MAI Transcribe 2 vs Inkling
At a Glance
| Compare |  MAI Transcribe 2Microsoft | InklingThinking Machines Lab |
|---|---|---|
| Intelligence, Cost, and Efficiency | ||
| IntelligenceHigher is better · MM Intelligence v2.5 | UnrankedNot in the 46-model eligible cohort | #34 of 4645.4 score · 3/3 sources · complete |
| CostLower is better · Published-token output estimate | UnrankedNot in the 44-model eligible cohort | #18 of 44$0.090 per LiveBench case |
| EfficiencyHigher is better · MM Efficiency v1.5 | UnrankedNot in the 38-model eligible cohort | #28 of 3848.1 score · 3/3 sources · complete |
| Pricing and Limits | ||
| Input priceFrom · USD / 1M tokens | Not reported | $0.95Deepinfra ↗ · Sep 22, 2026 |
| Output priceFrom · USD / 1M tokens | Not reported | $4.05Deepinfra ↗ · Sep 22, 2026 |
| Context windowMaximum documented tokens | Not reported | 1,049K |
| Model facts checked | Sep 3, 2026View model evidence → | Sep 3, 2026View model evidence → |
Token prices are the lowest available sourced USD rates; input and output may use different providers. Cost ranking estimates output spend on LiveBench, not a full request bill. Ranking methodology →
Available Benchmarks
Side-by-Side Facts
| Field | MAI-Transcribe 2 | Inkling |
|---|---|---|
| Developer | Microsoft | Thinking Machines Lab |
| Family | Mai Transcribe | Inkling |
| Model | MAI-Transcribe 2 | Inkling |
| Version | MAI-Transcribe 2 | Inkling |
| Lifecycle | preview | active |
| Released | 2026-09-03 | 2026-07-15 |
| Knowledge cutoff | Unknown | Unknown |
| Input modalities | Audio | Text, Image, Video, Audio |
| Output modalities | Text | Text |
| Context window | Unknown | 1,049K |
| Total parameters | Unknown | 975B |
| Active parameters | Unknown | 41B |
| License | Unknown | apache-2.0 |
| Open weights | No | Yes |
| API available | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hostable | Unknown | Yes |
| Provider access | Microsoft Foundry (Public preview) | Deepinfra (Standard), Fireworks Ai (Standard), Openrouter (Standard), Together Ai (Standard) |
| Capabilities | diarization, multilingual, speaker-attribution, transcription, word-level-timestamps | agents, chat, coding, generation, reasoning, tools, vision |
MAI Transcribe 2 Capabilities
Inkling Capabilities
Related Comparisons
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MAI-Transcribe 2Microsoft | vs | Grok 4.6xAI | cross-developer peerstext |
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MAI-Transcribe 2Microsoft | vs |  Kimi-K3Moonshot AI | cross-developer peerstext |
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MAI-Transcribe 2Microsoft | vs |  GLM-5.3Z.ai | cross-developer peerstext |
MAI-Transcribe 2Microsoft | vs |  Hy4 previewTencent | cross-developer peerstext |
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MAI-Transcribe 2Microsoft | vs |  Mistral Large 3Mistral AI | cross-developer peerstext |
Primary Evidence
Sources and Freshness
Questions
MAI Transcribe 2 vs Inkling FAQs
Is MAI Transcribe 2 or Inkling better for coding?+
This comparison does not currently contain a protocol-matched coding benchmark for both MAI Transcribe 2 and Inkling, so Model Markets cannot name a coding leader from pricing, context size, or capability labels alone.
Which is cheaper, MAI Transcribe 2 or Inkling?+
Only Inkling has a directly sourced input price: $0.95 per million tokens. Only Inkling has a directly sourced output price: $4.05 per million tokens.
Which has a larger context window, MAI Transcribe 2 or Inkling?+
Neither model has a larger sourced context window in this comparison. MAI Transcribe 2 is — and Inkling is 1,049K.
Which performs better in benchmarks, MAI Transcribe 2 or Inkling?+
There is no overall benchmark winner: At least two independently verified, protocol-matched benchmarks are required for an overall winner.
Can MAI Transcribe 2 or Inkling be self-hosted?+
Inkling is the only model in this pair currently marked as self-hostable. MAI Transcribe 2 is not marked open weight; Inkling is open weight.
Can MAI Transcribe 2 and Inkling understand images?+
MAI Transcribe 2 is not documented with image input; Inkling is documented with image input. This reflects supported input modalities, not vision quality.
Which can generate longer answers, MAI Transcribe 2 or Inkling?+
Neither has a larger sourced maximum output. MAI Transcribe 2 is — and Inkling is —.
Do MAI Transcribe 2 and Inkling support reasoning and tool use?+
MAI Transcribe 2: none of these features are definitively sourced. Inkling: reasoning, tool calling, and image input. Feature support does not establish relative quality.
Which is available from more inference providers, MAI Transcribe 2 or Inkling?+
MAI Transcribe 2 has 1 sourced provider route; Inkling has 4, so Inkling has broader tracked availability.
Which offers better value, MAI Transcribe 2 or Inkling?+
There is no universal value winner. Compare the input and output prices above with the matched benchmark result for your workload: cheaper tokens can be offset by different quality, token usage, latency, or provider availability.