Inference.net lists 2 models and Thinking Machines 6. Inference.net is cheaper on a typical model ($0.08 per 1M tokens median). Below: line-up, price tiers, the cheapest model for each capability, and what each costs for five real workloads.
| Inference.net | Thinking Machines | |
|---|---|---|
| Models listed | 2 | 6 |
| Models with published pricing | 2 | 6 |
| Typical price (median, 3:1 blend per 1M) | $0.08 | $1.22 |
| Cheapest paid model | Inference.net: Schematron V2 Turbo ($0.06) | Thinking Machines: Inkling Small ($0.64) |
| Longest context | Inference.net: Schematron V2 Small (128K) | Thinking Machines: Inkling (free) (1.0M) |
| Free models | 0 | 2 |
| Newest model | Inference.net: Schematron V2 Small (2026-09-12) | Thinking Machines: Inkling Small (2026-07-30) |
| Price changes in the last 90 days | 0 | 8 |
For each workload: the cheapest model from each provider that can actually do it (fits the context window; tool calling required for the agent), and its monthly cost at list price.
| Workload (per month) | Inference.net | Thinking Machines |
|---|---|---|
| Customer-support chatbot 50,000 conversations — each a 6-turn conversation | $5.25 with Inference.net: Schematron V2 Turbo | $57.75 with Thinking Machines: Inkling Small |
| RAG search over documents 20,000 questions — each a question answered from ~8 retrieved passages | $5.10 with Inference.net: Schematron V2 Turbo | $66.00 with Thinking Machines: Inkling Small |
| Coding / tool-using agent 2,000 tasks — each a multi-step task with tool calls and file context | no suitable model | $68.40 with Thinking Machines: Inkling Small |
| Batch summarisation 10,000 documents — each a 6,000-word report summarised to a page | $3.30 with Inference.net: Schematron V2 Turbo | $43.20 with Thinking Machines: Inkling Small |
| Long-document analysis 500 documents — each a 150-page contract or codebase read in one pass | $1.65 with Inference.net: Schematron V2 Turbo | $23.70 with Thinking Machines: Inkling Small |
| You need | Inference.net | Thinking Machines |
|---|---|---|
| Any model | Inference.net: Schematron V2 Turbo ($0.06) | Thinking Machines: Inkling Small ($0.64) |
| With tool calling | none listed | Thinking Machines: Inkling Small ($0.64) |
| With image input | none listed | Thinking Machines: Inkling Small ($0.64) |
| With reasoning mode | none listed | Thinking Machines: Inkling Small ($0.64) |
| 128K+ context | Inference.net: Schematron V2 Turbo ($0.06) | Thinking Machines: Inkling Small ($0.64) |
| 1M+ context | none listed | none listed |
| Model type | Inference.net | Thinking Machines |
|---|---|---|
| text+image+audio->text | 0 | 6 |
| text->text | 2 | 0 |
| Price per 1M (3:1 blend) | Inference.net | Thinking Machines |
|---|---|---|
| Free | 0 | 2 |
| Under $0.50 | 2 | 0 |
| $0.50 – $3 | 0 | 4 |
| $3 – $10 | 0 | 0 |
| $10 and up | 0 | 0 |
Inference.net is cheaper on a typical model: a median of $0.08 per 1M tokens (3:1 input/output) against $1.22 for Thinking Machines. The cheapest paid models are Inference.net: Schematron V2 Turbo at $0.06 and Thinking Machines: Inkling Small at $0.64.
It depends on the job: Thinking Machines offers the broader line-up (2 models vs 6), Inference.net the lower typical price, Thinking Machines the longest context (1.0M tokens). The workload table above shows which wins for chat, RAG, agents, batch jobs and long documents.
Thinking Machines: Inference.net lists 2 models and Thinking Machines lists 6.
Thinking Machines: Inference.net's longest is Inference.net: Schematron V2 Small at 128K tokens; Thinking Machines's is Thinking Machines: Inkling (free) at 1.0M.
Inference.net: none. Thinking Machines: 2 free models (e.g. Thinking Machines: Inkling (free)).
Inference.net: 0 of 2 models accept images. Thinking Machines: 6 of 6.