DeepSeek V4.1 Flash 1017 Max vs Inkling 2 Small compared

DeepSeek V4.1 Flash 1017 Max leads the intelligence index 32.6 to 30.6. Price per token, response speed and when to pick each.

Metric	DeepSeek V4.1 Flash 1017 (Max)	Inkling 2 Small
Intelligence Index	32.6	30.6
Input price (per 1M tokens)	$0.30	$0.30
Output price (per 1M tokens)	$1.20	$1.00
Output speed (tokens/s)	162	139
Time to first token	1.2s	2.2s
Release date	2026-10-17	2026-11-05

Metric

DeepSeek V4.1 Flash 1017 (Max)

Inkling 2 Small

Intelligence Index

32.6

30.6

Input price (per 1M tokens)

$0.30

Output price (per 1M tokens)

$1.20

$1.00

Output speed (tokens/s)

162

139

Time to first token

1.2s

2.2s

Release date

2026-10-17

2026-11-05

If you only looked at the intelligence index, DeepSeek V4.1 Flash 1017 (Max) and Inkling 2 Small would be hard to tell apart. DeepSeek V4.1 Flash 1017 Max leads the intelligence index 32.6 to 30.6, a gap of 2.0 points. What follows is built entirely from tracked data, so where the catalogue is silent, this page says so instead of guessing.

Reasoning and overall scores

DeepSeek V4.1 Flash 1017 Max records 32.6 on the intelligence index and Inkling 2 Small records 30.6. The lead is visible but narrow, so it should not decide the choice on its own.

Across the 109 active models with an intelligence score in the catalogue, DeepSeek V4.1 Flash 1017 Max ranks 45th and Inkling 2 Small ranks 52nd.

For coding or maths work specifically, the catalogue has no dedicated index on either side yet.

Throughput and time to first token

Measured output speed is 162 tokens per second for DeepSeek V4.1 Flash 1017 Max and 139 tokens per second for Inkling 2 Small. On long outputs, that is a real advantage for DeepSeek V4.1 Flash 1017 Max. Time to first token is 1.2 seconds for DeepSeek V4.1 Flash 1017 Max and 2.2 seconds for Inkling 2 Small. DeepSeek V4.1 Flash 1017 Max gets to its first token 1.8 times as fast.

Put together, a 400-token answer would take about 3.7 seconds from DeepSeek V4.1 Flash 1017 Max and 5.1 seconds from Inkling 2 Small, counting the first-token wait.

Price per token

The list prices are $0.30 in and $1.20 out for DeepSeek V4.1 Flash 1017 Max, and $0.30 in and $1.00 out for Inkling 2 Small, per million tokens. That makes Inkling 2 Small's output 17% cheaper.

Take 1 million input tokens and 200,000 output tokens: that comes to $0.54 on DeepSeek V4.1 Flash 1017 Max and $0.50 on Inkling 2 Small. For summarising 1,000 documents of 8,000 tokens into 400-token summaries, Inkling 2 Small would come in 3% lower: $2.88 for DeepSeek V4.1 Flash 1017 Max against $2.80 for Inkling 2 Small.

Score per dollar

Per point of intelligence index, DeepSeek V4.1 Flash 1017 Max costs $0.016 of blended price per million tokens and Inkling 2 Small $0.016. On that measure they are priced in proportion to their scores.

Generation gap

DeepSeek V4.1 Flash 1017 Max came first, on October 17, 2026; Inkling 2 Small followed on November 5, 2026. That is close enough to count them as the same generation.

FAQ

Is Inkling 2 Small better than DeepSeek V4.1 Flash 1017 Max?

Not across the board: DeepSeek V4.1 Flash 1017 Max scores higher on the intelligence index, 32.6 to 30.6; Inkling 2 Small is 10% cheaper on blended price; and DeepSeek V4.1 Flash 1017 Max streams output 1.2 times as fast.

Does DeepSeek V4.1 Flash 1017 Max respond faster than Inkling 2 Small?

DeepSeek V4.1 Flash 1017 Max generates output faster, at 162 tokens per second against 139 tokens per second. DeepSeek V4.1 Flash 1017 Max reaches its first token sooner (1.2 seconds against 2.2 seconds).

When were DeepSeek V4.1 Flash 1017 Max and Inkling 2 Small released?

Inkling 2 Small is newer. It was released on November 5, 2026, 19 days after DeepSeek V4.1 Flash 1017 Max (October 17, 2026).

Which is cheaper, DeepSeek V4.1 Flash 1017 Max or Inkling 2 Small?

Inkling 2 Small is cheaper on a blended basis. DeepSeek V4.1 Flash 1017 Max lists $0.30 per million input tokens and $1.20 per million output tokens; Inkling 2 Small lists $0.30 and $1.00. For 1 million input and 200,000 output tokens that is $0.54 against $0.50.

Where do these numbers come from?

The figures are the recorded benchmark, price and speed data in Franklin AI's model catalogue. This page is written from that data automatically; neither model was tested by hand for it.

Final whistle

Bottom line: DeepSeek V4.1 Flash 1017 Max is the stronger all-round pick on this data, while Inkling 2 Small makes sense in narrower cases. Pick Inkling 2 Small if cost matters ($1.00 against $1.20 per million output tokens). Pick DeepSeek V4.1 Flash 1017 Max if you need the higher overall score (32.6 against 30.6) and users are waiting on the first word.

Where the numbers come from

The scores, speed and prices in this comparison come from independent third-party model evaluations that Franklin AI syncs each day, and the article was written from a snapshot of them. For the latest results, open the DeepSeek V4.1 Flash 1017 (Max) and Inkling 2 Small pages. The AI Benchmark methodology explains how that data is collected and shown.