Inkling
thinkingmachinesapache-2.0textvisionaudio

Inkling

Updated Jul 18, 2026
Parameters
552.8B
Context
8,192
License
apache-2.0
Updated
Jul 18, 2026

Intelligence benchmarks

Artificial Analysis indexes - compared with the best open and proprietary models

Intelligence

40.7

AA Index

Coding

52.1

AA Index

Agentic

32.3

AA Index

Intelligence Index - Inkling vs. the field

Best open-weight models (you can run locally) and leading proprietary models for context.

Claude Fable 5 (with fallback)
59.9
closed
GPT-5.6 Sol (max)
58.9
closed
Kimi K3
57.1
closed
Claude Opus 4.8 (max)
55.7
closed
GPT-5.6 Terra (max)
55
closed
GLM-5.2
51.1
open
MiniMax-M3
44.4
open
Inkling
40.7
open

Coding Index comparison

GPT-5.6 Sol (xhigh)
78.3
closed
GPT-5.6 Terra (max)
76.7
closed
Claude Fable 5 (with fallback)
76.5
closed
Kimi K3
76.2
closed
GPT-5.5 (xhigh)
74.9
closed
GLM-5.2
68.8
open
Kimi K2.6
61.8
open
Inkling
52.1
open

Agentic Index comparison

GPT-5.6 Sol (max)
54
closed
Claude Fable 5 (with fallback)
52.8
closed
Kimi K3
50.1
closed
GPT-5.6 Terra (max)
47.4
closed
Claude Opus 4.8 (max)
47.2
closed
GLM-5.2
43.1
open
DeepSeek V4 Pro
36.4
open
Inkling
32.3
open

Benchmark data from Artificial Analysis · updated 2026-07-18.

Standard benchmarks

Performance across standard evaluations

BenchmarkScore
GPQA87.2

Will it run on your hardware?

Pick your GPU memory - see which quantizations fit, and the cheapest card for the rest

Too big for 24 GB at any quant
0 of 4 quantizations fit Inkling with real runtime overhead.
Q4_K_M
321 GB
Q5_K_M
392 GB
Q8_0
591 GB
FP16
1106 GB
fits tight too big

Need an exact figure for your context length? Use the VRAM calculator.

Run it locally

Copy-paste - running in under a minute

vLLMOpenAI-compatible API
vllm serve thinkingmachines/Inkling-NVFP4

New to this? Start with Ollama · serve to many users with vLLM.

Deep dive

Notes, sources, and the full write-up

Inkling is a 552.8B-parameter apache-2.0 model from Thinking Machines. It scores 40.7 on the Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index (coding 52.1). At Q4_K_M it needs roughly 321 GB of VRAM, placing it in the 48 GB+ / multi-GPU hardware tier.

Benchmarks

Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index - Inkling vs. leading closed models:

ModelIntelligenceCodingGPQA
Inkling40.752.187.2
Claude Fable 5 (with fallback)59.976.592.6
GPT-5.6 Sol (max)58.977.494.1
Kimi K357.176.293.5
Claude Opus 4.8 (max)55.774.392
GPT-5.6 Terra (max)5576.792.5

Source: Artificial Analysis (2026-07-18).

Popularity

Inkling has 38,374 downloads in the last month on HuggingFace and 61 likes.

Frequently asked

Quick answers to common questions

How much VRAM does Inkling need?

Inkling with 552.8B parameters needs approximately 321 GB at Q4_K_M quantization. Use our VRAM calculator for an exact estimate.

Is Inkling better than other thinkingmachines models?

Inkling has 552.8B parameters with 8,192 context - a strong choice for general use.

What license is Inkling under?

Inkling is released under the apache-2.0 license, making it suitable for most commercial and personal projects.

What hardware runs Inkling well?

With 552.8B parameters, Inkling requires adequate VRAM. High-end GPUs like the RTX 4090 (24GB), RTX 5090 (32GB), or Mac Studio with unified memory are good options. Check our hardware directory for specific recommendations.

What is the best quantization for Inkling?

Q4_K_M is the recommended sweet spot - ~98% of FP16 quality at ~27% of the size. Q5_K_M (~392 GB) is an option if you have spare VRAM. Use our VRAM calculator to compare.

What models compete with Inkling?

Inkling competes with other 276B–829B. Browse our model directory for comparisons, benchmarks, and community reviews to find the best fit.

Nearby options

Similar models and compatible hardware by spec

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