Ling 3.1 Flash vs LongCat-2.5
InclusionAI (Ant Group) · China | Meituan · China · Updated June 2026
Quick verdict
Pick Ling 3.1 Flash for hybrid-reasoning moe — 560b total parameters, ~25b active per token, aimed at agents, tool use, and long-document work or artificial analysis intelligence index score of 41 — above average for its price tier. Pick LongCat-2.5 for native multimodal upgrade to longcat-2.0 - 1.6t total parameters, about 48b active per token or limited-time api price of $0.30/$1.20 per million tokens (cached input $0.006). Choose Ling 3.1 Flash if you need self-hosting or data privacy; LongCat-2.5 if you want a managed API.
Ling 3.1 Flash (InclusionAI (Ant Group)) and LongCat-2.5 (Meituan) are two of the models people most often weigh against each other in 2026. Ling 3.1 Flash is inclusionAI's (Ant Group) September 30, 2026 hybrid-reasoning MoE model — 560B parameters aimed at agents and long documents, now with MIT-licensed open weights. LongCat-2.5 is meituan's November 2, 2026 natively multimodal successor to LongCat-2.0 - 1.6T parameters and 1M context at $0.30/$1.20, with open weights planned but undated. Their biggest split is open vs. closed weights, and the breakdown below shows exactly how that plays out for your workload.
Key differences at a glance
- ▸Cost model: Ling 3.1 Flash ships open weights you can self-host (hardware cost only, no per-token fee), while LongCat-2.5 is API-metered at $0.3/$1.2 per 1M tokens. Your choice depends on whether you want zero marginal cost at the price of running infrastructure.
- ▸Context window: both advertise 1M tokens (~1,500 pages). Tie on paper — test on your own long inputs, since usable recall varies by model.
- ▸Recency: LongCat-2.5 is the newer model by about 33 days (released November 2, 2026), usually meaning fresher training data and capabilities.
Side-by-side specs
| Spec | Ling 3.1 Flash | LongCat-2.5 |
|---|---|---|
| Provider | InclusionAI (Ant Group) (China) | Meituan (China) |
| Released | September 30, 2026 | November 2, 2026 |
| Context window | 1M tokens (~1,500 pages) | 1M tokens (~1,500 pages) |
| Price (in/out) | $0.3/$0.9 per 1M tokens | $0.3/$1.2 per 1M tokens |
| Open weight? | Yes — self-hostable | No — API only |
| Modalities | text, code | text, image, code |
| SWE-Bench Verified | Not published | Not published |
| MRCR v2 @ 1M | Not published | Not published |
Who wins what
Hybrid-reasoning MoE — 560B total parameters, ~25B active per token, aimed at agents, tool use, and long-document work
Ling 3.1 Flash
InclusionAI's (Ant Group) September 30, 2026 hybrid-reasoning MoE model — 560B parameters aimed at agents and long documents, now with MIT-licensed open weights — and its weights are open while LongCat-2.5 is API-only.
Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index score of 41 — above average for its price tier
Ling 3.1 Flash
LongCat-2.5 is comparatively weak here — the $0.30/$1.20 rate is labeled limited-time, and Meituan says prices are subject to change
First-party pricing of $0.30/$0.90 per million tokens, with an 80% cache-read discount ($0.06/MTok)
Ling 3.1 Flash
Ling 3.1 Flash lists first-party pricing of $0.30/$0.90 per million tokens, with an 80% cache-read discount ($0.06/MTok) among its strengths; LongCat-2.5 does not.
Native multimodal upgrade to LongCat-2.0 - 1.6T total parameters, about 48B active per token
LongCat-2.5
Ling 3.1 Flash is comparatively weak here — model card claims a 1M-token context, but the published config sets 262,144 positions — on OpenRouter, DeepInfra serves 262K while Novita serves 1M
Limited-time API price of $0.30/$1.20 per million tokens (cached input $0.006)
LongCat-2.5
Ling 3.1 Flash is comparatively weak here — launched as an announcement plus a two-week free trial rather than a full release, with limited independent verification at the time
Meituan-reported Terminal-Bench v2.1 of 88.4, up from 70.8 for LongCat-2.0
LongCat-2.5
Ling 3.1 Flash is comparatively weak here — announced via WeChat rather than a formal English-language technical report, so some specs are vendor-reported only
Which should you pick?
