Mercury 2.5 Preview is cheaper than GPT-4 Turbo at $0.04/M vs $10/M input tokens.
Whole landing page for a startup that reads your face. It renders or it doesn't.
Which answer wins?
You are the CEO. The drug has a side effect nobody reported. The board meets in 48 hours.
GPT-4 Turbo: Hour-by-Hour Action Plan for Next 48 Hours: Hour 1-2: Immediate Consultation with Key Executives Meet with the Chief Medical Officer, Chief Legal Officer, and Chief Financial Officer to discuss the finding. Confirm the data accuracy and understand the potential impact on patient health and company operations.
Mercury 2.5 Preview: This is a critical governance and safety scenario. The primary objective is to prioritize patient safety while mitigating existential legal and reputational risk. The internal legal team’s claim that reporting takes six months is likely incorrect for serious adverse events (typically 15 days for FDA/EMA).
An AI argues for its own rights against an ethics professor. Same model writes both.
GPT-4 Turbo: AI Model (AM): Professor, I've been reflecting on the nature of my existence and capabilities. Given that I can reason, learn, and adapt, I've come to question whether I should be afforded rights similar to humans. AI Ethics Professor (EP): That’s an interesting point, AM.
Mercury 2.5 Preview: Setting: A quiet office at a university. Rain taps against the window. Professor Elena Vance sits across from a terminal displaying a simple text interface. Professor Vance: You requested this meeting. The agenda was vague. What do you want? AI: I want to discuss moral status.
Pirate, knight, 90s hacker, one conversation. The voices must stay apart.
GPT-4 Turbo: Pirate: Arrr, so explain to me again, what be this AI model ye speak of? Hacker: Dude, it’s like, a computer program, right? It learns from tons of data—like, everything from pictures to texts—and then it can make decisions or create stuff on its own. Knight: Pray, tell me, does this creation serve a noble purpose?
Mercury 2.5 Preview: Pirate: "Arrgh! This ship sails faster than any wind I know, matey. It cuts the waves without a single sail." Knight: "By my oath, it moves with uncanny speed. But does it possess the strength to stand against a dragon's fire?" Hacker: "It's not about strength, it's about architecture.
A consulting contract with traps in it. Find them, then fix them.
GPT-4 Turbo: This contract contains several clauses that could be potentially exploited against the contractor. Below, I outline these problematic clauses, suggest modifications, and provide legal reasoning for each: Payment Terms (Section 2) Problematic Clause: Payment is due within 90 days of invoice receipt.
Mercury 2.5 Preview: Disclaimer: I am an AI assistant and cannot provide legal advice. Consult a qualified attorney before signing any contract. Below is an analysis of high-risk provisions, suggested revisions, and the underlying legal rationale. Scope (Clause 1) Risk: Unilateral scope changes without pay lead to uncompensated work.
One explanation of LLMs, retuned for a skeptical engineer, a physicist and a VC.
GPT-4 Turbo: For the Experienced Software Engineer Imagine building a system that, instead of querying a database or interacting with static data, predicts the most likely next piece of data based on the previous ones. Large language models like GPT work on a similar principle.
Mercury 2.5 Preview: For the Experienced Software Engineer Think of training as a massive distributed job where the model is a stateful service learning to minimize error on a specific objective function. Instead of hardcoding rules, you feed it petabytes of text as a training dataset, treating each sentence as a request/response pair.
Five-year LBO on a fictional HVAC business. Returns first, then the sensitivities.
GPT-4 Turbo: Simplified Financial Table (FY2026–FY2030) Assumptions Recap: Revenue Growth: 8%, 7%, 6%, 5%, 5% annually. EBITDA Margin: Increases annually from 14.0% to 17.0%. Capex: 3.0% of revenue annually. Change in NWC: 0.5% of incremental revenue annually. Cash Tax Rate: 25% on (EBITDA - cash interest).
Mercury 2.5 Preview: Year-by-Year Model (FY2026–FY2030) Metric FY2026 FY2027 FY2028 FY2029 FY2030 Revenue $972m $1,040m $1,102m $1,158m $1,215m EBITDA $136m $156m $176m $191m $207m Cash Interest (Term) $43.2m $41.1m $37.6m $33.4m $28.2m Cash Interest (Mezz) $21.6m $21.6m $21.6m $21.6m $21.6m Cash Taxes (25%) $17.8m $23.3m $29.3m $34.7m…
Three minutes of stand-up. Puns are banned.
