API cost decision in 10 seconds

R1 0528 vs Ling-2.6-1T

Pick Ling-2.6-1T when budget and context both matter.

Page updated: 2026-05-26T15:08:08Z Data confirmed: 2026-05-30T18:07:59Z Prices normalized to USD per 1M tokens Sample workload: 1M input + 500K output

Budget verdict

Pick Ling-2.6-1T when budget and context both matter.

On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, Ling-2.6-1T is estimated at $0.39 vs $1.57 for R1 0528, saving $1.19 (75.4% lower).

Cost-first pickLing-2.6-1T

Context-first pickLing-2.6-1T

Sample savings$1.1975.4%

10x traffic gap$11.88

Ling-2.6-1T is cheaper on the standard workload and also has the larger context window. At 10x that traffic, the same price gap is about $11.88. Use the calculator below to replace the sample workload with your own token volume.

Cost sensitivity

Workload Sensitivity

Same prices, different token mixes.

Ling-2.6-1T stays cheaper across input-heavy, balanced, and output-heavy sample workloads.

Workload shape	Token mix	Better pick	R1 0528	Ling-2.6-1T
Input-heavy / RAG	5M input + 500K output	Ling-2.6-1T	$3.58	$0.69
Balanced workload	1M input + 1M output	Ling-2.6-1T	$2.65	$0.7
Output-heavy chatbot	1M input + 5M output	Ling-2.6-1T	$11.25	$3.2

Cheaper input Ling-2.6-1T $0.5 vs $0.075 / 1M

Ling-2.6-1T is $0.42 cheaper per 1M input tokens (85% lower; 6.67x difference).

Cheaper output Ling-2.6-1T $2.15 vs $0.625 / 1M

Ling-2.6-1T is $1.52 cheaper per 1M output tokens (70.9% lower; 3.44x difference).

Larger context Ling-2.6-1T 163.84K vs 262.14K

Ling-2.6-1T has 98.3K more context (1.6x larger).

Sample workload Ling-2.6-1T $1.57 vs $0.39

Ling-2.6-1T is $1.19 cheaper on the standard workload (75.4% lower).

Estimate your workload cost

Your Workload Cost

Prices are normalized to USD per 1M tokens.

Monthly input tokens Monthly output tokens

R1 0528 Calculating… Estimated API cost

Ling-2.6-1T Calculating… Estimated API cost

Cheaper for this workload Calculating… Difference: calculating…

This estimate uses normalized public API pricing per 1M tokens. It is a planning aid, not a billing quote. Verify provider pricing, limits, and terms before production use.

Quick Decision

Verdict

Ling-2.6-1T has the lower input price; Ling-2.6-1T has the lower output price; Ling-2.6-1T offers the larger context window. For the 1M input plus 500K output sample, Ling-2.6-1T is cheaper for the standard workload.

For a 1M input token plus 500K output token workload, the estimated API cost is $1.57 for R1 0528 and $0.39 for Ling-2.6-1T.

Best Fit

Choose R1 0528 when its provider, model quality, latency, or availability is more important than the numeric price/context winner.

Choose Ling-2.6-1T when you care most about lower input-token price, lower output-token price, and larger context window.

Decision Notes

On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, Ling-2.6-1T is estimated at $0.39 vs $1.57 for R1 0528, saving $1.19 (75.4% lower).
Ling-2.6-1T is $1.19 cheaper on the standard workload (75.4% lower).
Ling-2.6-1T is $0.42 cheaper per 1M input tokens (85% lower; 6.67x difference).
Ling-2.6-1T is $1.52 cheaper per 1M output tokens (70.9% lower; 3.44x difference).
Ling-2.6-1T has 98.3K more context (1.6x larger).

Head-to-Head Specs

Feature	R1 0528 (DeepSeek)	Ling-2.6-1T (inclusionAI)
Input Price prompt tokens per 1M	$0.5	$0.075
Completion Price per 1M tokens	$2.15	$0.625
Sample Workload Cost 1M input + 500K output	$1.57	$0.39
Context Window	163.84K	262.14K
Release Date	2025-05-28	2026-04-23
Popularity	#105	#106

Use-Case Decision Matrix

Use case	Better pick	Why
Budget-constrained production	Ling-2.6-1T	On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, Ling-2.6-1T is estimated at $0.39 vs $1.57 for R1 0528, saving $1.19 (75.4% lower).
High-volume input processing	Ling-2.6-1T	Lower prompt-token price matters most when prompts, retrieved passages, or documents dominate the bill.
Long responses and chatbots	Ling-2.6-1T	Lower output-token price matters most when assistants generate many completion tokens.
RAG or long-document work	Ling-2.6-1T	A larger context window leaves more room for retrieved passages, conversation history, or source files.

Related Alternatives

Same-provider lower-cost swaps

DeepSeek V4 Flash (free) can replace R1 0528 when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.
DeepSeek V4 Flash can replace R1 0528 when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.2.
R1 Distill Qwen 32B can replace R1 0528 when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.43.
DeepSeek V3.2 can replace R1 0528 when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.44.

Larger context near this budget

Llama 4 Scout offers 10M context with $0.23 sample workload cost.
Owl Alpha offers 1.05M context with $0 sample workload cost.
DeepSeek V4 Flash offers 1.05M context with $0.2 sample workload cost.
MiMo-V2.5 offers 1.05M context with $0.28 sample workload cost.

Popular competitors

Hy3 preview · Tencent · #1
DeepSeek V4 Flash · DeepSeek · #2
MiMo-V2.5 · Xiaomi · #3
Claude Sonnet 4.6 · Anthropic · #4

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DeepSeek catalog

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inclusionAI catalog

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