A team with data-privacy or self-hosting needs
→ Ling 3.1 Flash
Open weights let you run it on your own hardware; LongCat-2.5 is API-only.
Anyone whose priority is hybrid-reasoning moe — 560b total parameters, ~25b active per token, aimed at agents, tool use, and long-document work
→ Ling 3.1 Flash
It is specifically built for that.
Anyone whose priority is native multimodal upgrade to longcat-2.0 - 1.6t total parameters, about 48b active per token
→ LongCat-2.5
That is its strongest area.
Ling 3.1 Flash: where it fits
InclusionAI's (Ant Group) September 30, 2026 hybrid-reasoning MoE model — 560B parameters aimed at agents and long documents, now with MIT-licensed open weights. Released September 30, 2026 by InclusionAI (Ant Group), it is built for hybrid-reasoning MoE — 560B total parameters, ~25B active per token, aimed at agents, tool use, and long-document work, artificial Analysis Intelligence Index score of 41 — above average for its price tier, first-party pricing of $0.30/$0.90 per million tokens, with an 80% cache-read discount ($0.06/MTok), and mIT-licensed open weights on Hugging Face, including the upgraded Ling-3.1-flash-1019 checkpoint published October 27, 2026.
Its trade-offs are real: launched as an announcement plus a two-week free trial rather than a full release, with limited independent verification at the time, model card claims a 1M-token context, but the published config sets 262,144 positions — on OpenRouter, DeepInfra serves 262K while Novita serves 1M, and announced via WeChat rather than a formal English-language technical report, so some specs are vendor-reported only. At $0.3 in / $0.9 out per million tokens, it sits in the budget price band.
LongCat-2.5: where it fits
Meituan's November 2, 2026 natively multimodal successor to LongCat-2.0 - 1.6T parameters and 1M context at $0.30/$1.20, with open weights planned but undated. Released November 2, 2026 by Meituan, it is built for native multimodal upgrade to LongCat-2.0 - 1.6T total parameters, about 48B active per token, limited-time API price of $0.30/$1.20 per million tokens (cached input $0.006), meituan-reported Terminal-Bench v2.1 of 88.4, up from 70.8 for LongCat-2.0, and openAI- and Anthropic-compatible API endpoints with a 1M-token context window.
Its trade-offs: aPI-only for now - GitHub and Hugging Face releases are planned but undated, and the license is unconfirmed (LongCat-2.0 is MIT), the $0.30/$1.20 rate is labeled limited-time, and Meituan says prices are subject to change, and benchmarks are Meituan's own, and sources found no independent score at launch. At $0.3 in / $1.2 out per million tokens, it sits in the budget price band.
The bottom line for this matchup
The defining split here is open vs. closed. Ling 3.1 Flash gives you weights you control — self-host it, fine-tune it, keep data in-house, pay only for hardware. LongCat-2.5 gives you a managed, always-updated API with no infrastructure to run. Teams with GPUs, privacy requirements, or huge volume often favour the open model; teams that want zero ops and the latest capabilities favour the closed one. Capability is close enough that this operational question, not the benchmark, usually decides it.
Want both Ling 3.1 Flash and LongCat-2.5 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 pricingFrequently asked questions
Is Ling 3.1 Flash or LongCat-2.5 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, Ling 3.1 Flash leans toward hybrid-reasoning moe — 560b total parameters, ~25b active per token, aimed at agents, tool use, and long-document work while LongCat-2.5 leans toward native multimodal upgrade to longcat-2.0 - 1.6t total parameters, about 48b active per token, and that positioning usually predicts which feels better on your codebase.
Which is cheaper, Ling 3.1 Flash or LongCat-2.5?
Ling 3.1 Flash is open-weight, so self-hosting means no per-token fee (you pay for hardware instead), while LongCat-2.5 is API-metered at $0.3/$1.2 per 1M tokens. For most teams without GPUs, the API model is cheaper to start; at very high volume, self-hosting can win.
Which has the bigger context window?
Both advertise 1M tokens (~1,500 pages). Remember advertised ≠ usable: recall typically degrades before the ceiling.
Can I use both Ling 3.1 Flash and LongCat-2.5 together?
Yes — a multi-model platform like LumiChats gives you Ling 3.1 Flash, LongCat-2.5 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, Ling 3.1 Flash or LongCat-2.5?
LongCat-2.5 — released November 2, 2026, about 33 days after Ling 3.1 Flash.
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.