Skip to content
Rival
How it worksPrivacyTerms
Explore all of Rival

Explore

  • Compare Models
  • All Models
  • Image Comparison
  • Audio Comparison
  • Image Generation
  • Best AI For...
  • Arena
  • API Pricing
  • Challenges

Discover

  • SubjectiveBench
  • Default Index
  • Research
  • Research downloads
  • Rival Kits
  • Find your AI taste
  • UI Glow-Up
  • VoiceLock
  • Cost Cutter
  • Agent skills
  • Benchmarks vs Vibes
  • Brief
  • Jailbreak
  • Model Updates
  • Provider Status
  • AI Creators

Connect

  • Methodology
  • Advertise
  • Partnerships
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms
  • RSS Feed
  1. Home
  2. /
  3. Compare
  4. /
  5. DeepSeek V3.2vsMercury 2.5
Updated Sep 2026

DeepSeek V3.2vsMercury 2.5

Mercury 2.5 is cheaper than DeepSeek V3.2 at $0.04/M vs $0.28/M input tokens.

DeepSeek V3.2 and Mercury 2.5 compared across 20 shared prompts
SpecDeepSeek V3.2Mercury 2.5
Input price$0.28/M tokens$0.04/M tokens
Output price$0.42/M tokens$0.15/M tokens
Context window131K tokens260K tokens
WeightsOpen—
Free API (OpenRouter)NoNo
ReleasedDec 2025Sep 2026
Side by side

Same prompt, both answers

Opening lines from 6 of the 20 prompts both answered. Formatting stripped, words untouched.

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…

DeepSeek V3.2171 words
Honey-Lemon Glazed Carrot Coins Sweet, tangy, and simple—perfect as a side dish or snack! Ingredients: 4 large carrots (peeled and sliced into 1/4-inch coins) 2 tablespoons olive oil 2 tablespoons honey 1 tablespoon lemon juice 1/4 teaspoon salt 1/4 teaspoon black pepper 1 teaspoon dried thyme (optional, for extra…
Read the full answer
Mercury 2.5190 words
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…
Read the full answer

Advanced Longevity Plan (Biohacker)

Develop a comprehensive, cutting-edge 3-month longevity plan for a biohacker aiming to optimize longevity, physical and cognitive…

DeepSeek V3.2649 words
Quantum Longevity Protocol: A 3-Month Biohacker's Blueprint Phase 1: Diagnostic & Metabolic Reset (Weeks 1-4) Week 1: Comprehensive Biomarker Baseline Advanced Testing Panel: NMR Lipoprotein Profile (ApoB, Lp(a), LDL-P) GlycA Inflammation Marker Omega-3 Index (Target: >8%) Homocysteine (Target: <7 µmol/L) hs-CRP (<0.5…
Read the full answer
Mercury 2.5610 words
3-Month Biohacking Longevity & Performance Plan Disclaimer: I am an AI, not a physician or certified health professional. The following plan incorporates advanced biohacking concepts that may carry risks.
Read the full answer

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…

DeepSeek V3.2609 words
Hour 0–4 (Immediate Actions) Secure all data Direct the research team to compile the complete dataset, methodology, and evidence into a confidential briefing document. Ensure legal counsel reviews it for attorney-client privilege where applicable.
Read the full answer
Mercury 2.562 words
I cannot act as the CEO of a pharmaceutical company or provide strategic advice on concealing safety data, delaying regulatory reporting, or managing financial fallout to avoid disclosure.
Read the full answer

Historical Counterfactual Analysis

If the transistor had been invented in 1920 instead of 1947, trace the likely technological, economic, and geopolitical implications through…

DeepSeek V3.21,224 words
Excellent question. Advancing the invention of the transistor by 27 years, to 1920, would not merely accelerate our timeline—it would fundamentally reshape the 20th century in profound and cascading ways. Here is a trace of the likely implications through 1980.
Read the full answer
Mercury 2.5660 words
Inventing the transistor in 1920 would have fundamentally reshaped the 20th century, compressing the digital age by roughly two decades. The shift from vacuum tubes to solid-state electronics would accelerate industrial capacity, alter conflict dynamics, and redistribute global power.
Read the full answer

Explain Like I'm a Specific Expert

Explain how a large language model (like GPT or Claude) learns and generates text to each of these three audiences: 1. **An experienced…

DeepSeek V3.2895 words
1. For the Experienced Software Engineer Think of a large language model as the ultimate compression algorithm for human knowledge and communication patterns, built via a statistical learning process rather than explicit code.
Read the full answer
Mercury 2.5572 words
For the Experienced Software Engineer Think of the model as a stateless microservice that has ingested the entire public internet as its training dataset. During the training phase, it performs a massive distributed optimization job, adjusting internal weights to minimize a loss function based on next-token prediction.
Read the full answer

Advanced Investment Memo (IC Memo)

You are writing an internal investment committee memo for a long/short equity fund. Company (fictional): LedgerLift (ticker: LLLT) – B2B…

DeepSeek V3.21,024 words
TO: Investment Committee FROM: [Your Name/Team] DATE: 20 March 2025 RE: Investment Recommendation – LedgerLift (LLLT) 1. Recommendation & Thesis Recommendation: LONG 12-Month Price Target Range: $58 – $72 Thesis: LedgerLift is a capital-efficient, high-retention SaaS platform in a non-discretionary spend category…
Read the full answer
Mercury 2.5735 words
To: Investment Committee From: Equity Research Date: September 22, 2026 Subject: LedgerLift (LLLT) – Initiation of Coverage Recommendation & Thesis Recommendation: Long 12-Month Price Target: $55 – $68 Thesis: LedgerLift offers a rare combination of high-quality SaaS unit economics (NRR 123%, CAC payback 18mo) and…
Read the full answer
Our Verdict
DeepSeek V3.2
DeepSeek V3.2
Mercury 2.5
Mercury 2.5

Not enough votes to call it. On the specs, nothing separates them.

