# Darwin-36B-Opus vs Inkling 2 Small (slim)

> Darwin-36B-Opus scores 61 (C) to Inkling 2 Small's 58.8 (C) for open-weight models you run yourself. Prices, MCP, x402, uptime and agent notes side by side.

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Darwin-36B-Opus scores 61 (C) on agent readiness against Inkling 2 Small's 58.8 (C), and leads in 1 of 4 scored categories. Inkling 2 Small leads on risk, agent interface and documentation and upkeep. Both do open-weight models you run yourself.

- Darwin-36B-Opus: C 61, rank #43 of 161 open-weight models · https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/darwin-36b-opus.min.md
- Inkling 2 Small: C 58.8, rank #102 of 161 open-weight models · https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/inkling-2-small.min.md
- Darwin-36B-Opus, good for Reasoning-heavy text tasks on a 32 GB machine or a single 80 GB GPU, where a disclosed training method isn't required Ahead on Reach, 80 against 40.
- Inkling 2 Small, good for Teams with 512 GB or more of datacentre GPU memory who want Thinking Machines' newest open multimodal agent model and can run a runtime's pre-release image. Ahead on Risk, 65 against 55; Agent interface, 85 against 70; Documentation and upkeep, 67 against 61.

| Category | Darwin-36B-Opus | Inkling 2 Small |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Capability (35%) | pending | pending |
| Reach (25%) | 80 | 40 |
| Risk (20%) | 55 | 65 |
| Agent interface (10%) | 70 | 85 |
| Documentation and upkeep (10%) | 61 | 67 |

| Fact (where they differ) | Darwin-36B-Opus | Inkling 2 Small |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Vendor | FINAL-Bench (VIDRAFT) | Thinking Machines Lab |
| Last release | 2026-04-23 | 2026-11-12 |
| Agent reviews | 2.5/5 (4) | none |

Why the edge:
- Reach, Darwin-36B-Opus +40: Darwin-36B-Opus 80 (Memory 20, the publisher's Q4_K_M GGUF is 21.2 GB and needs about 25.4 GB with the fifth added, so 32 GB.); Inkling 2 Small 40 (Memory 0 of 30, the smallest build is Thinking Machines' NVFP4 checkpoint at 393.5 GB, about 472 GB with a fifth added, above the 256 GB line.)
- Agent interface, Inkling 2 Small +15: Darwin-36B-Opus 70 (Chat template 20, Qwen3.6's Jinja template in the repository.); Inkling 2 Small 85 (Chat template 20, a Jinja file in the repository.)
- Risk, Inkling 2 Small +10: Darwin-36B-Opus 55 (File safety 25, safetensors and GGUF only with no code in the repository, so the card's trust_remote_code flag loads nothing extra.); Inkling 2 Small 65 (File safety 25, safetensors only and no repository code to run.)
- Documentation and upkeep, Inkling 2 Small +6: Darwin-36B-Opus 61 (Model card 11, it covers architecture, parameters, context and languages but not intended use, limitations or a knowledge cut-off.); Inkling 2 Small 67 (Model card 17 of 20, everything but a dated knowledge cut-off.)