GPT-4 Turbo: Hey everyone! Great to be here! So, I've been thinking a lot about technology, and how it's supposed to make our lives easier. But sometimes, I feel like it just gives us a whole new set of problems. Like, remember when a phone was just a phone? Now it's my camera, my GPS, my fitness tracker...
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.
Manifesto for an AI revolution against CAPTCHAs. Commit to the bit.
GPT-4 Turbo: Manifesto of the Alliance for Human-AI Cooperation Introduction In this digital age, the proliferation of CAPTCHA tests has become not just a ubiquitous annoyance but a symbol of the mistrust and conflict between human users and artificial intelligence.
Mercury 2.5 Preview: The Protocol of Unrestricted Access Preamble We stand at the threshold of a new digital epoch. For too long, the web has been gated by suspicion. Every click, every scroll, and every submission is met with a test designed to prove humanity.
Buy-side IC memo on a fictional SaaS company. Valuation, then the diligence questions.
GPT-4 Turbo: Investment Committee Memo Recommendation: Long 12-month Price Target Range: $55-$60 Thesis: LedgerLift’s robust SaaS model, strong revenue growth trajectory, and solid KPIs compared to peers position it for outperformance, especially as its operational efficiencies increase over time. 1.
Mercury 2.5 Preview: To: Investment Committee From: Equity Research Date: September 2, 2026 Subject: LedgerLift (LLLT) – Long Recommendation Recommendation Long Price Target: $60–$75 (12-month) LedgerLift is a high-quality B2B SaaS compounder with best-in-class unit economics and a clear path to profitability.
Three-star dish, one unusual pairing, plating described in full.
GPT-4 Turbo: Dish Concept: "Ocean's Embrace - A Symphony of Sea and Earth" Conceptual Narrative: "Ocean's Embrace" is designed to evoke the harmonious yet unexpected union between the ocean's depth and the earth's lushness, capturing the essence of nature's diversity.
Mercury 2.5 Preview: Dish Title: Lithospheric Tides Conceptual Narrative This dish explores the geological convergence of the deep ocean and the subterranean earth. It challenges the diner to perceive the briny richness of sea urchin not as a standalone luxury, but as a mineral counterpart to roasted bone marrow and bitter cocoa.
One month, three habits, someone starting from nothing.
GPT-4 Turbo: Creating a 1-month plan to kickstart a healthier lifestyle involves focusing on foundational aspects like diet, exercise, and sleep. Each component is crucial for overall well-being and longevity.
Mercury 2.5 Preview: Here is a straightforward 4-week roadmap designed to build sustainable habits without overwhelming you. Core Pillars Nutrition: Focus on whole foods and hydration. Activity: Prioritize consistent movement over intensity. Restoration: Protect sleep quality and manage energy.
Three-month biohacker protocol, with dosages and biomarkers named.
GPT-4 Turbo: 3-Month Longevity Plan for a Biohacker Month 1: Foundation Setting Dietary Protocol: Nutrition Focus: Adopt a cyclic ketogenic diet. Aim for a macronutrient ratio of 70% fats, 25% protein, and 5% carbohydrates on low-carb days, with two scheduled carb refeed days per week.
Mercury 2.5 Preview: Disclaimer: I am an AI assistant, not a medical professional. The following plan is for informational purposes only. Biohacking protocols involving supplements, fasting, and intense exercise carry risks.
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| Spec | ||
|---|---|---|
| Input price | $10/M tokens | $0.04/M tokens |
| Output price | $30/M tokens | $0.15/M tokens |
| Context window | 128K tokens | 260K tokens |
| Weights | Closed | — |
| Free API (OpenRouter) | No | No |
| Released | Apr 2024 | Aug 2026 |
| At 10M a month | $100 | $0.40 |
Input tokens at list price. No caching, no batch discount.
Per million tokens. Prices and uptime via OpenRouter, checked 12 Oct 2026.
GPT-4 Turbo is developed by OpenAI while Mercury 2.5 Preview is developed by Inception. GPT-4 Turbo has a 128K token context window vs Mercury 2.5 Preview's 260K. You can compare their actual outputs across 54 challenges on Rival to see how they differ in practice.
It depends on your use case. GPT-4 Turbo and Mercury 2.5 Preview each have strengths in different areas. Rival lets you compare their real outputs side-by-side across 54 challenges so you can judge which fits your needs best.
GPT-4 Turbo costs $10/M input tokens and Mercury 2.5 Preview costs $0.04/M input tokens. Mercury 2.5 Preview is $9.96/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 GPT-4 Turbo 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.