API cost decision in 10 seconds

Muse Glimmer 30B vs Inkling Small

Pick Inkling Small when budget and context both matter.

Page updated: 2026-08-22T16:07:55Z Data confirmed: 2026-08-23T11:07:50Z Prices normalized to USD per 1M tokens Sample workload: 1M input + 500K output

Budget verdict

Pick Inkling Small when budget and context both matter.

On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, Inkling Small is estimated at $1.05 vs $1.1 for Muse Glimmer 30B, saving $0.05 (4.5% lower).

Cost-first pickInkling Small

Context-first pickInkling Small

Sample savings$0.054.5%

10x traffic gap$0.5

Inkling Small is cheaper on the standard workload and also has the larger context window. At 10x that traffic, the same price gap is about $0.5. Use the calculator below to replace the sample workload with your own token volume.

Cost sensitivity

Workload Sensitivity

Same prices, different token mixes.

Cost winner changes by workload shape: input-heavy / RAG favors Muse Glimmer 30B, balanced workload favors Inkling Small, and output-heavy chatbot favors Inkling Small.

Workload shape	Token mix	Better pick	Muse Glimmer 30B	Inkling Small
Input-heavy / RAG	5M input + 500K output	Muse Glimmer 30B	$2.5	$2.85
Balanced workload	1M input + 1M output	Inkling Small	$1.85	$1.65
Output-heavy chatbot	1M input + 5M output	Inkling Small	$7.85	$6.45

Cheaper input Muse Glimmer 30B $0.35 vs $0.45 / 1M

Muse Glimmer 30B is $0.1 cheaper per 1M input tokens (22.2% lower; 1.29x difference).

Cheaper output Inkling Small $1.5 vs $1.2 / 1M

Inkling Small is $0.3 cheaper per 1M output tokens (20% lower; 1.25x difference).

Larger context Inkling Small 131.07K vs 1.05M

Inkling Small has 917.5K more context (8x larger).

Sample workload Inkling Small $1.1 vs $1.05

Inkling Small is $0.05 cheaper on the standard workload (4.5% lower).

Estimate your workload cost

Your Workload Cost

Prices are normalized to USD per 1M tokens.

Monthly input tokens Monthly output tokens

Muse Glimmer 30B Calculating… Estimated API cost

Inkling Small 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

Muse Glimmer 30B has the lower input price; Inkling Small has the lower output price; Inkling Small offers the larger context window. For the 1M input plus 500K output sample, Inkling Small is cheaper for the standard workload.

For a 1M input token plus 500K output token workload, the estimated API cost is $1.1 for Muse Glimmer 30B and $1.05 for Inkling Small.

Best Fit

Choose Muse Glimmer 30B when you care most about lower input-token price.

Choose Inkling Small when you care most about lower output-token price, and larger context window.

Decision Notes

On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, Inkling Small is estimated at $1.05 vs $1.1 for Muse Glimmer 30B, saving $0.05 (4.5% lower).
Inkling Small is $0.05 cheaper on the standard workload (4.5% lower).
Muse Glimmer 30B is $0.1 cheaper per 1M input tokens (22.2% lower; 1.29x difference).
Inkling Small is $0.3 cheaper per 1M output tokens (20% lower; 1.25x difference).
Inkling Small has 917.5K more context (8x larger).

Head-to-Head Specs

Feature	Muse Glimmer 30B (Meta)	Inkling Small (Thinking Machines)
Input Price prompt tokens per 1M	$0.35	$0.45
Completion Price per 1M tokens	$1.5	$1.2
Sample Workload Cost 1M input + 500K output	$1.1	$1.05
Context Window	131.07K	1.05M
Release Date	2026-08-09	2026-07-30

Use-Case Decision Matrix

Use case	Better pick	Why
Budget-constrained production	Inkling Small	On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, Inkling Small is estimated at $1.05 vs $1.1 for Muse Glimmer 30B, saving $0.05 (4.5% lower).
High-volume input processing	Muse Glimmer 30B	Lower prompt-token price matters most when prompts, retrieved passages, or documents dominate the bill.
Long responses and chatbots	Inkling Small	Lower output-token price matters most when assistants generate many completion tokens.
RAG or long-document work	Inkling Small	A larger context window leaves more room for retrieved passages, conversation history, or source files.

Related Alternatives

Same-provider lower-cost swaps

Llama 3.3 70B Instruct (free) can replace Muse Glimmer 30B when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.
Llama 3.2 3B Instruct (free) can replace Muse Glimmer 30B when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.
Llama 3.1 8B Instruct can replace Muse Glimmer 30B when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.09.
Llama 3.2 1B Instruct can replace Muse Glimmer 30B when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.13.

Larger context near this budget

DeepSeek V4 Flash 0731 offers 1.31M context with $0.17 sample workload cost.
DeepSeek V4 Flash Latest offers 1.31M context with $0.11 sample workload cost.
Llama 4 Scout offers 1.31M context with $0.25 sample workload cost.
MiMo-V2.5 offers 1.05M context with $0.28 sample workload cost.

Popular competitors

DeepSeek V4 Flash 0731 · DeepSeek · #1
MiMo-V2.5 · Xiaomi · #2
Hy3 · Tencent · #3
Ox Alpha · stealth · #4

Cheaper alternatives

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Larger context alternatives

Find models with larger context windows for RAG, long documents, and codebase review.

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Provider catalogs

Compare models within provider hubs before choosing a final API vendor.

Open provider hubs

Meta catalog

Review all tracked Meta models before deciding whether this matchup is the right shortlist.

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Thinking Machines catalog

Check other Thinking Machines models with comparable pricing, context, or release timing.

Open Thinking Machines models

Muse Glimmer 30B

Muse Glimmer 30B is a dense, open-weight multimodal model from Meta Superintelligence Labs, distilled from Muse Spark and optimized for autonomous agents on consumer hardware. It is suited for long-horizon...

Inkling Small

Inkling Small is an open-weight multimodal mixture-of-experts model from Thinking Machines Lab, with 12B active parameters out of 276B total. It is positioned as the smaller, more efficient member of...