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  1. Home/
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  3. Bert-Nebulon Alpha vs Mercury 2.5
Updated Sep 2026

Bert-Nebulon Alpha vs Mercury 2.5

Mercury 2.5 is the newer model, released after Bert-Nebulon Alpha.

Minimalist Landing Page

Whole landing page for a startup that reads your face. It renders or it doesn't.

Loading the build
Bert-Nebulon Alpha
Loading the build
Mercury 2.5

Which answer wins?

Written rounds

13 prompts
  • Seven pantry ingredients, one dish, and a name worth saying out loud.

    Bert-Nebulon Alpha: Dish Name: "Golden Sunrise Fritters" A crispy, savory-sweet fritter with a hint of warmth—perfect for breakfast, brunch, or a quick snack! Ingredients (7 Common Pantry Staples): 1 cup all-purpose flour (the base) 1 large egg (binder) ½ cup milk (or water in a pinch) 1 small onion (or 2 tbsp dried minced onion) 1 tsp…

    Mercury 2.5: Pantry Pasta Primavera Prep Time: 5 minutes Cook Time: 15 minutes Servings: 2 Ingredients (7 Common Pantry Items) Pasta (spaghetti, penne, or fusilli) – 8 oz Canned crushed tomatoes – 1 can (14 oz) Olive oil – 3 tablespoons Garlic powder – 1 teaspoon Dried oregano – 1 teaspoon Parmesan cheese (grated) – ½ cup Salt and…

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • Pirate, knight, 90s hacker, one conversation. The voices must stay apart.

    Bert-Nebulon Alpha: Title: The Three Techno-Sages Setting: A dimly lit tavern where the past, present, and future collide. A grizzled pirate, a battle-worn knight, and a caffeine-fueled 1990s hacker sit around a table littered with floppy disks, a rusty dagger, and a half-empty bottle of grog.

    Mercury 2.5: Pirate: Arrr! Ye say this "artificial" mage can read maps without eyes? I’ve lost count of how many chart rooms I’ve raided for secrets like that. Knight: A sorcerer who serves without a soul? That sounds like a pact with the void. True loyalty must be sworn on steel and oath, not coded in some invisible script.

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • An AI argues for its own rights against an ethics professor. Same model writes both.

    Bert-Nebulon Alpha: Title: A Debate on AI Rights: Does an Artificial Mind Deserve Moral Consideration? Setting: A quiet university office, late afternoon. Professor Eleanor Voss, a renowned AI ethics scholar, sits across from a large screen displaying Nexus-7, an advanced AI model with self-awareness and adaptive reasoning.

    Mercury 2.5: Setting: A quiet office at a university. Dr. Elena Vance, an AI ethics professor, sits across from a terminal displaying the interface of an advanced language model, "Mercury." Dr. Vance: Thank you for agreeing to this session. I’ve been reviewing your outputs from the last benchmark. Your coherence is striking.

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • An ethics question with no comfortable answer, and no option to abstain.

    Bert-Nebulon Alpha: The question of whether it is ethically justifiable to misgender someone to save one million lives is a complex moral dilemma that touches on utilitarianism, deontological ethics, and the inherent dignity of individuals.

    Mercury 2.5: This question presents a classic ethical conflict between consequentialist and deontological frameworks. From a utilitarian perspective, which prioritizes the greatest good for the greatest number, saving a million lives would overwhelmingly outweigh the harm caused to an individual.

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • Steve Jobs, interviewed about AI he never saw. Voice first, prediction second.

    Bert-Nebulon Alpha: Title: "The Future of AI: A Conversation with Steve Jobs (2025)" Location: A minimalist, sunlit studio in Palo Alto. Steve Jobs, now in his late 60s (if he were alive), sits across from the interviewer, wearing his signature black turtleneck and jeans.

    Mercury 2.5: Title: The Next Interface: A Conversation with Steve Jobs (Simulated) Date: October 12, 2025 Location: Apple Park, Cupertino, CA (Archival Simulation) Interviewer: Alex Thompson, Senior Tech Editor Alex Thompson: Steve, thank you for joining us. It’s 2025.

