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Google: Gemini 3.8 Flash vs Thinking Machines: Inkling Small (batch)

Neither wins outright: Google: Gemini 3.8 Flash 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 3.8 FlashThinking Machines: Inkling Small (batch)
ProviderGoogleThinkingmachines
Input price (per 1M tokens)$0.82$0.50
Output price (per 1M tokens)$4.13$1.20
Blended price (3:1 input/output)$1.65$0.68
Cheaper than … of all models we track30%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 typestext, image, video, file, audiotext, image, audio
Output typestexttext
Free variantNoNo
Listed since2026-09-022026-07-30
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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)Google: Gemini 3.8 FlashThinking Machines: Inkling Small (batch)Difference
Customer-support chatbot
50,000 conversations — each a 6-turn conversation (1,500 in / 400 out tokens)
$144$61.50Thinking Machines: Inkling Small (batch) saves $82.88
RAG search over documents
20,000 questions — each a question answered from ~8 retrieved passages (6,000 in / 500 out tokens)
$140$72.00Thinking Machines: Inkling Small (batch) saves $68.25
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)
$149$74.40Thinking Machines: Inkling Small (batch) saves $74.10
Batch summarisation
10,000 documents — each a 6,000-word report summarised to a page (8,000 in / 600 out tokens)
$90.75$47.20Thinking Machines: Inkling Small (batch) saves $43.55
Long-document analysis
500 documents — each a 150-page contract or codebase read in one pass (100,000 in / 2,000 out tokens)
$45.38$26.20Thinking Machines: Inkling Small (batch) saves $19.17

Capabilities side by side

CapabilityGoogle: Gemini 3.8 FlashThinking 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

DateModelInput / 1MOutput / 1M
2026-10-16Google: Gemini 3.8 Flash$0.82$4.13

Which should you choose?

Choose Google: Gemini 3.8 Flash 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 59% cheaper on a typical 3:1 input/output mix ($61.50 vs $144 a month for 50,000 support chats)
  • you need log-probabilities — to read token confidence for classification and scoring; Google: Gemini 3.8 Flash 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 Google: Gemini 3.8 Flash better than Thinking Machines: Inkling Small (batch)?

Neither wins outright: Google: Gemini 3.8 Flash 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 3.8 Flash 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.

Which is cheaper, Google: Gemini 3.8 Flash or Thinking Machines: Inkling Small (batch)?

Thinking Machines: Inkling Small (batch) is cheaper: $0.68 vs $1.65 per 1M tokens at a typical 3:1 input/output mix, 59% less. For 50,000 support conversations a month that is $61.50 against $144.

How much do Google: Gemini 3.8 Flash and Thinking Machines: Inkling Small (batch) cost per million tokens?

Google: Gemini 3.8 Flash costs $0.82 per 1M input tokens and $4.13 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 3.8 Flash or Thinking Machines: Inkling Small (batch)?

Google: Gemini 3.8 Flash: 1.0M tokens, about 1,573 pages, against 524K (about 786 pages) for Thinking Machines: Inkling Small (batch).

Do Google: Gemini 3.8 Flash and Thinking Machines: Inkling Small (batch) support function calling and JSON output?

Tool calling — Google: Gemini 3.8 Flash: yes, Thinking Machines: Inkling Small (batch): yes. JSON-schema structured output — Google: Gemini 3.8 Flash: yes, Thinking Machines: Inkling Small (batch): not advertised.

Can Google: Gemini 3.8 Flash or Thinking Machines: Inkling Small (batch) read images?

Yes, both accept image input.

Is Google: Gemini 3.8 Flash 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 3.8 Flash and Thinking Machines: Inkling Small (batch)?

Google: Gemini 3.8 Flash 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 3.8 Flash and Thinking Machines: Inkling Small (batch) released?

Google: Gemini 3.8 Flash was listed on 2026-09-02; Thinking Machines: Inkling Small (batch) on 2026-07-30.

Has the price of Google: Gemini 3.8 Flash or Thinking Machines: Inkling Small (batch) changed?

Google: Gemini 3.8 Flash: input price raised 9% ($0.75 → $0.82/1M), output price raised 9% ($3.75 → $4.13/1M) on 2026-10-16. Thinking Machines: Inkling Small (batch): price unchanged since we started tracking it on 2026-08-29.

About the two models

Compare Google: Gemini 3.8 Flash with other models

vs AI21: Jamba Large 1.7vs AionLabs: Aion 3.5vs AionLabs: Aion 3.5 Minivs AionLabs: Aion-1.0

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

vs AI21: Jamba Large 1.7vs AionLabs: Aion 3.5vs AionLabs: Aion 3.5 Minivs AionLabs: Aion-1.0
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