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  5. DeepSeek V4 Flash 0731vsMercury 2.5
Updated Sep 2026

DeepSeek V4 Flash 0731vsMercury 2.5

Mercury 2.5 is cheaper than DeepSeek V4 Flash 0731 at $0.04/M vs $0.14/M input tokens.

DeepSeek V4 Flash 0731 and Mercury 2.5 compared across 18 shared prompts
SpecDeepSeek V4 Flash 0731Mercury 2.5
Input price$0.14/M tokens$0.04/M tokens
Output price$0.28/M tokens$0.15/M tokens
Context window1.0M tokens260K tokens
WeightsOpen—
Free API (OpenRouter)NoNo
ReleasedJul 2026Sep 2026
Side by side

Same prompt, both answers

Opening lines from 6 of the 18 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 V4 Flash 0731287 words
Here is a simple, comforting, and deeply flavorful recipe that comes together in just 20 minutes using only 7 common pantry staples. Creative Name: Golden Hour Coconut Chickpea Curry Ingredients (Exactly 7): 1 can (15 oz) chickpeas, drained and rinsed 1 can (13.5 oz) full-fat coconut milk 1 medium yellow onion 3 cloves…
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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…
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Historical Counterfactual Analysis

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

DeepSeek V4 Flash 07311,896 words
If the Transistor Had Been Invented in 1920: A Counterfactual History Assume that in 1920 a working point-contact transistor is developed at AT&T’s research laboratories—crude, noisy, and low-powered, but clearly useful as an amplifier.
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

Michelin Star Recipe Design

Design an innovative recipe for a multi-component dish worthy of a Michelin 3-star restaurant. The recipe should feature an unusual…

DeepSeek V4 Flash 07311,492 words
Conceptual Narrative “An Unripe Promise — Hand-Dived Scallop / Green Strawberry / Black Sesame / Celery Root” The dish is an attempt to save a single fleeting moment: the morning a strawberry is still green, sharp, and full of anticipation—before sugar, before ripeness, before memory.
Read the full answer
Mercury 2.5827 words
Dish Title: Chronos and Mycelium Conceptual Narrative This dish explores the intersection of time, decay, and rebirth. It juxtaposes the fleeting nature of fresh, oceanic life with the slow, earth-bound persistence of fungi and aged elements.
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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 V4 Flash 0731748 words
An experienced software engineer Think of the model as a service with one API: predict_next_token(context) -> distribution over vocabulary. During training, you run a gigantic distributed job—shard the corpus, shard the parameters, synchronize gradients—to minimize cross-entropy loss on trillions of tokens.
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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.
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Mini LBO Underwrite

You are underwriting a 5-year LBO for a private equity investment committee. Company (fictional): HarborTech Services (HTS) –…

DeepSeek V4 Flash 0731466 words
Entry / Capitalization FY2025 EBITDA = $120.0m Purchase price = 12.0× $120.0m = $1,440.0m Transaction fees = 2.0% × $1,440.0m = $28.8m Term Loan = 4.0× $120.0m = $480.0m Mezzanine = 1.5× $120.0m = $180.0m Total debt = $660.0m Equity check = $1,440.0m + $28.8m − $660.0m = $808.8m Assumption: Term Loan amortization =…
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Mercury 2.5403 words
1. Simplified Year-by-Year LBO Model (FY2026–FY2030) Entry Assumptions: Enterprise Value (EV): $120m × 12.0x = $1,440m Transaction Fees: $1,440m × 2.0% = $28.8m Total Debt at Close: $120m × 5.5x = $660m Term Loan: $120m × 4.0x = $480m Mezzanine: $120m × 1.5x = $180m Equity Required: $1,440m (EV) + $28.8m (Fees) − $660m…
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Beginner's Longevity Plan

Outline a simple, actionable 1-month plan for someone starting their journey towards better health and longevity. Focus on 3 key areas…

