Skip to main content
BenchLM
Advertise

Model comparison

Gemini 2.5 Flash vs Inkling

Data verified

Head-to-head evidence from 10 shared benchmark results across 4 categories. Overall scores shown here use the public BenchAlign v5 ranking lane.

47.93/100
Margin
24.1pts
winning →
Inkling
Thinking Machines Lab
72/100
0 category wins1 category wins

Verified leaderboard positions: Gemini 2.5 Flash unranked; Inkling #17

BenchAlign evidence: Gemini 2.5 Flash supported; Inkling not scored. Intervals and evidence labels describe ranking uncertainty, not a guarantee for a specific workload.

Evidence parity. Gemini 2.5 Flash and Inkling share 10 comparable benchmark results. 1 of 8 categories are comparable. 6 results are unique to Gemini 2.5 Flash; 22 to Inkling.

Updated July 16, 2026
Shared results
10
Gemini 2.5 Flash only
6
Inkling only
22
Comparable categories
1 / 8

Pick Inkling if you want the stronger benchmark profile. Gemini 2.5 Flash only becomes the better choice if you want the cheaper token bill or you would rather avoid the extra latency and token burn of a reasoning model.

Confidence note. This is a partial-evidence comparison with 10 shared benchmark results across 4 evidence categories; 1 of 8 categories currently have scoreable aggregates for both models. Treat the verdict as directional until coverage is more balanced.

Why this result

Inkling is clearly ahead on the provisional aggregate, 72 to 37. The gap is large enough that you do not need to squint at the spreadsheet to see the difference.

Inkling's sharpest advantage is in mathematics, where it averages 97.1 against 4.7.

Inkling is also the more expensive model on tokens at $1.87 input / $4.68 output per 1M tokens, versus $0.30 input / $2.50 output per 1M tokens for Gemini 2.5 Flash. Inkling is the reasoning model in the pair, while Gemini 2.5 Flash is not. That usually helps on harder chain-of-thought-heavy tests, but it can also mean more latency and more token spend in real use.

Category breakdown

Exact category averages are shown below. Not measured means BenchLM does not have enough sourced public coverage for that model and category.

Category scores and score margins for Gemini 2.5 Flash and Inkling
CategoryGemini 2.5 FlashΔInkling
MathGemini 2.5 Flash4.7Margin→ 92.4Inkling97.1
AgenticGemini 2.5 FlashNot measuredMarginNo overlapInkling69.4
CodingGemini 2.5 FlashNot measuredMarginNo overlapInkling68.6
KnowledgeGemini 2.5 FlashNot measuredMarginNo overlapInkling51.7
MultimodalGemini 2.5 FlashNot measuredMarginNo overlapInkling76.5
Inst. FollowingGemini 2.5 FlashNot measuredMarginNo overlapInkling79.8

Operational comparison

Runtime and commercial metrics are compared only when both models have a complete sourced value.

MetricGemini 2.5 FlashInklingComparison
Input / output priceUSD per 1M tokensGemini 2.5 Flash$0.3 input / $2.5 outputInkling$1.87 input / $4.68 outputGemini 2.5 Flash has the lower combined listed price.
Generation speedtokens per secondGemini 2.5 Flash221 tok/sInklingNot availableA complete speed comparison is not available.
First-answer latencyseconds to first tokenGemini 2.5 Flash0.50 sInklingNot availableA complete latency comparison is not available.
Context windowmaximum listed tokensGemini 2.5 Flash1MInkling1MListed context windows are equal.

Benchmark Deep Dive

Agentic
BenchmarkGemini 2.5 FlashInklingResult
τ²-bench resultsSource 14.9%—Not comparable
Terminal-Bench 2.0Source —63.8%Not comparable
BrowseCompSource —77.1%Not comparable
MCP AtlasSource —74.1%Not comparable
Design Arena Agentic Web DevSource —1258Not comparable
AA Agentic IndexSource —32.3%Not comparable
GDPval-AASource —36.9%Not comparable
GDPval-AASource —1239Not comparable
AA BriefcaseSource —836Not comparable
AA Tau3 BankingSource —23.7%Not comparable
Coding
BenchmarkGemini 2.5 FlashInklingResult
Terminal-Bench HardSource 12.1%—Not comparable
AA-SciCodeSource 29.1%46.1%Inkling leads
SWE-bench VerifiedSource —77.6%Not comparable
SWE-bench ProSource —54.3%Not comparable
Terminal-Bench 2.0Source —63.8%Not comparable
AA Coding IndexSource —52.1%Not comparable
Reasoning
BenchmarkGemini 2.5 FlashInklingResult
AA-LCRSource 45.9%63.3%Inkling leads
CritPtSource 1.4%5.4%Inkling leads
Knowledge
BenchmarkGemini 2.5 FlashInklingResult
Artificial Analysis Intelligence IndexSource 14.1%40.7%Inkling leads
AA-GPQA DiamondSource 68.3%87.2%Inkling leads
AA-HLESource 5.1%29.7%Inkling leads
AA-Omniscience IndexSource -42.0%2.1%Inkling leads
AA-Omniscience AccuracySource 26.5%40.0%Inkling leads
AA-Omniscience Hallucination RateSource 93.3%63.1%Inkling leads
GPQASource —87.9%Not comparable
GPQA-DSource —87.9%Not comparable
HLESource —46%Not comparable
HLE w/o toolsSource —30%Not comparable
MathInkling wins
BenchmarkGemini 2.5 FlashInklingResult
FrontierMath v2 (Tiers 1-3)Source 4.844%—Not comparable
FrontierMath v2 (Tier 4)Source 4.167%—Not comparable
AIME26Source —97.1%Not comparable
Multimodal
BenchmarkGemini 2.5 FlashInklingResult
AA-MMMU-ProSource 65.5%73.5%Inkling leads
Design Arena WebsiteSource 1150—Not comparable
MMMU-ProSource —73.5%Not comparable
CharXivSource —82%Not comparable
CharXiv w/o toolsSource —78.1%Not comparable
Inst. Following
BenchmarkGemini 2.5 FlashInklingResult
AA-IFBenchSource 39.0%—Not comparable
IFBenchSource —79.8%Not comparable
Frequently Asked Questions (2)

Which is better, Gemini 2.5 Flash or Inkling?

Inkling is ahead on BenchLM's provisional leaderboard, 72 to 37.

Which is better for math, Gemini 2.5 Flash or Inkling?

Inkling has the edge for math in this comparison, averaging 97.1 versus 4.7. Gemini 2.5 Flash stays close enough that the answer can still flip depending on your workload.

Related Comparisons

Explore More

Google Compare Pricing Methodology Find Your Best LLM Overall Rankings
Last updated: July 16, 2026

The AI models change fast. We track them for you.

A weekly brief for engineers and researchers covering new models, ranking shifts, and pricing changes.

Free. No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.