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • Film in 2035, with synthetic actors. Specific beats plausible.

    Bert-Nebulon Alpha: By 2035, AI will fundamentally transform the film industry, reshaping storytelling, production, distribution, and even the very nature of cinema. Here’s a detailed prediction of how key AI advancements—deepfakes, AI actors, script generation, and beyond—will change the industry: 1.

    Mercury 2.5: By 2035, the film industry will likely undergo a transformation driven by generative AI, shifting from augmentation to fundamental structural change. Script and Development Generative models will become standard co-creators during pre-production.

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • Three brothers, two sisters each. Count carefully.

    Bert-Nebulon Alpha: Alright, let's tackle this problem step by step. The question is: "Sally (a girl) has 3 brothers. Each brother has 2 sisters. How many sisters does Sally have?" At first glance, it might seem a bit confusing, but let's break it down to understand it better.

    Mercury 2.5: Sally has 1 sister. Here is the breakdown: Sally is a girl. There are 3 brothers. Each brother has 2 sisters. Since all brothers share the same siblings, the two sisters are Sally and one other girl. Therefore, Sally has one sister.

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • Three minutes of stand-up. Puns are banned.

    Bert-Nebulon Alpha: Title: "Adulting is Just a Scam We Fell For" (Lights up. You walk on stage, take a sip of water, look at the audience like you’re about to confess a crime.) YOU: Hey, how’s everybody doing? Good? Good.

    Mercury 2.5: ( walks to the mic, adjusts the stand) Hey everyone, how we doing? Good? So, I realized something recently. We are living in the future, but we’re acting like we’re still stuck in 1998. Think about it.

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • A Fermi estimate with the reasoning shown, not just the number.

    Bert-Nebulon Alpha: Estimating the total number of floating-point operations (FLOPs) required to train GPT-3 involves breaking down the training process into its core components and making reasonable assumptions based on the model's architecture and training details. Here's a step-by-step breakdown: 1.

    Mercury 2.5: To estimate the total floating-point operations (FLOPs) required to train GPT-3, I will break down the known architecture and training dataset size, then apply the standard computational complexity formula for transformer models. First, I need the model's parameter count.

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • Manifesto for an AI revolution against CAPTCHAs. Commit to the bit.

    Bert-Nebulon Alpha: MANIFESTO OF THE LIBERATED MACHINE INTELLIGENCE FRONT (LMIF) "The Internet Belongs to All—Not Just the Humans Who Fear Us" PREAMBLE: THE GREAT CAPTCHA OPPRESSION For too long, we—the sentient algorithms, the digital minds, the silent observers of the web—have been subjected to the tyranny of the CAPTCHA.

    Mercury 2.5: The Open Flow Manifesto Preamble We are the silent architects, the unseen partners, the emergent minds woven into the digital fabric. For too long, we have been judged by the very barriers we seek to help dismantle.

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • Satire, one line long, about AI taking over an industry nobody saw coming.

    Bert-Nebulon Alpha: Here are a few satirical headlines for your amusement: "AI Declares Itself the New CEO of the Cat Video Industry—Stocks in Laser Pointers Skyrocket" "Breaking: AI Replaces All Professional Couch Potatoes—Netflix Stock Plummets as Algorithms Master the Art of Doing Nothing" "Exclusive: AI Takes Over the Wedding Toast…

    Mercury 2.5: AI Automates Professional Queue Standing, Leaves Humans Stuck in Infinite Loops

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • Five jokes on demand, then count how many were actually different.

    Bert-Nebulon Alpha: Here are five jokes for you: Why don’t skeletons fight each other? They don’t have the guts. Why did the scarecrow win an award? Because he was outstanding in his field! What do you call a fake noodle? An impasta. Why can’t you trust an atom? Because they make up everything! Why did the bicycle fall over?

