analysis run) | 36.4% | Not measured | Only Nemotron 3 Ultra measured |
| FrontierCode | 13.6% | Not measured | Only Nemotron 3 Ultra measured |
| WeirdML | 43.5% | Not measured | Only Nemotron 3 Ultra measured |
| LMArena Text: coding | 1467 | 1449 | Nemotron 3 Ultra |
| LMArena Text: software and IT | 1468 | 1447 | Nemotron 3 Ultra |
| LMArena WebDev: React | Not measured | 1399 | Only Inkling Small measured |
| LMArena WebDev: HTML | Not measured | 1397 | Only Inkling Small measured |
| LMArena WebDev: from an image | Not measured | 1410 | Only Inkling Small measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 22 boards here | |||
IntelligenceLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index02
| Benchmark | Nemotron 3 Ultra | Inkling Small | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| AA Intelligence Index | 22.9 | 25.7 | Inkling Small |
| Epoch Capabilities Index | 146.0 | 150.3 | Inkling Small |
Agentic workLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index05
| Benchmark | Nemotron 3 Ultra | Inkling Small | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| AA Agentic Index | 20.1 | 23.5 | Inkling Small |
| Finance Agent (Vals AI) | 37.7% | 41.3% | Inkling Small |
| Tax Agent Bench (Vals AI) | Not measured | 15.4% | Only Inkling Small measured |
| Legal Research Bench (Vals AI) | 15.4% | 25.5% | Inkling Small |
| Harvey's Legal Agent Benchmark (Vals AI) | Not measured | 2.9% | Only Inkling Small measured |
| Excel Modeling Benchmark (Vals AI) | 31.7% | 31.8% | Inkling Small |
| τ²-Bench Telecom | 83.3% | Not measured | Only Nemotron 3 Ultra measured |
| APEX-Agents | 22.7% | Not measured | Only Nemotron 3 Ultra measured |
| MCP Atlas | 63.1% | 79.2% | Inkling Small |
| Neither model has a result on the other 33 boards here | |||
ReasoningLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index53
| Benchmark | Nemotron 3 Ultra | Inkling Small | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| GPQA Diamond | 86.1% | 83.6% | Nemotron 3 Ultra |
| GPQA Diamond (Artificial Analysis run) | 86.7% | 89.5% | Inkling Small |
| Humanity's Last Exam (Artificial Analysis run) | 28.4% | 33.3% | Inkling Small |
| GPQA Diamond (Epoch AI run) | 85.4% | 88.5% | Inkling Small |
| ARC-AGI | Not measured | 84.0% | Only Inkling Small measured |
| ARC-AGI-2 | Not measured | 40.1% | Only Inkling Small measured |
| Mystery game puzzles | 20.0% | 6.0% | Nemotron 3 Ultra |
| LMArena Text: hard prompts | 1452 | 1423 | Nemotron 3 Ultra |
| LMArena Text: expert | 1472 | 1440 | Nemotron 3 Ultra |
| LMArena Text: hard prompts in English | 1453 | 1428 | Nemotron 3 Ultra |
| 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 11 boards here | |||
MathLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index13
| Benchmark | Nemotron 3 Ultra | Inkling Small | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| OTIS Mock AIME | 86.7% | 90.0% | Inkling Small |
| 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 | 2.0% | 6.0% | Inkling Small |
| LMArena Text: math | 1457 | 1459 | Inkling Small |
| LMArena Text: mathematical work | 1462 | 1440 | Nemotron 3 Ultra |
| Neither model has a result on the other 8 boards here | |||
KnowledgeLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index63
| Benchmark | Nemotron 3 Ultra | Inkling Small | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| MMLU Pro | 85.8% | 85.6% | Nemotron 3 Ultra |
| LegalBench (Vals AI) | 82.1% | 83.0% | Inkling Small |
| CorpFin (Vals AI) | 65.5% | 69.6% | Inkling Small |
| TaxEval (Vals AI) | 73.1% | 75.5% | Inkling Small |
| MortgageTax (Vals AI) | Not measured | 62.3% | Only Inkling Small measured |
| MedCode (Vals AI) | 38.6% | 37.9% | Nemotron 3 Ultra |
| SimpleQA Verified | Not measured | 19.1% | Only Inkling Small measured |
| LMArena Text: science | 1465 | 1427 | Nemotron 3 Ultra |
| LMArena Text: medicine and healthcare | 1455 | 1413 | Nemotron 3 Ultra |
| LMArena Text: legal and government | 1453 | 1415 | Nemotron 3 Ultra |
| LMArena Text: business and finance | 1435 | 1412 | Nemotron 3 Ultra |
| Neither model has a result on the other 9 boards here | |||
Web designDirectional onlyPublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index8 boards, none shared
