Choose AionLabs: Aion 3.5 Mini if…
- you need structured output (JSON schema) — to return JSON that validates against your schema; Thinking Machines: Inkling Small (batch) does not advertise it
AionLabs: Aion 3.5 Mini vs Thinking Machines: Inkling Small (batch)
Neither wins outright: AionLabs: Aion 3.5 Mini is the pick when you need structured output (JSON schema), Thinking Machines: Inkling Small (batch) when cost matters at scale.
Key numbers
| Spec | AionLabs: Aion 3.5 Mini | Thinking Machines: Inkling Small (batch) |
|---|---|---|
| Provider | Aion Labs | Thinkingmachines |
| Input price (per 1M tokens) | $0.70 | $0.50 |
| Output price (per 1M tokens) | $1.40 | $1.20 |
| Blended price (3:1 input/output) | $0.87 | $0.68 |
| Cheaper than … of all models we track | 42% | 48% |
| Context window | 262K tokens (~393 pages) | 524K tokens (~786 pages) |
| Larger context than … of all models | 47% | 68% |
| Max output per response | 33K tokens (~24,600 words) | 472K tokens (~353,900 words) |
| Input types | text | text, image, audio |
| Output types | text | text |
| Free variant | No | No |
| Listed since | 2026-09-23 | 2026-07-30 |
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What it costs for real workloads
Monthly cost at list price for five common workloads. Token counts per unit are stated so you can scale them to your own traffic. A workload that does not fit a model's context window is marked rather than priced.
| Workload (per month) | AionLabs: Aion 3.5 Mini | Thinking Machines: Inkling Small (batch) | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Customer-support chatbot 50,000 conversations — each a 6-turn conversation (1,500 in / 400 out tokens) | $80.50 | $61.50 | Thinking Machines: Inkling Small (batch) saves $19.00 |
| RAG search over documents 20,000 questions — each a question answered from ~8 retrieved passages (6,000 in / 500 out tokens) | $98.00 | $72.00 | Thinking Machines: Inkling Small (batch) saves $26.00 |
| Coding / tool-using agent 2,000 tasks — each a multi-step task with tool calls and file context (60,000 in / 6,000 out tokens) | $101 | $74.40 | Thinking Machines: Inkling Small (batch) saves $26.40 |
| Batch summarisation 10,000 documents — each a 6,000-word report summarised to a page (8,000 in / 600 out tokens) | $64.40 | $47.20 | Thinking Machines: Inkling Small (batch) saves $17.20 |
| Long-document analysis 500 documents — each a 150-page contract or codebase read in one pass (100,000 in / 2,000 out tokens) | $36.40 | $26.20 | Thinking Machines: Inkling Small (batch) saves $10.20 |
Capabilities side by side
| Capability | AionLabs: Aion 3.5 Mini | Thinking Machines: Inkling Small (batch) | What it lets you do |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tool / function calling | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes | call your APIs and run agent loops |
| Structured output (JSON schema) | ✓ Yes | — | return JSON that validates against your schema |
| Reasoning / thinking mode | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes | spend extra tokens thinking before answering hard problems |
| Image input | — | ✓ Yes | read screenshots, charts and scanned pages |
| Audio input | — | ✓ Yes | take speech or audio directly |
| File / PDF input | — | — | accept documents without your own parsing step |
| Image output | — | — | generate images, not just text |
| Built-in web search | — | — | answer from live web results |
| Seed (reproducible sampling) | — | — | repeat a generation for tests and evals |
| Log-probabilities | — | ✓ Yes | read token confidence for classification and scoring |
From each model's published parameters and input/output types. “—” means not advertised, not proven absent.
Price history
- AionLabs: Aion 3.5 Mini: price unchanged since we started tracking it on 2026-09-24.
- Thinking Machines: Inkling Small (batch): price unchanged since we started tracking it on 2026-08-29.
Which should you choose?
