AI model comparison
Beam 1.0 501B A23B vs Inkling Small
Side by side comparison of Beam 1.0 501B A23B and Inkling Small on pricing, benchmark scores, context window, and more.
Beam 1.0 is Reflection's open-weight reasoning model for coding and long-horizon agentic workflows.
- Input / 1M
- $0.25
- Output / 1M
- $1
- Context
- 1.05M
Inkling Small is an open-weight multimodal mixture-of-experts model from Thinking Machines Lab, with 12B active parameters out of 276B total.
- Input / 1M
- $0.45
- Output / 1M
- $1.20
- Context
- 524K
Comparing image generators? Compare image models
At a glance
Quick verdict
How the two models stack up on the things people ask about most.
Lower price
Beam 1.0 501B A23B
1.5x cheaper for a typical chat
Higher intelligence score
Beam 1.0 501B A23B
17.7 vs 12.9 on Artificial Analysis
Larger context window
Beam 1.0 501B A23B
1.05M vs 524K tokens
Newer release
Beam 1.0 501B A23B
Released October 16, 2026
Benchmarks
Benchmark scores
Independent scores from Artificial Analysis. Higher is better.
Intelligence index
Beam 1.0 501B A23B17.7Coding index
Beam 1.0 501B A23BNot availableAgentic index
Beam 1.0 501B A23BNot availablePricing
Beam 1.0 501B A23B vs Inkling Small API pricing
Per-token API rates. Cheaper option highlighted.
| Metric | Beam 1.0 501B A23B | |
|---|---|---|
| Input tokensPer 1M tokens | $0.25 | $0.45 |
| Output tokensPer 1M tokens | $1 | $1.20 |
| Cached input (read)Per 1M tokens | $0.05 | $0.10 |
| Cache writePer 1M tokens | Not available | Not available |
What it costs in practice
Estimated cost per 1,000 requests at standard rates. Coding and long-document figures also show the cost when the input is already cached.
Chat message
2K in, 500 out
Beam 1.0 501B A23B$1Coding task
30K in, 4K out
Beam 1.0 501B A23B$11.50$5.50 cachedLong document summary
150K in, 2K out
Beam 1.0 501B A23B$39.50$9.50 cachedSpecs
Context window and capabilities
How much each model can read, how much it can write, and what it accepts as input.
| Metric | Beam 1.0 501B A23B | |
|---|---|---|
| Context window | 1.05M tokens | 524K tokens |
| Max output | 131K tokens | 262K tokens |
| Input types | Text | Audio, Image, Text |
| Output types | Text | Text |
| Reasoning effort levels | Max, Extra high, High, Medium, Low | Max, High, Medium, Low, Minimal, None |
| Default reasoning effort | Max | High |
| Release date | October 16, 2026 | July 30, 2026 |
Features
Supported features
API features available for each model.
| Metric | Beam 1.0 501B A23B | |
|---|---|---|
| Tool calling | Supported | Supported |
| Structured outputs | Supported | Not supported |
| JSON mode | Supported | Not supported |
| Reasoning | Supported | Supported |
| Temperature | Supported | Supported |
| Stop sequences | Supported | Supported |
| Deterministic seed | Supported | Supported |
| Verbosity control | Not supported | Not supported |
Keep exploring
More on these models
Other head-to-heads, the full model page, and the alternatives list for each model.
Beam 1.0 501B A23BView full model details- Beam 1.0 501B A23B vs DeepSeek V4.1 Flash 1017
- Beam 1.0 501B A23B vs GPT-6 Luna
- Beam 1.0 501B A23B vs DeepSeek V4 Pro 0813
- Beam 1.0 501B A23B vs Qwen3.8 27B
- Beam 1.0 501B A23B vs MiniMax M3
- Beam 1.0 501B A23B vs Kimi K3
- Beam 1.0 501B A23B vs Nemotron 3.5 Super VL
- Beam 1.0 501B A23B vs Inkling
- Beam 1.0 501B A23B vs Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite
- Beam 1.0 501B A23B vs DeepSeek V4.1 Flash
- Inkling Small vs Qwen3.8 27B
- Inkling Small vs MiniMax M3
- Inkling Small vs Nemotron 3.5 Super VL
- Inkling Small vs Inkling
- Inkling Small vs Nemotron 3 Ultra
- Inkling Small vs Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite
- Inkling Small vs Muse Glimmer 30B
- Inkling Small vs Command A+
- Inkling Small vs Hy4 preview
- Inkling Small vs GPT-5.6 Luna
Our take
Beam 1.0 501B A23B is 1.5x cheaper for a typical chat. Beam 1.0 501B A23B scores higher on the Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index (17.7 vs 12.9). Beam 1.0 501B A23B has the larger context window (1.05M vs 524K tokens). The right pick depends on your workload, so the quickest way to settle it is to send the same prompt to both and compare.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
Is Beam 1.0 501B A23B or Inkling Small cheaper?
Beam 1.0 501B A23B is cheaper for a typical chat (2K input tokens and 500 output tokens). Beam 1.0 501B A23B costs $0.25 per 1M input tokens and $1 per 1M output tokens, while Inkling Small costs $0.45 per 1M input tokens and $1.20 per 1M output tokens.
Which has a bigger context window, Beam 1.0 501B A23B or Inkling Small?
Beam 1.0 501B A23B supports up to 1.05M tokens of context, compared with 524K for Inkling Small.
Is Beam 1.0 501B A23B smarter than Inkling Small?
On the Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index, Beam 1.0 501B A23B scores 17.7 and Inkling Small scores 12.9, putting Beam 1.0 501B A23B ahead. Benchmarks don't capture everything, so the best test is running your own prompts through both.
Can I use Beam 1.0 501B A23B and Inkling Small at the same time?
Yes. Shortcut Chat sends one prompt to multiple models at once, so you can see Beam 1.0 501B A23B and Inkling Small answer side by side and keep the better response.
Why choose? Ask both.
Send one prompt to Beam 1.0 501B A23B and Inkling Small at the same time. Compare the answers side by side and keep the best one.