DeepSeek-V4.1-Flash vs Inkling: Specs & Benchmark Comparison
DeepSeek-V4.1-Flash is developed by DeepSeek, while Inkling comes from Thinking Machines Lab. Inkling was released in July 2026, and DeepSeek-V4.1-Flash followed 2 months later in September 2026. Inkling is the larger model at roughly 975 billion parameters, against 552 billion for DeepSeek-V4.1-Flash.
The two models share 3 published benchmarks. DeepSeek-V4.1-Flash leads on 3 of them. The widest gaps are on Terminal-Bench 2.1, where DeepSeek-V4.1-Flash scores 90.6% against 63.8%; Humanity's Last Exam (with tools, text-only), where DeepSeek-V4.1-Flash scores 63.9% against 46.0%. Averaged across everything we track, DeepSeek-V4.1-Flash sits at 60.2% and Inkling at 61.8%.
DeepSeek-V4.1-Flash is the cheaper API at $0.30 per million input tokens and $1.20 per million output tokens, roughly 3 times cheaper than Inkling at $0.95 and $4.05. DeepSeek-V4.1-Flash takes the larger context window at 1M tokens, compared with 524K for Inkling. DeepSeek-V4.1-Flash accepts text and images as input, while Inkling accepts text, images, and audio. On tooling, only DeepSeek-V4.1-Flash supports function calling and only DeepSeek-V4.1-Flash offers structured output.
| Characteristic | DeepSeek-V4.1-Flash | Inkling |
|---|---|---|
| Company | DeepSeek | Thinking Machines Lab |
| Release Date | September 10, 2026 | July 21, 2026 |
| Parameters | 552B | 975B |
| Multimodal | Yes | Yes |
| Context (input) | 1.0M | 524K |
| Context (output) | 393K | 524K |
| Input Price / 1M | $0.30 | $0.95 |
| Output Price / 1M | $1.20 | $4.05 |
| Average Score | 60.2% | 61.8% |
| Benchmarks | ||
| Terminal-Bench 2.1 | 90.6% | 63.8% |
| Humanity's Last Exam (with tools, text-only) | 63.9% | 46.0% |
| Humanity's Last Exam (no tools, text-only) | 39.1% | 29.7% |
Visual Benchmark Comparison
Verdict
DeepSeek-V4.1-Flash leads in 3 out of 4 comparison categories.
Both models show comparable average scores: DeepSeek-V4.1-Flash — 0.6, Inkling — 0.6.
DeepSeek-V4.1-Flash is 3.3x cheaper: input $0.30/1M vs $0.95/1M tokens.
DeepSeek-V4.1-Flash supports a larger context: 1M vs 524K tokens.
DeepSeek-V4.1-Flash is newer: released 9/10/2026 vs 7/21/2026.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Which is better for coding — DeepSeek-V4.1-Flash or Inkling?
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The DeepSeek-V4.1-Flash and Inkling comparison is updated for 2026. Data includes benchmark results, API pricing, context window size and other specifications. For more detailed information, visit the DeepSeek-V4.1-Flash or Inkling page. See also the complete list of AI model comparisons.