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According to the OpenRouter model catalog, Thinking Machines’ Inkling 2 Small now appears on the free tier under formal ID thinkingmachines/inkling-2-small:free. The models API stamps created 2026-11-09T22:04:07Z, which is 2026-11-10 06:04:07 Asia/Shanghai. The OpenRouter model page names it Thinking Machines: Inkling 2 Small (free).
This is an OpenRouter free-tier listing note—not a same-day model launch write-up, and not a claim that weights are already open.
Formal ID, price, and OR-side context
As of this check, the OpenRouter row shows:
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Formal ID | thinkingmachines/inkling-2-small:free |
| Page name | Thinking Machines: Inkling 2 Small (free) |
API created | 2026-11-09T22:04:07Z ＝ 2026-11-10 06:04:07 Asia/Shanghai |
| Prompt / completion | $0 / $0 |
| Context length | 1,048,576 (OR-side only) |
| Modality | text+image→text |
OpenRouter’s model description frames Inkling 2 Small as a multimodal mixture-of-experts reasoning model from Thinking Machines Lab, with 17B active parameters out of 594B total. Those size and modality lines line up with Thinking Machines’ own Nov 5, 2026 news. The 1,048,576 context figure and the $0/$0 free-tier rates are OpenRouter-side listing facts; Thinking Machines’ news page does not publish those as company product claims.
Free-tier pricing and rate limits can change; treat the table as a snapshot, not a permanent guarantee.
Nov 5 background — Tinker, closed, planned Apache
Thinking Machines published Introducing Inkling 2 Small on Nov 5, 2026. That piece describes the same 594B total / 17B active MoE with image inputs, says initial availability was through Tinker with closed weights, and states an intent to release full weights under Apache 2.0 the following week after external safety testing and red-teaming.
That Nov 5 note is first-release background. It is not the focus of this OpenRouter free-tier listing, and it does not mention OpenRouter, a $0/$0 free route, or a 1,048,576 context product claim. Landing on OpenRouter’s free tier also does not mean open weights have already shipped or that Apache licensing is already live—Thinking Machines still described weights as closed with a planned later open step.
Boundaries
- OpenRouter free-tier formal ID
thinkingmachines/inkling-2-small:freeat 2026-11-10 06:04:07 Asia/Shanghai. - Debut background remains Nov 5—not a same-day model launch.
- Not an open-weights release day.
- No DigIntoAI lab run of prompts, latency, or free-tier limits.
We haven't called this model on DigIntoAI’s side—the details above follow the OpenRouter model page, the OpenRouter models API row, and Thinking Machines’ Nov 5 news only.
Related reading (different topic)
For another OpenRouter formal-ID / live-price listing—on FlashX Legal, not Inkling 2 Small free—see FlashX Legal Is on OpenRouter Now — Formal ID and Live Prices.