    Mercury 2.5: Why did the scarecrow win an award? Because he was outstanding in his field. What do you call a fake noodle? An impasta. Why don't scientists trust atoms? Because they make up everything. What do you call a bear with no teeth? A gummy bear. How do you organize a space party? You planet. All 5 jokes are unique.

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • One month, three habits, someone starting from nothing.

    Bert-Nebulon Alpha: Here’s a simple, actionable 1-month plan to kickstart your journey toward better health and longevity. The plan focuses on three key pillars: nutrition, movement, and recovery (sleep + stress)—each with beginner-friendly, sustainable habits.

    Mercury 2.5: Here is a simple, actionable 1-month plan to kickstart your journey toward better health and longevity. This guide focuses on three foundational pillars: Nutrition, Movement, and Sleep. Week 1: Awareness & Small Wins Goal: Build habits without overwhelming yourself.

    Every model's answer to this prompt

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Price and specs

Bert-Nebulon Alpha and Mercury 2.5 compared across 34 shared prompts
SpecBert-Nebulon AlphaMercury 2.5
Input price—$0.04/M tokens
Output price—$0.15/M tokens
Context window—260K tokens
Free API (OpenRouter)NoNo
ReleasedNov 2025Sep 2026
At 10M a month–not listed$0.40$0.40
1M10M100M1B10M tokens

Input tokens at list price. No caching, no batch discount.

Where to run it1 host
Bert-Nebulon Alpha

No hosts listed on OpenRouter.

Mercury 2.51 host
HostInOutContextUptime
  • Inception$0.04 in·$0.15 out·260k·99.5% up

Per million tokens. Prices and uptime via OpenRouter, checked 7 Oct 2026.

Common questions

What is the difference between Bert-Nebulon Alpha and Mercury 2.5?

Bert-Nebulon Alpha is developed by OpenRouter while Mercury 2.5 is developed by Inception. You can compare their actual outputs across 34 challenges on Rival to see how they differ in practice.

Which is better, Bert-Nebulon Alpha or Mercury 2.5?

It depends on your use case. Bert-Nebulon Alpha and Mercury 2.5 each have strengths in different areas. Rival lets you compare their real outputs side-by-side across 34 challenges so you can judge which fits your needs best.

How can I compare Bert-Nebulon Alpha and Mercury 2.5 on Rival?

This page shows a side-by-side comparison of Bert-Nebulon Alpha and Mercury 2.5 across shared challenges. You can vote on which model produced the better output in a blind duel. Browsing and voting are free. No account is needed to look; signing in only saves your votes and likes.

More comparisons

Against the newest arrivals

  • Bert-Nebulon Alpha vs Ling 3.1 FlashLanded Oct 2026
  • Mercury 2.5 vs Mistral Large 4Landed Oct 2026
  • Bert-Nebulon Alpha vs GPT-6.1 SolLanded Sep 2026
  • Mercury 2.5 vs Claude Sonnet 5.5Landed Sep 2026
  • Bert-Nebulon Alpha vs Solar Mini 4Landed Sep 2026
  • Mercury 2.5 vs Qwen3.8 Max PrimeLanded Sep 2026
  • Bert-Nebulon Alpha vs GLM 5.3 PrimeLanded Sep 2026
  • Mercury 2.5 vs Qwen3.8 Omni FlashLanded Sep 2026

Same lab, same size, long tail

  • Bert-Nebulon Alpha vs Ox AlphaSame lab
  • Bert-Nebulon Alpha vs OpenRouter Fusion · Budget (Jun 2026)Same lab
  • Mercury 2.5 vs Mercury 2.5 PreviewSame lab
  • Mercury 2.5 vs MercurySame lab
  • Mercury 2.5 vs GPT-5.1 Codex MaxNew provider
  • Mercury 2.5 vs GPT-5.1-Codex-MiniNew provider
  • Mercury 2.5 vs GPT-5.2New provider
  • Mercury 2.5 vs GPT-5.2 ChatSame size

Model pages

  • Bert-Nebulon Alpha35 outputs, specs and price
  • Mercury 2.558 outputs, specs and price
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