Head-to-head comparison across 2benchmark categories. Overall scores shown here use BenchLM's provisional ranking lane.
MAI-Thinking-1
65
ZAYA1-8B
57
Verified leaderboard positions: MAI-Thinking-1 #23 · ZAYA1-8B unranked
Pick MAI-Thinking-1 if you want the stronger benchmark profile. ZAYA1-8B only becomes the better choice if knowledge is the priority.
Knowledge
+3.2 difference
Inst. Following
+11.0 difference
MAI-Thinking-1
ZAYA1-8B
N/A
$0 / $0
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
256K
131K
Pick MAI-Thinking-1 if you want the stronger benchmark profile. ZAYA1-8B only becomes the better choice if knowledge is the priority.
MAI-Thinking-1 is clearly ahead on the provisional aggregate, 65 to 57. The gap is large enough that you do not need to squint at the spreadsheet to see the difference.
MAI-Thinking-1's sharpest advantage is in instruction following, where it averages 85 against 74. The single biggest benchmark swing on the page is IFBench, 85% to 52.6%. ZAYA1-8B does hit back in knowledge, so the answer changes if that is the part of the workload you care about most.
MAI-Thinking-1 gives you the larger context window at 256K, compared with 131K for ZAYA1-8B.
MAI-Thinking-1 is ahead on BenchLM's provisional leaderboard, 65 to 57. The biggest single separator in this matchup is IFBench, where the scores are 85% and 52.6%.
ZAYA1-8B has the edge for knowledge tasks in this comparison, averaging 73.1 versus 69.9. Inside this category, GPQA is the benchmark that creates the most daylight between them.
MAI-Thinking-1 has the edge for instruction following in this comparison, averaging 85 versus 74. Inside this category, IFBench is the benchmark that creates the most daylight between them.
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