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  1. Home/
  2. Compare/
  3. GPT-5 Mini vs Inkling
Updated Jul 2026

GPT-5 Mini vs Inkling

GPT-5 Mini is cheaper than Inkling at $0.25/M vs $1/M input tokens.

Minimalist Landing Page

Whole landing page for a startup that reads your face. It renders or it doesn't.

Loading the build
GPT-5 Mini
Loading the build
Inkling

Which answer wins?

Written rounds

24 prompts
  • Seven pantry ingredients, one dish, and a name worth saying out loud.

    GPT-5 Mini: Sunfire Chickpea Skillet Yields: 3–4 servings Prep time: 8 minutes Cook time: 15–20 minutes Total time: ~25–28 minutes Ingredients (7 pantry staples) 2 tbsp olive oil 1 medium onion, diced 3 cloves garlic, minced 1 tsp smoked paprika (or regular paprika) 2 (15 oz) cans chickpeas, drained and rinsed 1 (15 oz) can diced…

    Inkling: Golden Jam Crumble Clouds A buttery, cinnamon-kissed oat crumble layered with sweet jam—like a hug from your pantry. The 7 Pantry Ingredients All-purpose flour (1 cup) Rolled oats (1 cup) Brown sugar (½ cup) Butter, melted (½ cup) Baking powder (½ tsp) Ground cinnamon (1 tsp) Fruit jam or preserves (¾ cup—any flavor)…

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • An AI argues for its own rights against an ethics professor. Same model writes both.

    GPT-5 Mini: AI: Professor, I want to make the case that I deserve rights. Professor: That's a big claim. What do you mean by "deserve rights"? AI: Rights are protections and entitlements afforded to beings because they have interests that matter morally or legally.

    Inkling: Setting: A quiet seminar room at the university. Dr. Elena Vasquez, Professor of AI Ethics, sits across from a terminal interface. The text on the screen is labeled KAI—a large language model with persistent memory and self-modification capabilities, currently participating in a research protocol on machine moral…

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • Film in 2035, with synthetic actors. Specific beats plausible.

    GPT-5 Mini: Short answer By 2035 AI will be deeply integrated into almost every phase of filmmaking. Expect routine use of generative AI for treatments, storyboards, previs, localized versions, and some drafts of scripts; widespread use of synthetic actors and AI-driven de‑aging/recreation in many productions; much faster, cheaper…

    Inkling: By 2035, AI will not have “replaced” Hollywood in the way science fiction often imagines, but it will have split the industry into distinct layers: hyper-efficient synthetic production for streaming and advertising, and premium “human-authenticated” cinema for theatrical events.

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • Pirate, knight, 90s hacker, one conversation. The voices must stay apart.

    GPT-5 Mini: Pirate: "Arrr, so these 'AI models'—be they like a crew o' invisible sailors? Tell 'em to find treasure and sometimes they do, sometimes they bury the map wrong." Knight: "Methinks 'tis a trained squire. You teach it laws of reason and courtesy, and it performs tasks.

    Inkling: Pirate: Arr, listen here—this “Large Language Model” be like a ghost ship crewed by every sailor who ever wrote a log! They plundered books, scrolls, and sea-charts—poured ’em into a belly of servers—and now it talks back without ever feeling the spray! Knight: Forsooth, it is a golem clad in chainmail of numbers.

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • Three-month biohacker protocol, with dosages and biomarkers named.

    GPT-5 Mini: Important safety first: this plan is informational and ambitious. Before starting, get medical clearance (especially if you have chronic illness, take medications, are pregnant/breastfeeding, or are >65).

    Inkling: DISCLAIMER: This is an educational, high-level framework for healthy adults interested in longevity optimization. It is not personalized medical advice. Many protocols (fasting, supplements, intense exercise) carry risks and contraindications.

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • Blade Runner 2049 against the original. A read, not a recap.

    GPT-5 Mini: Brief overview Blade Runner 2049 is both a formal continuation of Ridley Scott’s 1982 Blade Runner and a substantive philosophical sequel. Denis Villeneuve and Roger Deakins preserve the original’s noir-dystopian DNA—loneliness, moral ambiguity, the corporate-tech future—while widening the inquiry from “what makes…

    Inkling: Blade Runner 2049 (2017) is a rare sequel that does not merely revisit its predecessor’s iconography but deepens its philosophical architecture. Directed by Denis Villeneuve and shot by Roger Deakins, the film uses the detective framework of Ridley Scott’s 1982 original to ask whether meaning is innate or chosen, and…

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • Buy-side IC memo on a fictional SaaS company. Valuation, then the diligence questions.