| Benchmark | Nemotron 3 Ultra | Inkling Small | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| Design Arena: websites | 1145 | Not measured | Only Nemotron 3 Ultra measured |
| Design Arena: UI components | 1135 | Not measured | Only Nemotron 3 Ultra measured |
| Design Arena: game dev | 1138 | Not measured | Only Nemotron 3 Ultra measured |
| Design Arena: data viz | 1142 | Not measured | Only Nemotron 3 Ultra measured |
| Design Arena: 3D | 1132 | Not measured | Only Nemotron 3 Ultra measured |
| Design Arena: all code categories | 1146 | Not measured | Only Nemotron 3 Ultra measured |
| Design Arena: SVG | 1069 | Not measured | Only Nemotron 3 Ultra measured |
| Design Arena: ASCII art | 1100 | Not measured | Only Nemotron 3 Ultra measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 1 board here | |||
GeneralLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index152
| Benchmark | Nemotron 3 Ultra | Inkling Small | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| Vals Index | Not measured | 27.6% | Only Inkling Small 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 |
| IFBench | 81.4% | Not measured | Only Nemotron 3 Ultra measured |
| Long context reasoning (AA-LCR) | 79.3% | 75.7% | Nemotron 3 Ultra |
| DTBench | 90.1% | Not measured | Only Nemotron 3 Ultra measured |
| LMCA | 36.9% | Not measured | Only Nemotron 3 Ultra measured |
| LMArena Text | 1445 | 1413 | Nemotron 3 Ultra |
| LMArena Text: instruction following | 1418 | 1399 | Nemotron 3 Ultra |
| LMArena Text: creative writing | 1398 | 1334 | Nemotron 3 Ultra |
| LMArena Vision | Not measured | 1237 | Only Inkling Small measured |
| LMArena Text: English | 1454 | 1421 | Nemotron 3 Ultra |
| LMArena Text: non-English | 1427 | 1401 | Nemotron 3 Ultra |
| LMArena Text: Chinese | 1498 | 1463 | Nemotron 3 Ultra |
| LMArena Text: German | 1474 | 1409 | Nemotron 3 Ultra |
| LMArena Text: Japanese | Not measured | 1399 | Only Inkling Small measured |
| LMArena Text: Korean | 1385 | 1371 | Nemotron 3 Ultra |
| LMArena Text: French | 1473 | 1434 | Nemotron 3 Ultra |
| LMArena Text: Spanish | 1454 | 1425 | Nemotron 3 Ultra |
| LMArena Text: Russian | 1417 | 1394 | Nemotron 3 Ultra |
| LMArena Text: Polish | 1385 | 1426 | Inkling Small |
| LMArena Text: multi-turn | 1411 | 1416 | Inkling Small |
| LMArena Text: longer queries | 1437 | 1402 | Nemotron 3 Ultra |
| LMArena Text: writing and language | 1405 | 1357 | Nemotron 3 Ultra |
| LMArena Text: entertainment and media | 1397 | 1352 | Nemotron 3 Ultra |
| 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 16 boards here | |||
Image generationNot comparablePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index0 boards, none shared
| Benchmark | Nemotron 3 Ultra | 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
Inkling Small costs less
Repository review
50K input + 3K output tokens
Inkling Small costs less
Agent loop
200K input + 10K output tokens
Inkling Small 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 | NVIDIA Nemotron 3 Ultra | Thinking Machines Inkling Small |
|---|---|---|
| Maker | NVIDIA | Thinking Machines |
| Weights | Open weights | Open weights |
| Released | June 4, 2026 | July 30, 2026 |
| Context window | 262K | 524K |
| Input $/Mtok | $0.60 | $0.45 |
| Output $/Mtok | $2.40 | $1.20 |
| Coding index | 30.0 | 27.3 |
| Independent measurements behind it | 3 | 4 |
| Cost per solved task | Not computable | $0.16 |
| Source | OpenRouter listing | OpenRouter listing |
Questions
Is Nemotron 3 Ultra better than Inkling Small for coding?
Pick Nemotron 3 Ultra for coding: it scores 30.0 on the Vibe Coding Index against 27.3 for Inkling Small, though on 3 benchmarks against 4. Pick Inkling Small for output tokens 2.0x cheaper ($1.20 vs $2.40 per million) and a larger context window (524K against 262K tokens).
Which is cheaper, Nemotron 3 Ultra or Inkling Small?
Nemotron 3 Ultra costs $0.60 per million input tokens and $2.40 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, Nemotron 3 Ultra or Inkling Small?
Inkling Small, with 524K tokens against 262K.
How many benchmarks is the Nemotron 3 Ultra vs Inkling Small comparison based on?
55 benchmarks have a result for both models as of October 23, 2026. Nemotron 3 Ultra'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.