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© 2026 CompareLLM. Public benchmark data aggregated from Arena Elo, LiveBench, SWE-bench & OpenRouter.

Every score has a dated snapshot.

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  3. Grok 4 vs Thinking Machines: Inkling
Independent ReportPairwise benchmark snapshot · Aug 17, 2026
noindex (thin pair)
Grok 4(xAI)
vs
Thinking Machines: Inkling(thinkingmachines)

Grok 4 vs Thinking Machines: Inkling benchmark

In this head-to-head showdown, Thinking Machines: Inkling is more budget-friendly at $4.05/1M per 1M output tokens. Review the complete breakdown below to determine which model best fits your performance and budget requirements.

Executive Comparison Verdict

Bottom Line: Choose Grok 4 if your priority is peak reasoning, complex code generation, and top preference Elo. Choose Thinking Machines: Inkling if you are optimizing for low latency, high throughput, and cost-efficient API deployment.
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Executive Verdict Summary

Thinking Machines: Inkling holds empirical advantage (3 of 3 metrics)

Coding / SWESWE-bench
Grok 4Top code solve rate
ReasoningGPQA / Live
Grok 4Top logical accuracy
Best Value$/1M Tok
Thinking Machines: InklingLowest API billing cost
Speed / TokTok/Sec
Grok 4Fastest stream rate

Verified Advantage Breakdown

3 benchmarks evaluated across capability, speed, and cost

Grok 4 (0)Thinking Machines: Inkling (3)
Grok 4
0 of 3 Wins
Competitive baseline across remaining benchmarks
Thinking Machines: Inkling
3 of 3 Wins
✓Input price✓Output price✓Context window
xAI
Grok 4

Previous xAI flagship.

Grok 4.0Elo 1,488In: $3 · Out: $15/1M
thinkingmachines
Leads 3 of 3
Thinking Machines: Inkling

Auto-discovered from OpenRouter (thinkingmachines/inkling). Preview until a second source matches.

In: $0.95 · Out: $4.05/1M

Grok 4 Series Lineage & Sibling Variants

2 models

Currently comparing Grok 4 vs Thinking Machines: Inkling. Alternative family tiers available.

Active: Grok 4
Grok 4.6$6
Top Rival Showdowns for Grok 4
All Matchups
Compare vs:vs Claude Opus 4.5vs GPT-5vs Gemini 3 Provs DeepSeek V4 Provs Qwen 3 Max
Preference Leader

No shared data

Single model data

Throughput Leader

No shared data

No latency data

Value per Dollar LeaderThinking Machines: Inkling Wins

Thinking Machines: Inkling

$4.05 / 1M output

Capability Percentiles

Relative percentile scores computed across all active models in the benchmark catalog.

Multi-Dimensional Capability Radar

Leaders Matchup Capability Radar

Comparing top standard models across 6 key capability dimensions. Tap any spoke or dot to inspect.

Tap any node to inspect
0–100 %ile

Overall Matchup Breakdown

Category wins across reasoning intelligence, generation speed, and token cost.

Grok 4 (6)vsThinking Machines: Inkling (3)
Grok 4: 6W (67%)Overall: Grok 4Thinking Machines: Inkling: 3W (33%)
← Grok 4Thinking Machines: Inkling →
🏆Grok 4 Leads(4/5)

Intelligence & Reasoning

Preference Elo, Coding proficiency, SWE-bench & LiveBench accuracy

Benchmark
Grok 4vsThinking Machines: Inkling
Preference Elo
1,488vs—
Coding Elo
—vs—
SWE-bench
58.6%vs—
LiveBench
64.1%vs—
GPQA Diamond
79%vs—
Grok 4: 4WThinking Machines: Inkling: 0W
🏆Grok 4 Leads(2/2)

Speed & Latency

Generation throughput and time to first token responsiveness

Benchmark
Grok 4vsThinking Machines: Inkling
Output speed
98 tok/svs—
Time to first token
230 msvs—
Grok 4: 2WThinking Machines: Inkling: 0W
🏆Thinking Machines: Inkling Leads(3/3)

Pricing & Capacity

Cost per million tokens and max context window length

Benchmark
Grok 4vsThinking Machines: Inkling
Output price
$15/1Mvs$4.05/1M+$10.95/1M
Input price
$3/1Mvs$0.95/1M+$2.05/1M
Context window
256kvs1M+793k
Grok 4: 0WThinking Machines: Inkling: 3W