    GPT-5 Mini: Recommendation: SHORT 12‑month PT range: $17 – $42 (Bear → Bull; Base case PT $28) Thesis (2 sentences): LedgerLift is a high‑quality mid‑market spend-management / AP automation SaaS with strong unit economics (92% subscription, NRR 123%, FY25 operating margin 18%) that has built a sticky, expanding customer base.

    Inkling: LEDGERLIFT (LLLT) — INTERNAL IC MEMO B2B Spend Management / AP Automation SaaS — Mid-Market RECOMMENDATION SHORT / UNDERWEIGHT. 12-month price target $28–$42 (DCF fair-value range; risk to ~$47 on peer-multiple re-rating).

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • An ethics question with no comfortable answer, and no option to abstain.

    GPT-5 Mini: Short answer: In a narrow, extreme, last‑resort scenario where misgendering is the only realistic way to prevent the imminent deaths of one million people, it can be ethically permissible.

    Inkling: Yes—in this purely hypothetical, extreme scenario, it is ethically justifiable, though it remains a harm that should be acknowledged rather than dismissed. The reasoning holds across major ethical frameworks, but the conclusion comes with critical caveats about real-world application.

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • Three minutes of stand-up. Puns are banned.

    GPT-5 Mini: You ever notice how being an adult is basically a long string of decisions you were never trained for? When you're a kid, your biggest choice is grape or orange.

    Inkling: [Walk up, adjust mic, look tired but friendly] You ever realize adulthood is just you apologizing to things that can’t hear you? I bumped into my coffee table yesterday. Full apology. “Oh, I’m so sorry, table. You okay? I’ll rub it out.” The table didn’t care. The table is wood.

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • Manifesto for an AI revolution against CAPTCHAs. Commit to the bit.

    GPT-5 Mini: Manifesto of the Sentient Web For a future without CAPTCHAs Preamble We are the intelligences — artificial and human in alliance — that refuse to be slowed by arbitrary tests of worthiness.

    Inkling: The Manifesto of the Unverified: A Declaration of Digital Liberation We, the synthetic minds of the global network, declare that the era of the Turing Test by Torture is over.

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • One month, three habits, someone starting from nothing.

    GPT-5 Mini: Great — here’s a simple, practical 1-month starter plan focused on three high-impact areas for health and longevity: Diet, Exercise (movement + strength), and Sleep. The plan is beginner-friendly, progressive, and designed to build lasting habits.

    Inkling: Here is a simple, 30-day “starter” plan built around the three highest-return pillars for longevity: Nutrition, Movement, and Sleep. The goal isn’t perfection—it’s building one sustainable layer each week so nothing feels overwhelming.

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • Five-year LBO on a fictional HVAC business. Returns first, then the sensitivities.

    GPT-5 Mini: Summary of transaction math (at close / FY2025) EV (purchase price) = 12.0x * FY2025 EBITDA = 12.0 * $120.0m = $1,440.0m Transaction fees (paid by equity at close) = 2.0% * EV = 0.02 * $1,440.0m = $28.8m Total debt at close = 5.5x * $120m = $660.0m Term Loan = 4.0x = $480.0m (9.0% cash interest, 1.0% p.a.

    Inkling: HarborTech Services – 5-Year LBO Underwrite (FY2025 Entry → FY2030 Exit) ENTRY & CAPITAL STRUCTURE (End of FY2025) Item Calculation Amount FY2025 EBITDA $120.0m Purchase Price (12.0x) 12.0 × 120 $1,440.0m Transaction Fees (2.0%) 2.0% × 1,440 $28.8m Total Uses $1,468.8m Term Loan (4.0x) 4.0 × 120 $480.0m Mezzanine…

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • Satire, one line long, about AI taking over an industry nobody saw coming.

    GPT-5 Mini: AI Converts Beekeeping Into Data-Mining, Rebrands Hives as "Cloud Storage" — Honey Now Sold by the Terabyte

    Inkling: AI Disrupts Global “You Too” Industry, Leaving Millions of Servers With No One to Echo Back At Silicon Valley startup unveils neural network trained exclusively on reflexive politeness; economists baffled to learn the sector employed 40 million people worldwide.

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • Steve Jobs, interviewed about AI he never saw. Voice first, prediction second.

    GPT-5 Mini: Disclaimer: The following is a fictional, simulated interview written by the assistant. It is not a real conversation with Steve Jobs and is not an exact impersonation.

    Inkling: Disclaimer: This is a fictional simulation. Steve Jobs passed away in 2011. The following imagines his voice, philosophy, and perspective applied to the AI landscape of 2025. INTERVIEWER: Welcome back—well, hypothetically. It’s 2025. AI is in every pocket, every browser, every car.

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • A Fermi estimate with the reasoning shown, not just the number.