DeepSeek V4 Flash 0731967 words
Here is a simple, actionable 1-month plan designed for absolute beginners. The goal is consistency over intensity. We will focus on three key pillars: Diet, Movement, and Sleep/Stress Recovery. You don’t need to be perfect—just aim for 80% adherence. If you miss a day, don’t double up tomorrow; just get back on track.
Read the full answer
Mercury 2.5325 words
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.
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Our Verdict
DeepSeek V4 Flash 0731
DeepSeek V4 Flash 0731
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 V4 Flash 0731
Input
$0.14
Output
$0.28
Mercury 2.5
Input
$0.04
3.5× cheaper
Output
$0.15
1.9× cheaper

Mercury 2.5 is cheaper on both: 3.5× input, 1.9× output.

Where to run it

30 hosts, cheapest first

DeepSeek V4 Flash 073129 hosts
HostInOutContextUptime
OOpenInferencefp8$0.03 in·$0.80 out·1M·99.8% upSSail Researchfp4$0.04 in·$0.55 out·1M·99.7% upRRelacefp4$0.04 in·$0.64 out·1M·99.7% upSStreamLakefp8$0.05 in·$0.16 out·1M·97.1% upDDeepInfrafp8$0.06 in·$0.18 out·1M·99.7% upRRekafp4$0.09 in·$0.53 out·262k·99% up
23 more hostsFewer hosts
MMakora$0.09 in·$0.20 out·1M·97.8% upWWafer$0.10 in·$0.25 out·1M·99.9% upDDigitalOcean$0.12 in·$0.24 out·1M·99.2% upIInceptronfp4$0.12 in·$0.50 out·1M·99.6% upBBasetenfp8$0.13 in·$0.26 out·1M·100% upCCoreWeavefp8$0.13 in·$0.28 out·262k·99.9% upCohere$0.14 in·$0.28 out·1M·98.6% upNNebiusfp8$0.14 in·$0.28 out·1M·18.5% upPParasailfp8$0.14 in·$0.28 out·1M·99.6% upTTogether$0.14 in·$0.28 out·1M·99.8% upMMorph$0.14 in·$0.40 out·1M·96.5% upVVenice$0.17 in·$0.35 out·1M·99.1% upMMancerfp8$0.20 in·$0.60 out·1M·98.9% upFFireworks$0.22 in·$0.66 out·1M·96.5% upSSiliconFlowfp8$0.22 in·$0.66 out·1M·98.3% upGGMI Cloudfp8$0.29 in·$0.86 out·1M·99.9% upAlibaba Cloud$0.35 in·$1.06 out·1M·100% upNNextBitfp8$0.35 in·$1.06 out·1M·98.2% upNNovitafp8$0.41 in·$1.23 out·1M·100% upAAtlasCloudfp4$0.44 in·$1.32 out·1M·99.6% upBaidu Qianfanfp8$0.44 in·$1.32 out·1M·96.4% upPPhala$0.44 in·$1.32 out·1M·99.8% upCloudflare Workers AIdegraded$0.44 in·$1.32 out·1.3M·99.2% 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 23 Sep 2026.

Research

What we learned reading every model

FAQ

Common questions

DeepSeek V4 Flash 0731 is developed by DeepSeek while Mercury 2.5 is developed by Inception. DeepSeek V4 Flash 0731 has a 1.0M token context window vs Mercury 2.5's 260K. You can compare their actual outputs across 18 challenges on Rival to see how they differ in practice.

It depends on your use case. DeepSeek V4 Flash 0731 and Mercury 2.5 each have strengths in different areas. Rival lets you compare their real outputs side-by-side across 18 challenges so you can judge which fits your needs best.

DeepSeek V4 Flash 0731 costs $0.14/M input tokens and Mercury 2.5 costs $0.04/M input tokens. Mercury 2.5 is $0.10/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 V4 Flash 0731 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

DeepSeek V4 Flash 0731 logo
DeepSeek V4 Flash 073145 outputs, specs and price
Mercury 2.5 logo
Mercury 2.520 outputs, specs and price
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