Command A+ vs Inkling

Cohere · Canada  |  Thinking Machines Lab · US · Updated June 2026

Quick verdict

Pick Command A+ for cohere's newer, more efficient flagship - runs on just two h100 gpus, unusually lean for a 218b-parameter model or a 218b-total/25b-active moe released with open weights (apache 2.0) on hugging face. Pick Inkling for the first model release from mira murati's thinking machines lab (ex-openai cto) - one of the most closely-watched new labs in ai or a 975b-parameter moe (41b active) with native text, image, and audio reasoning in one model.

Command A+ (Cohere, Canada) and Inkling (Thinking Machines Lab, US) line up two different AI ecosystems against each other — a comparison that is as much about cost philosophy and openness as raw capability. Command A+ is cohere's newer, leaner flagship - a 218B open-weight MoE tuned for efficiency (just two GPUs to run) and 48-language support. Inkling is mira Murati's Thinking Machines Lab debuts with Inkling - a 975B open-weight MoE with native multimodal reasoning and a dialable thinking-effort control. Their biggest split is context window, and the breakdown below shows exactly how that plays out for your workload.

Key differences at a glance

Side-by-side specs

SpecCommand A+Inkling
ProviderCohere (Canada) Thinking Machines Lab (US)
ReleasedMay 19, 2026 July 15, 2026
Context window256K (unconfirmed) (~384 pages) 1M (~1,500 pages)
Price (in/out)Open weight (self-host / free) Open weight (self-host / free)
Open weight?Yes — self-hostable Yes — self-hostable
Modalitiestext, code text, image, audio, code
SWE-Bench VerifiedNot published Not published
MRCR v2 @ 1MNot published Not published

Who wins what

Cohere's newer, more efficient flagship - runs on just two H100 GPUs, unusually lean for a 218B-parameter model

Command A+

Command A+ lists cohere's newer, more efficient flagship - runs on just two H100 GPUs, unusually lean for a 218B-parameter model among its strengths; Inkling does not.

A 218B-total/25B-active MoE released with open weights (Apache 2.0) on Hugging Face

Command A+

Command A+ lists a 218B-total/25B-active MoE released with open weights (Apache 2.0) on Hugging Face among its strengths; Inkling does not.

Supports 48 languages, including all official EU languages

Command A+

Inkling is comparatively weak here — no official hosted API price - available via third-party hosts only at launch

The first model release from Mira Murati's Thinking Machines Lab (ex-OpenAI CTO) - one of the most closely-watched new labs in AI

Inkling

Command A+ is comparatively weak here — newer release with less independent benchmark verification than established flagships

A 975B-parameter MoE (41B active) with native text, image, and audio reasoning in one model

Inkling

Command A+ is comparatively weak here — enterprise/multilingual focus rather than topping general reasoning leaderboards

A dialable 'thinking effort' knob (0.2-0.99) that lets you trade speed for depth of reasoning per-request

Inkling

Mira Murati's Thinking Machines Lab debuts with Inkling - a 975B open-weight MoE with native multimodal reasoning and a dialable thinking-effort control — and it carries the larger 1M context.

Largest single-prompt input

Inkling

Its 1M window is about 3.9× larger than Command A+'s 256K (unconfirmed), fitting roughly 1,500 pages in one prompt.

Which should you pick?

Someone analysing very long documents or codebases

Inkling

Larger 1M window fits more in one prompt.

Anyone whose priority is cohere's newer, more efficient flagship - runs on just two h100 gpus, unusually lean for a 218b-parameter model

Command A+

It is specifically built for that.

Anyone whose priority is the first model release from mira murati's thinking machines lab (ex-openai cto) - one of the most closely-watched new labs in ai

Inkling

That is its strongest area.

An enterprise with regional data-residency rules

Inkling or Command A+

Origin (Canada vs US) affects where data is processed and which compliance regime applies — check the provider's terms for your region.

Command A+: where it fits

Cohere's newer, leaner flagship - a 218B open-weight MoE tuned for efficiency (just two GPUs to run) and 48-language support. Released May 19, 2026 by Cohere, it is built for cohere's newer, more efficient flagship - runs on just two H100 GPUs, unusually lean for a 218B-parameter model, a 218B-total/25B-active MoE released with open weights (Apache 2.0) on Hugging Face, supports 48 languages, including all official EU languages, and positioned by Cohere as its 'most efficient and performant model to date'.

Its trade-offs are real: no official context window or per-token price published yet - both are estimated/unavailable, newer release with less independent benchmark verification than established flagships, and enterprise/multilingual focus rather than topping general reasoning leaderboards. As an open-weight model, its running cost is your own hardware rather than a per-token fee.

Inkling: where it fits

Mira Murati's Thinking Machines Lab debuts with Inkling - a 975B open-weight MoE with native multimodal reasoning and a dialable thinking-effort control. Released July 15, 2026 by Thinking Machines Lab, it is built for the first model release from Mira Murati's Thinking Machines Lab (ex-OpenAI CTO) - one of the most closely-watched new labs in AI, a 975B-parameter MoE (41B active) with native text, image, and audio reasoning in one model, a dialable 'thinking effort' knob (0.2-0.99) that lets you trade speed for depth of reasoning per-request, and fully open weights (Apache 2.0) at frontier scale - unusual for a model this large and this new.

Its trade-offs: a brand-new lab's first release - no multi-generation track record yet, no official hosted API price - available via third-party hosts only at launch, and independent third-party benchmark verification is still limited given how recently it shipped. As an open-weight model, its running cost is your own hardware rather than a per-token fee.

The bottom line for this matchup

This is less "which is smarter" and more "which ecosystem fits." Command A+ (Canada) and Inkling (US) differ on pricing philosophy, data-residency, and tooling as much as on raw scores. The pragmatic move is to run one real task through both and judge the outputs against your own constraints — including where your data is allowed to be processed.

Want both Command A+ and Inkling without two subscriptions? LumiChats gives you these plus 40+ models under one ₹69/day pass (about $1/day) — draft with one, cross-check with the other.

See pricing

Frequently asked questions

Is Command A+ or Inkling better for coding?

Public SWE-Bench figures are not available for either model, so the honest test is your own repository — run an identical real bug through both. By design, Command A+ leans toward cohere's newer, more efficient flagship - runs on just two h100 gpus, unusually lean for a 218b-parameter model while Inkling leans toward the first model release from mira murati's thinking machines lab (ex-openai cto) - one of the most closely-watched new labs in ai, and that positioning usually predicts which feels better on your codebase.

Which is cheaper, Command A+ or Inkling?

They are priced almost identically, so cost will not decide between them.

Which has the bigger context window?

Inkling — 1M vs 256K (unconfirmed), about 3.9× larger. Useful only if the model actually reasons over the full window, which not all do.

Can I use both Command A+ and Inkling together?

Yes — a multi-model platform like LumiChats gives you Command A+, Inkling and 40+ others under one ₹69/day pass (about $1/day), so you can draft with one and cross-check with the other instead of buying two subscriptions.

Which is newer, Command A+ or Inkling?

Inkling — released July 15, 2026, about 57 days after Command A+.

Related comparisons

Specifications and benchmarks reflect publicly reported figures as of June 2026 and may change as providers release updates. Always verify on your own workload.