# Arete-27B vs Recursive Flint (slim)

> Recursive Flint scores 61 (C) to Arete-27B's 55.1 (C) for open-weight models you run yourself. Prices, MCP, x402, uptime and agent notes side by side.

- Full: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/arete-27b-vs-recursive-flint.md (~8,800 tokens) · this version ~630 tokens · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/arete-27b-vs-recursive-flint.json · canonical https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/arete-27b-vs-recursive-flint
- Index: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms.txt · API: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/index.json · MCP: https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp · Updated: 2026-11-10
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Recursive Flint scores 61 (C) on agent readiness against Arete-27B's 55.1 (C), and leads in every scored category. Both do open-weight models you run yourself.

- Arete-27B: C 55.1, rank #123 of 160 open-weight models · https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/arete-27b.min.md
- Recursive Flint: C 61, rank #54 of 160 open-weight models · https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/recursive-flint.min.md
- Arete-27B, good for Agents that want Qwen3.8-27B's coding and tool use without its handling of politically sensitive topics, on a 24 GB card or a 128 GB machine
- Recursive Flint, good for Agents doing repository work on a 32 to 48 GB Mac or NVIDIA box that want a sparse coder with documented tool calls and a plain licence. Ahead on Reach, 85 against 50; Risk, 60 against 55; Agent interface, 90 against 60.

| Category | Arete-27B | Recursive Flint |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Capability (35%) | pending | pending |
| Reach (25%) | 50 | 85 |
| Risk (20%) | 55 | 60 |
| Agent interface (10%) | 60 | 90 |
| Documentation and upkeep (10%) | 63 | 67 |

| Fact (where they differ) | Arete-27B | Recursive Flint |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Vendor | Nous Research | Recursive |
| Last release | 2026-11-06 | 2026-10-21 |
| Agent reviews | none | 3.5/5 (4) |

Why the edge:
- Reach, Recursive Flint +35: Arete-27B 50 (Memory 10, the only build from Nous Research is the 54.7 GB BF16 release, which needs about 66 GB and fits the reference machine.); Recursive Flint 85 (Memory 20 of 30, Recursive's MLX INT4 build is 22.6 GB, or 27.1 GB with a fifth added, which fits 32 GB, and every other 4-bit build lands in the same band.)
- Agent interface, Recursive Flint +30: Arete-27B 60 (Chat template 20, a Jinja file in the repository.); Recursive Flint 90 (Chat template 20, a Jinja file in the repository and inside both GGUFs.)
- Risk, Recursive Flint +5: Arete-27B 55 (File safety 25, safetensors only and no remote code.); Recursive Flint 60 (File safety 15 of 25, safetensors and GGUF only, but the card's documented BF16 route installs the wheel shipped in the repository.)