Claude Opus 4.6 vs Inkling Small
Side-by-side API pricing and Artificial Analysis performance for Claude Opus 4.6 (Anthropic) and Inkling Small (Thinkingmachines). Green cells mark the better value in each row.
Prices updated Sep 16, 2026, 10:37 PM UTC · refreshed hourly
| Claude Opus 4.6 Anthropic | Inkling Small Thinkingmachines | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | ||
| Input $/1M | $5.00 | $0.45 |
| Output $/1M | $25.00 | $1.20 |
| Blended $/1M (3:1) | $10.00 | $0.637 |
| RAG example (30K in / 2K out) | $0.2 | $0.0159 |
| Quality & speed | ||
| Intelligence Index | 26.4 | 26.1 |
| Coding Index | — | 52.9 |
| Agentic Index | — | 25 |
| Output speed (tok/s) | 0 | — |
| Time to first token | 0s | — |
| Specs | ||
| Context window | 1M | 1.05M |
| Input modalities | text, image, file | text, image, audio |
FAQ
Which is cheaper, Claude Opus 4.6 or Inkling Small?
Inkling Small has the lower blended API price at $0.637 per 1M tokens (3:1 input:output mix), versus $10.00 for the other model. Prices are live from OpenRouter and refresh about hourly.
Which is better for RAG workloads?
For a typical RAG request (30K input / 2K output tokens), Inkling Small costs about $0.0159 per request versus $0.2. Also compare context windows: Claude Opus 4.6 offers 1M and Inkling Small offers 1.05M.
Which scores higher on Artificial Analysis benchmarks?
Claude Opus 4.6 leads on the Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index (26.4 vs 26.1). Check coding and agentic indices on this page for workload-specific tradeoffs.