ZMIME
Comparison · 2 models · Updated Nov 2, 2026

Gemini 4 Argon vs Inkling Small

Gemini 4 Argon comes out ahead, 74 to 68 on our weighted score, though Inkling Small is 5× cheaper per token.

  1. Our pick

    Google

    Gemini 4 Argon

    Released Oct 13, 2026New

    74/100
    • ECI166.1
    • Price$2.00 / $10.00
    • Context1.05M
    Full specs Remove Gemini 4 Argon

  2. Thinking Machines

    Inkling Small

    Released Jul 30, 2026

    68/100
    • ECI150.5
    • Price$0.58 / $1.44
    • Context1.05M
    Full specs Remove Inkling Small

  3. Add a model

    Make it a three-way comparison.

01 — Verdict

Gemini 4 Argon is our pick

Gemini 4 Argon is the better all-round choice, scoring 74/100 against Inkling Small (68). It leads on capability and inputs & features. Inkling Small wins on price. The score weighs capability 50%, price 25%, inputs & features 15%, context window 10%.

  • CapabilityGemini 4 ArgonCapabilities Index (ECI): Gemini 4 Argon 166.1 · Inkling Small 150.5
  • Lowest priceInkling SmallInkling Small $0.795 · Gemini 4 Argon $4.00 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
  • Longest contextAbout the sameGemini 4 Argon 1,048,576 · Inkling Small 1,048,576 tokens
  • Widest inputsGemini 4 ArgonGemini 4 Argon: Text, Images, PDFs, Audio, Video · Inkling Small: Text, Images, Audio
  • Self-hostingInkling SmallPublishes downloadable weights (Apache-2.0)
How the score is built
MeasureWeightGemini 4 ArgonInkling Small
CapabilityCapabilities Index (ECI)50%9677
Price25%2052
Inputs & features15%10070
Context window10%6161
Overall100%74/10068/100
02 — Side by side

Every spec in one table

Highlighted cells lead their row. Dashes mean the data is not published.

Gemini 4 Argon vs Inkling Small specifications side by side
SpecificationGemini 4 ArgonGoogleInkling SmallThinking Machines
Capability
Capabilities Index (ECI)166.1 (best)150.5
ECI rank#7 of 165 (best)#58 of 165
GPQA DiamondGraduate-level science questions96.4% (best)88.5%
FrontierMath Tiers 1–3Research-level mathematics86.0% (best)46.3%
OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025Competition mathematics100% (best)90.0%
SimpleQA VerifiedShort factual questions76.0% (best)19.1%
Price per million tokens
Input$2.00$0.58 (best)
Output$10.00$1.44 (best)
Cached input$0.10 (best)$0.116
Blended (3:1)$4.00$0.795 (best)
Long-context rateSame rateSame rate
Price sourceOfficial Google APIOfficial Thinking Machines API
Limits
Context window1,048,576 tokens1,048,576 tokens
Max output65,536 tokens1,048,576 tokens (best)
Inputs and features
TextYesYes
ImagesYesYes
PDFsYesNo
AudioYesYes
VideoYesNo
ReasoningYeslow · medium · highYeslow · medium · high · xhigh · max
Tool callingYesYes
Structured outputYesNo
Availability
WeightsProprietaryOpenApache-2.0
API model IDgemini-4-argonthinkingmachines/Inkling-Small
API providers24 (best)12
ReleasedOct 13, 2026Jul 30, 2026
Knowledge cutoffMar 2026—
03 — Cost

What would a month cost?

Enter your expected volume in millions of tokens. List prices only; caching and batch discounts would lower these.

  • Gemini 4 Argon$40.00
  • Inkling Small$8.68
04 — Questions

Which should you choose?

Which is better: Gemini 4 Argon or Inkling Small?

Gemini 4 Argon is the better all-round choice, scoring 74/100 against Inkling Small (68). It leads on capability and inputs & features. Inkling Small wins on price. The score weighs capability 50%, price 25%, inputs & features 15%, context window 10%.

Which is cheaper, Gemini 4 Argon or Inkling Small?

Inkling Small is cheaper at $0.58 input / $1.44 output per million tokens (official Thinking Machines API price). Gemini 4 Argon costs $2.00 input / $10.00 output per million tokens (official Google API price). At a typical mix of three input tokens to one output token, that is $0.795 per million tokens for Inkling Small versus $4.00 for Gemini 4 Argon (5× as much).

Which scores higher on benchmarks?

Gemini 4 Argon scores higher on the Capabilities Index (ECI): Gemini 4 Argon 166.1 (#7 of 165) and Inkling Small 150.5 (#58 of 165). Their confidence ranges do not overlap (163.1–170.3 vs 147.7–152.4), so the gap is a real one. On individual benchmarks: GPQA Diamond — Gemini 4 Argon 96.4%, Inkling Small 88.5%; FrontierMath Tiers 1–3 — Gemini 4 Argon 86.0%, Inkling Small 46.3%; OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025 — Gemini 4 Argon 100%, Inkling Small 90.0%; SimpleQA Verified — Gemini 4 Argon 76.0%, Inkling Small 19.1%.

Which is better for coding?

There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for Gemini 4 Argon and Inkling Small yet, so there is no like-for-like coding score. On overall capability, Gemini 4 Argon leads, which tends to carry over to coding, but test on your own codebase. Both support tool calling for agent workflows.

Which has the bigger context window?

Gemini 4 Argon and Inkling Small share the same 1,048,576-token context window. Maximum output per response: Gemini 4 Argon up to 65,536, Inkling Small up to 1,048,576 tokens.

Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?

Gemini 4 Argon accepts text, images, PDFs, audio and video; Inkling Small accepts text, images and audio. Gemini 4 Argon handles the widest range of inputs.

Are any of these open source?

Inkling Small publishes its weights (Apache-2.0) and can be self-hosted; Gemini 4 Argon is proprietary.

Which is newer?

Gemini 4 Argon is the newest, released Oct 13, 2026. Inkling Small came out Jul 30, 2026. Knowledge cutoff: Gemini 4 Argon Mar 2026.

How do you decide the winner?

Each model gets a 0–100 score on capability (50%, independent benchmark results); price (25%, blended price per million tokens (3 input : 1 output), log scale); inputs & features (15%, image, PDF, audio and video input, tool calling, structured output and reasoning); context window (10%, maximum tokens per request, log scale). Dimensions missing for any model are dropped and the remaining weights rescaled, so every model is judged on the same evidence. Specs and prices come from public model listings and the labs’ own API pages; capability scores come from independent benchmark runs. Data updated Nov 2, 2026.

05 — Keep comparing

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