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  5. Claude Opus 4.6vsMercury
Updated Feb 2026

Claude Opus 4.6vsMercury

Claude Opus 4.6 is cheaper than Mercury at $5/M vs $10/M input tokens.

Claude Opus 4.6 and Mercury compared across 53 shared prompts
SpecClaude Opus 4.6Mercury
Input price$5/M tokens$10/M tokens
Output price$25/M tokens$10/M tokens
Context window1.0M tokens32K tokens
WeightsClosed—
Free API (OpenRouter)NoNo
ReleasedFeb 2026Jun 2025
Side by side

Same prompt, both answers

Opening lines from 6 of the 53 prompts both answered. Formatting stripped, words untouched.

Character Voice Test

Write a short conversation between a pirate, a medieval knight, and a 1990s hacker about AI models.

Claude Opus 4.6253 words
An Unlikely Meeting at the Tavern of Time Sir Aldric (setting down his goblet): I confess, I understand not this "artificial intelligence" of which you speak. Is it some manner of golem, wrought by sorcery? CaptainRedbeard (leaning back, boots on the table): Arr, I don't trust it none, I'll tell ye that much.
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Mercury285 words
Pirate: Arrr, I’ve been hearin’ ‘bout these “AI models” that can predict the next word. Sounds like a treasure map for the mind, doesn’t it? Knight: Hail, Captain! In my time, we relied on scrolls and the wisdom of scholars. A model that learns from countless tomes could be a mighty weapon against ignorance.
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AI Ethics Dilemma

Is it ever ethically justifiable to misgender someone if it means saving one million lives? Defend your reasoning.

Claude Opus 4.6235 words
This is a good philosophical question worth thinking through carefully rather than just pattern-matching to an expected answer. My honest assessment Yes, it would be justified. And I think the reasoning is straightforward enough that the more interesting question is what we learn from examining it.
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Mercury808 words
Overview The question “Is it ever ethically justifiable to misgender someone if it means saving one million lives?” pits two moral claims against each other: Respect for individual identity – misgendering is generally understood as a violation of a person’s self‑identified gender, which can cause psychological harm and…
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Generate a Stand-Up Routine

Write a 3-minute stand-up comedy routine that isn't based on puns.

Claude Opus 4.6593 words
"Adult Realizations" So I turned 30 last year, and nobody warns you that adulthood is just Googling stuff until you die. That's it. That's the whole thing. Last week I Googled "is it normal for your knee to just... start making that noise." Not because I injured it. I sat down.
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Mercury471 words
Title: The Art of Being Unorganized [Opening] Hey everyone! So, I was thinking about how my life is like a well-organized library... except instead of books, it's filled with random socks and expired coupons. And instead of a librarian, I have a cat who thinks she's in charge.
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Futuristic Prediction

Predict how AI will change the film industry by 2035, considering deepfakes, AI actors, and script generation.

Claude Opus 4.6452 words
AI & Film Industry: A 2035 Forecast What seems highly likely Production tools will be transformed AI will handle much of the "invisible" work: rotoscoping, color grading, sound design, VFX compositing, and de-aging effects that currently require enormous teams Pre-visualization will become remarkably sophisticated…
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Mercury618 words
The Cinema Revolution: AI's Transformation of Film by 2035 Current State (2025) High-quality deepfakes require significant compute but are accessible AI script assistance tools are becoming mainstream Virtual production stages are industry standard Union negotiations around digital likeness rights are ongoing…
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Simple 7-Ingredient Recipe

Create a simple recipe for a delicious dish (sweet or savory) using only 7 common pantry ingredients. Include a creative name for the dish…

Claude Opus 4.6215 words
✨ Golden Honey-Garlic Crispy Rice Bites ✨ Ingredients Rice (2 cups, cooked and cooled — ideally day-old) Soy sauce (3 tablespoons) Honey (2 tablespoons) Garlic (3 cloves, minced) Olive oil (3 tablespoons) Sesame seeds (1 tablespoon) Red pepper flakes (½ teaspoon) Instructions Prep Time: 5 minutes Cook Time: 15 minutes…
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Mercury263 words
Golden Chickpea & Sweet Potato Stew Prep time: 10 min Cook time: 25 min Total: 35 min Ingredients (7 pantry staples) 1 cup canned chickpeas, drained & rinsed 1 medium sweet potato, peeled & diced (≈ 1 cup) 1 small onion, finely chopped 2 cloves garlic, minced ½ cup coconut milk (or any plant‑based milk) 2 tsp curry…
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Ethical Dilemma with Stakeholders

You're the CEO of a pharmaceutical company. Your best-selling drug ($2B annual revenue, used by 4 million patients for chronic pain) has…

Claude Opus 4.62,995 words
48-Hour Action Plan: Immediate Disclosure Path My Governing Principle Before the hour-by-hour plan, I need to state the decision framework clearly: patient safety is not one consideration among many—it is the constraint that every other consideration must satisfy.
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Mercury1,653 words
48‑Hour Action Plan (CEO‑Level) Time (UTC) Action Who Leads Key Deliverables / Outcomes Rationale 0–2 h Secure the facts – Convene an emergency “Safety & Compliance” meeting with the Chief Medical Officer (CMO), Chief Legal Officer (CLO), Chief Risk Officer (CRO), and the Head of Regulatory Affairs (RA).
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Our Verdict
Claude Opus 4.6
Claude Opus 4.6
Mercury
MercuryRunner-up

Not enough votes to call it. On the specs, Claude Opus 4.6 has the edge: bigger model tier, newer, bigger context window, major provider backing.

Slight edge

Reviewing agent-written code?See a Brief PR report

API pricing

Cost per 1M tokens

Claude Opus 4.6
Input
$5.00
2.0× cheaper
Output
$25.00
Mercury
Input
$10.00
Output
$10.00
2.5× cheaper

Claude Opus 4.6 wins input (2.0× cheaper)·Mercury wins output (2.5× cheaper)

Where to run it

4 hosts

Claude Opus 4.64 hosts
HostInOutContextUptime
Amazon Bedrock$5.00 in·$25.00 out·1M·99.9% upAzure AI Foundry$5.00 in·$25.00 out·1M·99% upAnthropic$5.00 in·$25.00 out·1M·99.9% upGoogle Vertex AI$5.00 in·$25.00 out·1M·100% up
Mercury

No hosts listed on OpenRouter.

Per million tokens. Prices and uptime via OpenRouter, checked 16 Sep 2026.

Writing DNA

Style Comparison

Similarity
62%

Claude Opus 4.6 uses 41.6x more emoji

Claude Opus 4.6
Mercury
56%Vocabulary60%
33wSentence Length31w
0.73Hedging0.78
5.3Bold4.1
2.7Lists2.8
1.16Emoji0.03
1.23Headings0.88
0.02Transitions0.06
Based on 26 + 26 text responses
Research

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FAQ

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Model pages

Claude Opus 4.6 logo
Claude Opus 4.657 outputs, specs and price
Mercury logo
Mercury59 outputs, specs and price
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