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  5. OpenAI Codex MinivsMercury 2.5
Updated Sep 2026

OpenAI Codex MinivsMercury 2.5

Mercury 2.5 is cheaper than OpenAI Codex Mini at $0.04/M vs $1.5/M input tokens.

OpenAI Codex Mini and Mercury 2.5 compared across 1 shared prompts
SpecOpenAI Codex MiniMercury 2.5
Input price$1.5/M tokens$0.04/M tokens
Output price$6/M tokens$0.15/M tokens
Context window200K tokens260K tokens
Free API (OpenRouter)NoNo
ReleasedMay 2025Sep 2026
Our Verdict
Mercury 2.5
Mercury 2.5
OpenAI Codex Mini
OpenAI Codex MiniRunner-up

Not enough votes to call it. On the specs, Mercury 2.5 has the edge: bigger model tier, newer.

Mercury 2.5 costs 40x less per token.

Too close to call

Reviewing agent-written code?See a Brief PR report

API pricing

Cost per 1M tokens

OpenAI Codex Mini
Input
$1.50
Output
$6.00
Mercury 2.5
Input
$0.04
38× cheaper
Output
$0.15
40× cheaper

Mercury 2.5 is cheaper on both: 38× input, 40× output.

Where to run it

1 host

OpenAI Codex Mini

No hosts listed on OpenRouter.

Mercury 2.51 host
HostInOutContextUptime
Inception$0.04 in·$0.15 out·260k·100% up

Per million tokens. Prices and uptime via OpenRouter, checked 22 Sep 2026.

Research

What we learned reading every model

FAQ

Common questions

OpenAI Codex Mini is developed by OpenAI while Mercury 2.5 is developed by Inception. OpenAI Codex Mini has a 200K token context window vs Mercury 2.5's 260K. You can compare their actual outputs across 1 challenges on Rival to see how they differ in practice.

It depends on your use case. OpenAI Codex Mini and Mercury 2.5 each have strengths in different areas. Rival lets you compare their real outputs side-by-side across 1 challenges so you can judge which fits your needs best.

OpenAI Codex Mini costs $1.5/M input tokens and Mercury 2.5 costs $0.04/M input tokens. Mercury 2.5 is $1.46/M cheaper per input. Check their side-by-side outputs on Rival to see if the price difference is justified by quality.

This page shows a side-by-side comparison of OpenAI Codex Mini 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.

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Model pages

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OpenAI Codex Mini10 outputs, specs and price
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