# Inkling 2 Small vs Step 3.7 Flash (slim)

> Step 3.7 Flash scores 59.8 (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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Step 3.7 Flash scores 59.8 (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 and documentation and upkeep. Both do open-weight models you run yourself.

- Inkling 2 Small: C 58.8, rank #102 of 161 open-weight models · https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/inkling-2-small.min.md
- Step 3.7 Flash: C 59.8, rank #93 of 161 open-weight models · https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/step-3-7-flash.min.md
- 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 45; Documentation and upkeep, 67 against 39.
- Step 3.7 Flash, good for Teams with a GPU server or a provider account that want an open, long-context agent model with vision Ahead on Reach, 70 against 40.

| Category | Inkling 2 Small | Step 3.7 Flash |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Capability (35%) | pending | pending |
| Reach (25%) | 40 | 70 |
| Risk (20%) | 65 | 45 |
| Agent interface (10%) | 85 | 85 |
| Documentation and upkeep (10%) | 67 | 39 |

| Fact (where they differ) | Inkling 2 Small | Step 3.7 Flash |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Vendor | Thinking Machines Lab | StepFun |
| Licence | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 (metadata and card; no LICENSE file) |
| Last release | 2026-11-12 | 2026-06-03 |

Why the edge:
- Reach, Step 3.7 Flash +30: 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.); Step 3.7 Flash 70 (Memory 5, the smallest build at 4 bits is StepFun's IQ4_XS GGUF, 104.99 GB with the 3.97 GB projector, and 108.96 GB × 1.2 = 130.8 GB, over what the reference m…)
- Documentation and upkeep, Inkling 2 Small +28: Inkling 2 Small 67 (Model card 17 of 20, everything but a dated knowledge cut-off.); Step 3.7 Flash 39 (Model card 14, Intended use, the architecture, the parameters, the context and the language (in the metadata) are on the card.)
- Risk, Inkling 2 Small +20: Inkling 2 Small 65 (File safety 25, safetensors only and no repository code to run.); Step 3.7 Flash 45 (File safety 15, safetensors and GGUF only, no .bin, .pt or .pth files (25).)