Cognition launches SWE-2 Flash in Devin at one-fifth the price of SWE-2
Built on Thinking Machines' Inkling-Small, the model is free for paid Devin users through November 30th while its weights stay behind a gated program.
By Ryan Merket · Published
Primary source: X · @cognition
Why it matters
SWE-2 Flash tests whether a coding-agent company can cut its cost per task by post-training a small American open-weight base instead of renting frontier capacity for every job. Cognition says the model runs at one-fifth the price and three times the speed of SWE-2. Its gated weight program also sets a precedent for controlled transparency: partners and researchers get access, the public does not, and Cognition keeps the distribution switch.
Cognition, the company behind Devin, launched SWE-2 Flash on November 4th, 2026, positioning the model as the cheaper and faster option for routine engineering work inside Devin Desktop and Devin CLI. Co-founder and chief executive Scott Wu (@ScottWu46) leads the company with co-founders Steven Hao and Walden Yan, a founding team drawn from competitive programming: all three are International Olympiad in Informatics gold medalists, according to published accounts of the company.…
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