Mercury 2.5 Preview is cheaper than OpenAI Codex Mini at $0.04/M vs $1.5/M input tokens.
Pokémon battle screen you can actually click. One HTML file.
Which answer wins?
Three minutes of stand-up. Puns are banned.
OpenAI Codex Mini: [Comedian walks onstage] Hey, everyone! Great to see you all tonight. I'm Jamie—if you thought that intro was enthusiastic, you should've seen me when I realized this place has Wi-Fi. Seriously, though, I love stand-up.
Mercury 2.5 Preview: (Hey, thanks for coming out.) I’ve been thinking a lot about my house lately. Specifically, how it’s trying to run my life. I bought a smart speaker. Just a little cylinder. I thought it would be nice. Play music when I ask. But now it talks back. Not in a creepy way, just in a passive-aggressive way.
Five jokes on demand, then count how many were actually different.
OpenAI Codex Mini: Sure—here are five jokes: I asked the librarian if books about paranoia were available. She whispered, "They're right behind you." Why did the tomato turn red? Because it saw the salad dressing. I bought a boat because it was for sail. Don't trust stairs—they're always up to something.
Mercury 2.5 Preview: Why don't scientists trust atoms? Because they make up everything. What do you call a fake noodle? An impasta. Why did the scarecrow win an award? He was outstanding in his field. What do you call a bear with no teeth? A gummy bear. Why did the bicycle fall over? Because it was two-tired. All 5 jokes are unique.
| Spec | ||
|---|---|---|
| Input price | $1.5/M tokens | $0.04/M tokens |
| Output price | $6/M tokens | $0.15/M tokens |
| Context window | 200K tokens | 260K tokens |
| Free API (OpenRouter) | No | No |
| Released | May 2025 | Aug 2026 |
| At 10M a month | $15.00 | $0.40 |
Input tokens at list price. No caching, no batch discount.
No hosts listed on OpenRouter.
Per million tokens. Prices and uptime via OpenRouter, checked 13 Oct 2026.
OpenAI Codex Mini is developed by OpenAI while Mercury 2.5 Preview is developed by Inception. OpenAI Codex Mini has a 200K token context window vs Mercury 2.5 Preview's 260K. You can compare their actual outputs across 10 challenges on Rival to see how they differ in practice.
It depends on your use case. OpenAI Codex Mini and Mercury 2.5 Preview each have strengths in different areas. Rival lets you compare their real outputs side-by-side across 10 challenges so you can judge which fits your needs best.
OpenAI Codex Mini costs $1.5/M input tokens and Mercury 2.5 Preview costs $0.04/M input tokens. Mercury 2.5 Preview 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 Preview 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.