Inkling vs GPT-5.2
Too close to call on our weighted score (GPT-5.2 61, Inkling 59). The right pick depends on what you value most.
Too close to call
It is close. Our weighted score puts them within 2 points (GPT-5.2 61/100, Inkling 59/100), so choose by what matters most for your work: GPT-5.2 for raw capability and Inkling for long inputs. The score weighs capability 50%, price 25%, inputs & features 15%, context window 10%.
- CapabilityGPT-5.2Capabilities Index (ECI): GPT-5.2 153.5 · Inkling 148.6
- Lowest priceGPT-5.2GPT-5.2 $4.81 · Inkling $5.14 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
- Longest contextInklingInkling 1,048,576 · GPT-5.2 400,000 tokens
- Widest inputsInklingInkling: Text, Images, Audio · GPT-5.2: Text, Images
- Self-hostingInklingPublishes downloadable weights (Apache-2.0)
| Measure | Weight | Inkling | GPT-5.2 |
|---|---|---|---|
| CapabilityCapabilities Index (ECI) | 50% | 76 | 83 |
| Price | 25% | 16 | 18 |
| Inputs & features | 15% | 70 | 70 |
| Context window | 10% | 61 | 44 |
| Overall | 100% | 59/100 | 61/100 |
Every spec in one table
Highlighted cells lead their row. Dashes mean the data is not published.
| Specification |  InklingThinking Machines |  GPT-5.2OpenAI |
|---|---|---|
| Capability | ||
| Capabilities Index (ECI) | 148.6 | 153.5 (best) |
| ECI rank | #57 of 148 | #38 of 148 (best) |
| GPQA DiamondGraduate-level science questions | 88.3% | 91.4% (best) |
| FrontierMath Tiers 1–3Research-level mathematics | 33.3% | 67.4% (best) |
| OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025Competition mathematics | 88.9% | 96.1% (best) |
| SWE-bench VerifiedFixing real GitHub issues | — | 73.8% |
| SimpleQA VerifiedShort factual questions | 40.3% (best) | 37.1% |
| Price per million tokens | ||
| Input | $3.74 | $1.75 (best) |
| Output | $9.36 (best) | $14.00 |
| Cached input | $0.748 | $0.175 (best) |
| Blended (3:1) | $5.14 | $4.81 (best) |
| Long-context rate | Same rate | Same rate |
| Price source | Official Thinking Machines API | Official OpenAI API |
| Limits | ||
| Context window | 1,048,576 tokens (best) | 400,000 tokens |
| Max output | 1,048,576 tokens (best) | 128,000 tokens |
| Inputs and features | ||
| Text | Yes | Yes |
| Images | Yes | Yes |
| PDFs | No | No |
| Audio | Yes | No |
| Video | No | No |
| Reasoning | Yeslow · medium · high · xhigh · max | Yeslow · medium · high · xhigh |
| Tool calling | Yes | Yes |
| Structured output | No | Yes |
| Availability | ||
| Weights | OpenApache-2.0 | Proprietary |
| API model ID | thinkingmachines/Inkling:peft:262144 | gpt-5.2 |
| API providers | 23 (best) | 21 |
| Released | Jul 15, 2026 | Dec 11, 2025 |
| Knowledge cutoff | — | Aug 31, 2025 |
What would a month cost?
Enter your expected volume in millions of tokens. List prices only; caching and batch discounts would lower these.
- Inkling$56.12
- GPT-5.2$45.50
Which should you choose?
Which is better: Inkling or GPT-5.2?
It is close. Our weighted score puts them within 2 points (GPT-5.2 61/100, Inkling 59/100), so choose by what matters most for your work: GPT-5.2 for raw capability and Inkling for long inputs. The score weighs capability 50%, price 25%, inputs & features 15%, context window 10%.
Which is cheaper, Inkling or GPT-5.2?
GPT-5.2 is cheaper at $1.75 input / $14.00 output per million tokens (official OpenAI API price). Inkling costs $3.74 input / $9.36 output per million tokens (official Thinking Machines API price). At a typical mix of three input tokens to one output token, that is $4.81 per million tokens for GPT-5.2 versus $5.14 for Inkling (1.1× as much).
Which scores higher on benchmarks?
GPT-5.2 scores higher on the Capabilities Index (ECI): GPT-5.2 153.5 (#38 of 148) and Inkling 148.6 (#57 of 148). Their confidence ranges do not overlap (151.7–155.4 vs 145.7–150.6), so the gap is a real one. On individual benchmarks: GPQA Diamond — GPT-5.2 91.4%, Inkling 88.3%; FrontierMath Tiers 1–3 — GPT-5.2 67.4%, Inkling 33.3%; OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025 — GPT-5.2 96.1%, Inkling 88.9%; SimpleQA Verified — Inkling 40.3%, GPT-5.2 37.1%.
Which is better for coding?
There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for Inkling yet, so there is no like-for-like coding score. On overall capability, GPT-5.2 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?
Inkling has the largest context window at 1,048,576 tokens, against 400,000 for GPT-5.2. Maximum output per response: Inkling up to 1,048,576, GPT-5.2 up to 128,000 tokens.
Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?
Inkling accepts text, images and audio; GPT-5.2 accepts text and images. Inkling handles the widest range of inputs.
Are any of these open source?
Inkling publishes its weights (Apache-2.0) and can be self-hosted; GPT-5.2 is proprietary.
Which is newer?
Inkling is the newest, released Jul 15, 2026. GPT-5.2 came out Dec 11, 2025. Knowledge cutoff: GPT-5.2 Aug 31, 2025.
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 Oct 4, 2026.
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