Model comparison
MAI-Thinking-1 vs Mellum2-12B-A2.5B-Instruct
Head-to-head evidence from 2 shared benchmark results across 1 category. Overall scores shown here use the public BenchAlign v5 ranking lane.
Evidence parity. MAI-Thinking-1 and Mellum2-12B-A2.5B-Instruct share 2 comparable benchmark results. 2 of 8 categories are comparable. 11 results are unique to MAI-Thinking-1; 3 to Mellum2-12B-A2.5B-Instruct.
Updated July 23, 2026- Shared results
- 2
- MAI-Thinking-1 only
- 11
- Mellum2-12B-A2.5B-Instruct only
- 3
- Comparable categories
- 2 / 8
Treat this as a split decision. MAI-Thinking-1 makes more sense if knowledge is the priority or you need the larger 256K context window; Mellum2-12B-A2.5B-Instruct is the better fit if you would rather avoid the extra latency and token burn of a reasoning model.
Confidence note. This is a partial-evidence comparison with 2 shared benchmark results across 1 evidence category; 2 of 8 categories currently have scoreable aggregates for both models. Treat the verdict as directional until coverage is more balanced.
Why this result
MAI-Thinking-1 and Mellum2-12B-A2.5B-Instruct finish on the same BenchAlign overall score, so this is less about a single winner and more about where the edge shows up. The BenchAlign headline says tie; the benchmark table is where the real choice happens.
MAI-Thinking-1 is the reasoning model in the pair, while Mellum2-12B-A2.5B-Instruct 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. MAI-Thinking-1 gives you the larger context window at 256K, compared with 128K for Mellum2-12B-A2.5B-Instruct.
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 | MAI-Thinking-1 | Δ | Mellum2-12B-A2.5B-Instruct |
|---|---|---|---|
| Knowledge | MAI-Thinking-172.5 | Margin← 31.6 | Mellum2-12B-A2.5B-Instruct40.9 |
| Inst. Following | MAI-Thinking-185.0 | Margin← 9.2 | Mellum2-12B-A2.5B-Instruct75.8 |
| Agentic | MAI-Thinking-146.0 | MarginNo overlap | Mellum2-12B-A2.5B-InstructNot measured |
| Coding | MAI-Thinking-165.5 | MarginNo overlap | Mellum2-12B-A2.5B-InstructNot measured |
| Math | MAI-Thinking-189.7 | MarginNo overlap | Mellum2-12B-A2.5B-InstructNot measured |
Decisive benchmark drivers
The largest measured benchmark gaps in this matchup, with exact reported values.
More
- Source ↗
GPQA
KnowledgeA 84.2%B 40.9%Winner: MAI-Thinking-1Δ 43.3GPQA: MAI-Thinking-1 scored 84.2%; Mellum2-12B-A2.5B-Instruct scored 40.9%. MAI-Thinking-1 wins this benchmark.
Operational comparison
Runtime and commercial metrics are compared only when both models have a complete sourced value.
| Metric | MAI-Thinking-1 | Mellum2-12B-A2.5B-Instruct | Comparison |
|---|---|---|---|
| Input / output priceUSD per 1M tokens | MAI-Thinking-1Not available | Mellum2-12B-A2.5B-InstructNot available | A complete price comparison is not available. |
| Generation speedtokens per second | MAI-Thinking-1Not available | Mellum2-12B-A2.5B-InstructNot available | A complete speed comparison is not available. |
| First-answer latencyseconds to first token | MAI-Thinking-1Not available | Mellum2-12B-A2.5B-InstructNot available | A complete latency comparison is not available. |
| Context windowmaximum listed tokens | MAI-Thinking-1256K | Mellum2-12B-A2.5B-Instruct128K | MAI-Thinking-1 lists the larger context window. |
Benchmark Deep Dive
Agentic2 benchmarks
Coding3 benchmarks
Reasoning1 benchmarks
| Benchmark | MAI-Thinking-1 | Mellum2-12B-A2.5B-Instruct | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| Graphwalks BFS 128KSource | 90% | — | Not comparable |
KnowledgeMAI-Thinking-1 wins5 benchmarks
Math3 benchmarks
Frequently Asked Questions (3)
Which is better, MAI-Thinking-1 or Mellum2-12B-A2.5B-Instruct?
MAI-Thinking-1 and Mellum2-12B-A2.5B-Instruct are tied on the BenchAlign overall score, so the right pick depends on which category matters most for your use case.
Which is better for knowledge tasks, MAI-Thinking-1 or Mellum2-12B-A2.5B-Instruct?
MAI-Thinking-1 has the edge for knowledge tasks in this comparison, averaging 72.5 versus 40.9. Inside this category, GPQA is the benchmark that creates the most daylight between them.
Which is better for instruction following, MAI-Thinking-1 or Mellum2-12B-A2.5B-Instruct?
MAI-Thinking-1 has the edge for instruction following in this comparison, averaging 85 versus 75.8. Mellum2-12B-A2.5B-Instruct stays close enough that the answer can still flip depending on your workload.
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