Choose Thinking Machines: Inkling Small (batch) if…
- cost matters at scale — it is 23% cheaper on a typical 3:1 input/output mix ($61.50 vs $80.50 a month for 50,000 support chats)
- you need to fit long inputs in one request — 524K tokens is roughly 786 pages, against 393
- you need image input — to read screenshots, charts and scanned pages; AionLabs: Aion 3.5 Mini does not advertise it
- you need audio input — to take speech or audio directly; AionLabs: Aion 3.5 Mini does not advertise it
- you need log-probabilities — to read token confidence for classification and scoring; AionLabs: Aion 3.5 Mini does not advertise it
- you generate long outputs in one go — up to 472K tokens (about 353,900 words) per response
Frequently asked questions
Is AionLabs: Aion 3.5 Mini better than Thinking Machines: Inkling Small (batch)?
Neither wins outright: AionLabs: Aion 3.5 Mini is the pick when you need structured output (JSON schema), Thinking Machines: Inkling Small (batch) when cost matters at scale. In short: AionLabs: Aion 3.5 Mini when you need structured output (JSON schema); Thinking Machines: Inkling Small (batch) when cost matters at scale, you need to fit long inputs in one request, you need image input, you need audio input, you need log-probabilities, you generate long outputs in one go.
Which is cheaper, AionLabs: Aion 3.5 Mini or Thinking Machines: Inkling Small (batch)?
Thinking Machines: Inkling Small (batch) is cheaper: $0.68 vs $0.87 per 1M tokens at a typical 3:1 input/output mix, 23% less. For 50,000 support conversations a month that is $61.50 against $80.50.
How much do AionLabs: Aion 3.5 Mini and Thinking Machines: Inkling Small (batch) cost per million tokens?
AionLabs: Aion 3.5 Mini costs $0.70 per 1M input tokens and $1.40 per 1M output tokens; Thinking Machines: Inkling Small (batch) costs $0.50 input and $1.20 output. Output tokens are billed separately, so long answers shift the gap.
Which has the bigger context window, AionLabs: Aion 3.5 Mini or Thinking Machines: Inkling Small (batch)?
Thinking Machines: Inkling Small (batch): 524K tokens, about 786 pages, against 262K (about 393 pages) for AionLabs: Aion 3.5 Mini.
Do AionLabs: Aion 3.5 Mini and Thinking Machines: Inkling Small (batch) support function calling and JSON output?
Tool calling — AionLabs: Aion 3.5 Mini: yes, Thinking Machines: Inkling Small (batch): yes. JSON-schema structured output — AionLabs: Aion 3.5 Mini: yes, Thinking Machines: Inkling Small (batch): not advertised.
Can AionLabs: Aion 3.5 Mini or Thinking Machines: Inkling Small (batch) read images?
Only Thinking Machines: Inkling Small (batch) accepts image input; AionLabs: Aion 3.5 Mini is text-only for input.
Is AionLabs: Aion 3.5 Mini or Thinking Machines: Inkling Small (batch) free to use?
No free variant is listed for either; both are pay-per-token.
What is the maximum output length of AionLabs: Aion 3.5 Mini and Thinking Machines: Inkling Small (batch)?
AionLabs: Aion 3.5 Mini can write up to 33K tokens (about 24,600 words) per response; Thinking Machines: Inkling Small (batch) up to 472K (about 353,900 words).
When were AionLabs: Aion 3.5 Mini and Thinking Machines: Inkling Small (batch) released?
AionLabs: Aion 3.5 Mini was listed on 2026-09-23; Thinking Machines: Inkling Small (batch) on 2026-07-30.
About the two models
AionLabs: Aion 3.5 Mini
Aion 3.5 Mini is a multi-model roleplaying and storytelling system from AionLabs, built on the GLM family of models. It is the smaller, lower-cost sibling of Aion 3.5 and uses...
Full AionLabs: Aion 3.5 Mini specs →Thinking Machines: Inkling Small (batch)
Inkling Small is an open-weight multimodal mixture-of-experts model from Thinking Machines Lab, with 12B active parameters out of 276B total. It is positioned as the smaller, more efficient member of...
Full Thinking Machines: Inkling Small (batch) specs →