Inkling-Small vs Kimi K2.6
Wins 1 of 8 areas
Following instructions
Wins 6 of 8 areas
Coding · Reasoning · Facts · Images and charts · Math · Long documents
Kimi K2.6 is the stronger all-rounder.Inkling-Small is cheaper and better at following instructions.
Scores updated · 38 tests both models report · How we compare
Where each one wins
Tests won in each of the eight areas we test. Each piece is one test, so a longer bar means more evidence; grey means the two scored within a point of each other.
- CodingWriting and fixing software04Kimi K2.64 of 5 tests · 1 tie
- MathCompetition and research-level math03Kimi K2.63 of 4 tests · 1 tie
- Images and chartsUnderstanding pictures, charts and video03Kimi K2.63 of 3 tests
- ReasoningHard problems that need careful thinking02Kimi K2.62 of 3 tests · 1 tie
- FactsGetting facts right instead of making them up02Kimi K2.62 of 3 tests · 1 tie
- Long documentsFinding answers in very long texts01Kimi K2.61 of 1 test
- Following instructionsDoing exactly what it is asked10Inkling-Small1 of 1 test
- AgentsCarrying out multi-step tasks on its own22Even2 each · 1 tie
Long documents and following instructions rest on a single test each.
What it costs
Prices per million tokens, roughly 750,000 words. The bars show the cost of a million tokens read plus a million written.
Inkling-Small costs 70% less for the same work.
The biggest differences
The three tests each model wins by the widest margin. Scores are out of 100.
Where Kimi K2.6 pulls ahead
- Avoids making up answers it doesn't knowAA-Omniscience · Non-hallucination+22.5points ahead
- Short factual questions, answered correctlySimpleQA Verified+14.3points ahead
- Unpublished advanced math problemsFrontierMath Tiers 1-3 (v2)+10.9points ahead
Every test, side by side
All 38 tests both models report. The winning score is in its model's colour; marks a score checked independently.
CodingKimi K2.6
- Terminal-Bench 2.1Kimi K2.6 by 10.855.165.9+10.8
- LMArena · WebDevKimi K2.6 by 100 rating points14091509+100 rating
- SWE-bench ProKimi K2.6 by 2.755.958.6+2.7
- SciCodeKimi K2.6 by 1.849.751.5+1.8
- SWE-bench Verifiedtie80.280.2tie
AgentsEven
- MCP AtlasInkling-Small by 11.579.668.1+11.5
- BrowseCompKimi K2.6 by 8.977.486.3+8.9
- τ-Bench V3 · BankingKimi K2.6 by 4.518.823.3+4.5
- GDPValInkling-Small by 4.231.227+4.2
- Terminal-Bench 4.0tie10.5tie
ReasoningKimi K2.6
- Humanity's Last ExamKimi K2.6 by 4.233.337.5+4.2
- GPQA DiamondKimi K2.6 by 1.689.591.1+1.6
- CritPttie8.38tie
FactsKimi K2.6
- AA-Omniscience · Non-hallucinationKimi K2.6 by 22.53759.5+22.5
- SimpleQA VerifiedKimi K2.6 by 14.320.634.9+14.3
- AA-Omniscience · Accuracytie33.232.6tie
Images and chartsKimi K2.6
- CharXiv (RQ)Kimi K2.6 by 9.377.486.7+9.3
- MMMU-ProKimi K2.6 by 5.47479.4+5.4
- LMArena · VisionKimi K2.6 by 48 rating points12341282+48 rating
MathKimi K2.6
- FrontierMath Tiers 1-3 (v2)Kimi K2.6 by 10.946.357.2+10.9
- FrontierMath Tier 4Kimi K2.6 by 8.517.125.6+8.5
- HMMT Feb. 2026Kimi K2.6 by 2.590.292.7+2.5
- AIME 2026tie95.596.4tie
Following instructionsInkling-Small
- IFBenchInkling-Small by 6.282.276+6.2
Other results13 tests, not counted
Tests outside the eight areas. They are not counted above: several are summary scores built from other tests, or the same test under another name.
- AA-OmniscienceKimi K2.6 by 14.2-8.95.3+14.2
- Artificial Analysis Coding IndexKimi K2.6 by 8.952.961.8+8.9
- HLE (with tools)Kimi K2.6 by 6.247.854+6.2
- charxiv_rq_with_pythonKimi K2.6 by 5.481.386.7+5.4
- τ³-Bench BankingKimi K2.6 by 5.115.520.6+5.1
- GDPval-AA v2Inkling-Small by 48 rating points12381190+48 rating
- ToolathlonInkling-Small by 4.454.450+4.4
- AA Agentic IndexInkling-Small by 2.92522.1+2.9
- SWEBench Pro PublicKimi K2.6 by 2.755.958.6+2.7
- Global-MMLU-LiteKimi K2.6 by 1.786.788.4+1.7
- StrongREJECTKimi K2.6 by 1.498.499.8+1.4
- AA IntelligenceKimi K2.6 by 1.325.727+1.3
- Prophet Arenatie0.10.1tie
Questions people ask
Which is better, Inkling-Small or Kimi K2.6?
Kimi K2.6 wins six of the eight areas we test: coding, reasoning, facts, images and charts, math and long documents. Inkling-Small wins following instructions, and costs 70% less. They are level on agents.
Which is better for coding?
Kimi K2.6. It wins 4 of the 5 coding tests both models report; Inkling-Small wins none, and 1 is a tie.
Which is cheaper?
Inkling-Small costs $0.30 per million input tokens and $1.20 per million output tokens; Kimi K2.6 costs $0.95 and $4.00. That makes Inkling-Small about 70% cheaper for the same work.
How do you compare the two?
We use the 38 benchmark tests both models have published scores on. The verdict counts the 25 tests in the eight capability areas, and a gap under one point (ten on rating-style scales) counts as a tie. The other 13 are listed but not counted, because several are summary scores or repeat a test. Each score is the one shown on the model's own page.