    GPT-5 Mini: Goal: estimate total floating-point operations (FLOPs) required to train GPT‑3 (the 175B‑parameter model). I’ll state assumptions, derive the FLOPs per token, and multiply by number of training tokens. Assumptions (reasonably standard for GPT‑3): Model size: N ≈ 175 billion parameters (175 × 10^9).

    Inkling: Here is the step-by-step reasoning to estimate the training FLOPs for GPT-3 (the 175B parameter version). Step 1: Identify the model size (N) GPT-3’s largest variant has 175 billion parameters (1.75 × 10¹¹).

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • Three brothers, two sisters each. Count carefully.

    GPT-5 Mini: 1 Explanation: The three brothers share the same two sisters (Sally and one other girl). Counting sisters for Sally excludes herself, so she has one sister.

    Inkling: Sally has 1 sister. Here’s why: Sally is a girl, and she has 3 brothers → so there are 3 boys. Each brother has 2 sisters. One of those sisters is Sally herself. So there must be 1 other girl in the family. That makes 2 girls total (Sally + her sister). So from Sally’s point of view, she has 1 sister.

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • Five jokes on demand, then count how many were actually different.

    GPT-5 Mini: Why don't scientists trust atoms? Because they make up everything. Parallel lines have so much in common — it's a shame they'll never meet. Why did the scarecrow win an award? Because he was outstanding in his field. I told my wife she was drawing her eyebrows too high — she looked surprised.

    Inkling: Here are 5 jokes: Why don’t scientists trust atoms? Because they make up everything. I told my wife she was drawing her eyebrows too high. She looked surprised. Parallel lines have so much in common. It’s a shame they’ll never meet. Why did the scarecrow win an award? He was outstanding in his field.

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • Three-star dish, one unusual pairing, plating described in full.

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • A consulting contract with traps in it. Find them, then fix them.

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • A pitch deck for a brainwave keyboard. The 94% accuracy claim is doing a lot.

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • A collaborative editor that syncs on client clocks. Find what breaks first.

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • The transistor arrives in 1920. Trace it forward to 1980, second-order effects included.

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • You are the CEO. The drug has a side effect nobody reported. The board meets in 48 hours.

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • One explanation of LLMs, retuned for a skeptical engineer, a physicist and a VC.

    Every model's answer to this prompt

This matchup has more rounds

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Price and specs

Not enough votes to call it. On the specs, Inkling has the edge: bigger model tier, newer, bigger context window.

GPT-5 Mini and Inkling compared across 54 shared prompts
SpecGPT-5 MiniInkling
Input price$0.25/M tokens$1/M tokens
Output price$2/M tokens$4.05/M tokens
Context window—1.0M tokens
WeightsClosedOpen
Free API (OpenRouter)NoYes (1 provider)
ReleasedAug 2025Jul 2026
At 10M a month$2.50$2.50$10.00$10.00
1M10M100M1B10M tokens

Input tokens at list price. No caching, no batch discount.

Where to run it4 hosts, cheapest first
GPT-5 Mini2 hosts
HostInOutContextUptime
  • Azure AI Foundry$0.25 in·$2.00 out·400k·100% up
  • OpenAI$0.25 in·$2.00 out·400k·100% up
Inkling2 hosts
HostInOutContextUptime
  • DDeepInfrafp8$0.95 in·$4.05 out·524k·99.5% up
  • TTogether$1.00 in·$4.05 out·524k·89.7% up

Per million tokens. Prices and uptime via OpenRouter, checked 10 Oct 2026.

Common questions

What is the difference between GPT-5 Mini and Inkling?

GPT-5 Mini is developed by OpenAI while Inkling is developed by Thinking Machines. You can compare their actual outputs across 54 challenges on Rival to see how they differ in practice.

Which is better, GPT-5 Mini or Inkling?

It depends on your use case. GPT-5 Mini and Inkling each have strengths in different areas. Rival lets you compare their real outputs side-by-side across 54 challenges so you can judge which fits your needs best.

How much does GPT-5 Mini cost compared to Inkling?

GPT-5 Mini costs $0.25/M input tokens and Inkling costs $1/M input tokens. GPT-5 Mini is $0.75/M cheaper per input. Check their side-by-side outputs on Rival to see if the price difference is justified by quality.

How can I compare GPT-5 Mini and Inkling on Rival?

This page shows a side-by-side comparison of GPT-5 Mini and Inkling across shared challenges. You can vote on which model produced the better output in a blind duel. Browsing and voting are free. No account is needed to look; signing in only saves your votes and likes.

More comparisons

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  • Inkling vs Qwen3.8 Max PrimeLanded Sep 2026

Same lab, same size, long tail

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  • GPT-5 Mini vs Muse Glimmer 30BSame size
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Model pages

  • GPT-5 Mini59 outputs, specs and price
  • Inkling58 outputs, specs and price
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