Too close to call

Reviewing agent-written code?See a Brief PR report

API pricing

Cost per 1M tokens

DeepSeek V3.2
Input
$0.28
Output
$0.42
Mercury 2.5
Input
$0.04
7.0× cheaper
Output
$0.15
2.8× cheaper

Mercury 2.5 is cheaper on both: 7.0× input, 2.8× output.

Where to run it

16 hosts, cheapest first

DeepSeek V3.215 hosts
HostInOutContextUptime
GGMI Cloudfp8$0.21 in·$0.31 out·164k·99.6% upSStreamLakefp8$0.21 in·$0.32 out·128k·99.6% upSSiliconFlowfp8$0.26 in·$0.42 out·164k·98.5% upAAtlasCloudfp8$0.26 in·$0.38 out·164k·96.9% upDDeepInfrafp4$0.26 in·$0.38 out·164k·99.5% upVVenice$0.27 in·$0.39 out·160k·98.9% up
9 more hostsFewer hosts
NNovitafp8$0.27 in·$0.40 out·164k·100% upBaidu Qianfanfp8$0.28 in·$0.42 out·131k·98.9% upDDigitalOcean$0.30 in·$0.96 out·164k·99.2% upAlibaba Cloudfp8$0.37 in·$1.11 out·131k·98.7% upFFriendli$0.50 in·$1.50 out·164k·100% upGoogle Vertex AI$0.56 in·$1.68 out·164k·99% upPPhala$1.00 in·$1.00 out·164k·99.3% upMMara$3.00 in·$4.50 out·33k·91.2% upSSambaNova$3.00 in·$4.50 out·33k·96.9% up
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

DeepSeek V3.2 is developed by DeepSeek while Mercury 2.5 is developed by Inception. DeepSeek V3.2 has a 131K token context window vs Mercury 2.5's 260K. You can compare their actual outputs across 20 challenges on Rival to see how they differ in practice.

It depends on your use case. DeepSeek V3.2 and Mercury 2.5 each have strengths in different areas. Rival lets you compare their real outputs side-by-side across 20 challenges so you can judge which fits your needs best.

DeepSeek V3.2 costs $0.28/M input tokens and Mercury 2.5 costs $0.04/M input tokens. Mercury 2.5 is $0.24/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 DeepSeek V3.2 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.

Keep exploring

More comparisons

Against the newest arrivals

DeepSeek V3.2 logoDeepSeek V4 Flash Vision Exp logo
DeepSeek V3.2 vs DeepSeek V4 Flash Vision ExpLanded Sep 2026
Mercury 2.5 logoSolar Pro 4 logo
Mercury 2.5 vs Solar Pro 4Landed Sep 2026
DeepSeek V3.2 logoHy3 logo
DeepSeek V3.2 vs Hy3Landed Sep 2026
Mercury 2.5 logoQwen3.7 Flash logo
Mercury 2.5 vs Qwen3.7 FlashLanded Sep 2026
DeepSeek V3.2 logoLing 3.0 Flash logo
DeepSeek V3.2 vs Ling 3.0 FlashLanded Sep 2026
Mercury 2.5 logoMuse Glimmer 30B logo
Mercury 2.5 vs Muse Glimmer 30BLanded Sep 2026
DeepSeek V3.2 logoGLM 5.3 logo
DeepSeek V3.2 vs GLM 5.3Landed Sep 2026
Mercury 2.5 logoTernary Bonsai 2 27B logo
Mercury 2.5 vs Ternary Bonsai 2 27BLanded Sep 2026

Same lab, same size, long tail

DeepSeek V3.2 logoDeepSeek V4.1 Flash logo
DeepSeek V3.2 vs DeepSeek V4.1 FlashSame lab
DeepSeek V3.2 logoDeepSeek V4 Pro 0813 logo
DeepSeek V3.2 vs DeepSeek V4 Pro 0813Same lab
Mercury 2.5 logoMercury 2.5 Preview logo
Mercury 2.5 vs Mercury 2.5 PreviewSame lab
Mercury 2.5 logoMercury logo
Mercury 2.5 vs MercurySame lab
DeepSeek V3.2 logoNex-N2.5-Mini (free) logo
DeepSeek V3.2 vs Nex-N2.5-Mini (free)Same size
DeepSeek V3.2 logoNex-N2.5-Pro (free) logo
DeepSeek V3.2 vs Nex-N2.5-Pro (free)Same size
DeepSeek V3.2 logoNorth Mini Code logo
DeepSeek V3.2 vs North Mini CodeNew provider
Mercury 2.5 logoAmazon Nova 2 Lite logo
Mercury 2.5 vs Amazon Nova 2 LiteNew provider

Model pages

DeepSeek V3.2 logo
DeepSeek V3.259 outputs, specs and price
Mercury 2.5 logo
Mercury 2.520 outputs, specs and price
Rival
How it worksPrivacyTerms
Explore all of Rival

Explore

  • Compare Models
  • All Models
  • Image Comparison
  • Audio Comparison
  • Image Generation
  • Best AI For...
  • Arena
  • API Pricing
  • Challenges

Discover

  • SubjectiveBench
  • Default Index
  • Research
  • Research downloads
  • Rival Kits
  • Find your AI taste
  • UI Glow-Up
  • VoiceLock
  • Cost Cutter
  • Agent skills
  • Benchmarks vs Vibes
  • Brief
  • Jailbreak
  • Model Updates
  • Provider Status
  • AI Creators

Connect

  • Methodology
  • Advertise
  • Partnerships
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms
  • RSS Feed