Google: Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview vs Thinking Machines: Inkling Small (batch)

Neither wins outright: Google: Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview is the pick when you need to fit long inputs in one request, Thinking Machines: Inkling Small (batch) when cost matters at scale.

Key numbers

SpecGoogle: Gemini 3.1 Pro PreviewThinking Machines: Inkling Small (batch)
ProviderGoogleThinkingmachines
Input price (per 1M tokens)$2.00$0.50
Output price (per 1M tokens)$12.00$1.20
Blended price (3:1 input/output)$4.50$0.68
Cheaper than … of all models we track12%48%
Context window1.0M tokens (~1,573 pages)524K tokens (~786 pages)
Larger context than … of all models81%68%
Max output per response66K tokens (~49,200 words)472K tokens (~353,900 words)
Input typesaudio, file, image, text, videotext, image, audio
Output typestexttext
Free variantNoNo
Listed since2026-02-192026-07-30
Advertisement

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)Google: Gemini 3.1 Pro PreviewThinking Machines: Inkling Small (batch)Difference
Customer-support chatbot
50,000 conversations — each a 6-turn conversation (1,500 in / 400 out tokens)
$390$61.50Thinking Machines: Inkling Small (batch) saves $329
RAG search over documents
20,000 questions — each a question answered from ~8 retrieved passages (6,000 in / 500 out tokens)
$360$72.00Thinking Machines: Inkling Small (batch) saves $288
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)
$384$74.40Thinking Machines: Inkling Small (batch) saves $310
Batch summarisation
10,000 documents — each a 6,000-word report summarised to a page (8,000 in / 600 out tokens)
$232$47.20Thinking Machines: Inkling Small (batch) saves $185
Long-document analysis
500 documents — each a 150-page contract or codebase read in one pass (100,000 in / 2,000 out tokens)
$112$26.20Thinking Machines: Inkling Small (batch) saves $85.80

Capabilities side by side

CapabilityGoogle: Gemini 3.1 Pro PreviewThinking Machines: Inkling Small (batch)What it lets you do
Tool / function calling✓ Yes✓ Yescall your APIs and run agent loops
Structured output (JSON schema)✓ Yes—return JSON that validates against your schema
Reasoning / thinking mode✓ Yes✓ Yesspend extra tokens thinking before answering hard problems
Image input✓ Yes✓ Yesread screenshots, charts and scanned pages
Audio input✓ Yes✓ Yestake speech or audio directly
File / PDF input✓ Yes—accept documents without your own parsing step
Image output——generate images, not just text
Built-in web search✓ Yes—answer from live web results
Seed (reproducible sampling)✓ Yes—repeat a generation for tests and evals
Log-probabilities—✓ Yesread token confidence for classification and scoring

From each model's published parameters and input/output types. “—” means not advertised, not proven absent.

Price history

Which should you choose?

Choose Google: Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview if…

  • you need to fit long inputs in one request — 1.0M tokens is roughly 1,573 pages, against 786
  • you need structured output (JSON schema) — to return JSON that validates against your schema; Thinking Machines: Inkling Small (batch) does not advertise it
  • you need file / PDF input — to accept documents without your own parsing step; Thinking Machines: Inkling Small (batch) does not advertise it
  • you need built-in web search — to answer from live web results; Thinking Machines: Inkling Small (batch) does not advertise it
  • you need seed (reproducible sampling) — to repeat a generation for tests and evals; Thinking Machines: Inkling Small (batch) does not advertise it

Choose Thinking Machines: Inkling Small (batch) if…

  • cost matters at scale — it is 85% cheaper on a typical 3:1 input/output mix ($61.50 vs $390 a month for 50,000 support chats)
  • you need log-probabilities — to read token confidence for classification and scoring; Google: Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview does not advertise it
  • you generate long outputs in one go — up to 472K tokens (about 353,900 words) per response
  • you want the newer model — released 2026-07-30, 5 months after the other

Frequently asked questions

Is Google: Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview better than Thinking Machines: Inkling Small (batch)?

Neither wins outright: Google: Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview is the pick when you need to fit long inputs in one request, Thinking Machines: Inkling Small (batch) when cost matters at scale. In short: Google: Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview when you need to fit long inputs in one request, you need structured output (JSON schema), you need file / PDF input, you need built-in web search, you need seed (reproducible sampling); Thinking Machines: Inkling Small (batch) when cost matters at scale, you need log-probabilities, you generate long outputs in one go, you want the newer model.

Which is cheaper, Google: Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview or Thinking Machines: Inkling Small (batch)?

Thinking Machines: Inkling Small (batch) is cheaper: $0.68 vs $4.50 per 1M tokens at a typical 3:1 input/output mix, 85% less. For 50,000 support conversations a month that is $61.50 against $390.

How much do Google: Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview and Thinking Machines: Inkling Small (batch) cost per million tokens?

Google: Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview costs $2.00 per 1M input tokens and $12.00 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, Google: Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview or Thinking Machines: Inkling Small (batch)?

Google: Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview: 1.0M tokens, about 1,573 pages, against 524K (about 786 pages) for Thinking Machines: Inkling Small (batch).

Do Google: Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview and Thinking Machines: Inkling Small (batch) support function calling and JSON output?

Tool calling — Google: Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview: yes, Thinking Machines: Inkling Small (batch): yes. JSON-schema structured output — Google: Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview: yes, Thinking Machines: Inkling Small (batch): not advertised.

Can Google: Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview or Thinking Machines: Inkling Small (batch) read images?

Yes, both accept image input.

Is Google: Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview 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 Google: Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview and Thinking Machines: Inkling Small (batch)?

Google: Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview can write up to 66K tokens (about 49,200 words) per response; Thinking Machines: Inkling Small (batch) up to 472K (about 353,900 words).

When were Google: Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview and Thinking Machines: Inkling Small (batch) released?

Google: Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview was listed on 2026-02-19; Thinking Machines: Inkling Small (batch) on 2026-07-30.

About the two models

Compare Google: Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview with other models

Compare Thinking Machines: Inkling Small (batch) with other models

Advertisement