Side-by-Side Benchmark Matrix

Grok 4Thinking Machines: Inkling
Preference Elo
Grok 41,488
Thinking Machines: Inkling—
LiveBench
Grok 464.1%
Thinking Machines: Inkling—
SWE-bench
Grok 458.6%
Thinking Machines: Inkling—
GPQA Diamond
Grok 479%
Thinking Machines: Inkling—
Time to first token
Grok 4230 ms
Thinking Machines: Inkling—
Output speed
Grok 498 tok/s
Thinking Machines: Inkling—
Input priceThinking Machines: Inkling +$2.05/1M
Grok 4$3/1M
Thinking Machines: Inkling$0.95/1M
Output priceThinking Machines: Inkling +$10.95/1M
Grok 4$15/1M
Thinking Machines: Inkling$4.05/1M
Context windowThinking Machines: Inkling +793k
Grok 4256k
Thinking Machines: Inkling1M
BenchmarkGrok 4Thinking Machines: InklingAdvantage Delta
Preference Elo
1,488
lmarena · Aug 17, 2026
——
LiveBench
64.1%
livebench · Aug 17, 2026
——
SWE-bench
58.6%
swebench · Aug 17, 2026
——
GPQA Diamond
79%
seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026
——
Time to first token
230 ms
seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026
——
Output speed
98 tok/s
seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026
——
Input price
$3/1M
seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026
$0.95/1M
openrouter · Aug 17, 2026
+$2.05/1M
Output price
$15/1M
seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026
$4.05/1M
openrouter · Aug 17, 2026
+$10.95/1M
Context window
256k
seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026
1M
openrouter · Aug 17, 2026
+793k

Workload Cost & Savings Calculator

Simulate monthly production API costs in USD (US Dollar).

Save 72% with Thinking Machines: Inkling
Monthly Volume50M tokens/mo
Quick Presets:
Token Ratio (In vs Out)70% In / 30% Out
RAG / Search (10% out)Coding / Chat (50% out)
Grok 4$330.00 / mo
In: $105Out: $225
Thinking Machines: Inkling$94.00 / mo
In: $33.25Out: $60.75
Estimated Cost Delta

Thinking Machines: Inkling is estimated to save $236.00/month ($2,832/year).

Based on 50M tokens (30% gen)

Key Selection Recommendations

  • 1
    Thinking Machines: Inkling:Pick Thinking Machines: Inkling when you are optimizing output cost.
  • 2
    Thinking Machines: Inkling:Pick Thinking Machines: Inkling for million-token RAG or long-document jobs.

Recommended Workload Routing

Repo / coding agentsinsufficient data

Need SWE-bench on both sides.

High-volume chatThinking Machines: Inkling

Lower output list price ($4.05/1M).

Voice / low-latency UIinsufficient data

Need TTFT on both sides.

Long-document RAGThinking Machines: Inkling

Larger window (1M).

Screenshots / visionGrok 4

Grok 4 is the side marked multimodal in the catalog.

Target WorkloadRecommended PickEvaluation Rationale
Repo / coding agentsinsufficient dataNeed SWE-bench on both sides.
High-volume chatThinking Machines: InklingLower output list price ($4.05/1M).
Voice / low-latency UIinsufficient dataNeed TTFT on both sides.
Long-document RAGThinking Machines: InklingLarger window (1M).
Screenshots / visionGrok 4Grok 4 is the side marked multimodal in the catalog.

Related Editorial Dispatches & Benchmark Notes

View all news
launchJul 10, 2025

Grok 4 remains the previous xAI flagship on this catalog

2025-07 row. 4.6 is the buy. We keep 4 so upgrade pairs and old inbound links resolve.

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CompareLLM AI Matrix

Verified Head-to-Head Telemetry

LIVE BENCHMARK
VS
xAI

Grok 4

Elo 1,488
SWE-bench58.6%
Speed (tok/s)98 tok/s
Input / 1M Tokens$3/1M
Output / 1M Tokens$15/1M
thinkingmachines

Thinking Machines: Inkling

Elo n/a
SWE-bench—
Speed (tok/s)1M
Input / 1M Tokens$0.95/1M
Output / 1M Tokens$4.05/1M

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is better overall, Grok 4 or Thinking Machines: Inkling?
We do not have preference Elo for both models, so we do not declare an overall winner. Compare the metrics that exist.
Which is better at coding, Grok 4 or Thinking Machines: Inkling?
SWE-bench is missing for at least one model, so we do not rank coding from a single number.
Which is cheaper to run in production?
Thinking Machines: Inkling output tokens are $4.05/1M versus $15/1M. Input prices and retry rates still move the real bill.
Which is faster, Grok 4 or Thinking Machines: Inkling?
We do not have TTFT for both models.
Which has the larger context window?
Thinking Machines: Inkling accepts 1M tokens versus 256k.
Can I self-host either model?
Neither model is marked open-weights here. You are comparing hosted APIs.
Are these scores from CompareLLM’s own evals?
No. V1 aggregates public leaderboards (and optional first-party latency pings). Each cell names its source and date. Read /methodology.
What does preference Elo mean on this page?
Preference Elo is a crowd vote from LMArena / Arena. People see two hidden answers and pick the one they like more. The model that wins more often gets a higher Elo. That means people preferred it — not that it passed a school test. It is not SWE-bench, not accuracy, and not a number we invent. Grok 4 and Thinking Machines: Inkling Elo cells are dated snapshots from the named source — we do not compute Arena ourselves.

Related news

  • launch · Jul 10, 2025

    Grok 4 remains the previous xAI flagship on this catalog

Similar Head-to-Head Comparisons

All Grok 4 matchups →|All Thinking Machines: Inkling matchups →
Grok 4 vs Grok 3 (previous grok)Grok 4 vs Grok 4.6 (next grok)Gemini 2.0 Flash Thinking vs Grok 4Gemini 3 Flash vs Grok 4Yi-Lightning vs Grok 4Doubao Pro 1.5 vs Grok 4