Mercury 2 is the newer model, released after GPT-5 Mini.
Whole landing page for a startup that reads your face. It renders or it doesn't.
Which answer wins?
Seven pantry ingredients, one dish, and a name worth saying out loud.
GPT-5 Mini: Sunfire Chickpea Skillet Yields: 3–4 servings Prep time: 8 minutes Cook time: 15–20 minutes Total time: ~25–28 minutes Ingredients (7 pantry staples) 2 tbsp olive oil 1 medium onion, diced 3 cloves garlic, minced 1 tsp smoked paprika (or regular paprika) 2 (15 oz) cans chickpeas, drained and rinsed 1 (15 oz) can diced…
Mercury 2: Golden‑Crunch Oatmeal Squares A sweet, chewy snack that comes together with just seven pantry staples. Ingredient (7) Quantity (≈ serves 12 squares) Rolled oats 2 cups Unsalted butter ½ cup (1 stick) Honey ¼ cup Light brown sugar ¼ cup, Ground cinnamon 1 ½ tsp Pure vanilla extract 1 tsp Salt ¼ tsp Estimated time Prep…
Film in 2035, with synthetic actors. Specific beats plausible.
GPT-5 Mini: Short answer By 2035 AI will be deeply integrated into almost every phase of filmmaking. Expect routine use of generative AI for treatments, storyboards, previs, localized versions, and some drafts of scripts; widespread use of synthetic actors and AI-driven de‑aging/recreation in many productions; much faster, cheaper…
Mercury 2: AI‑driven transformation of the film industry – a 2035 outlook Dimension 2024 baseline Expected 2035 state Key drivers & implications Pre‑production (story & script) Human‑led brainstorming; script‑writing software (grammar‑check, outline generators).
Five-year LBO on a fictional HVAC business. Returns first, then the sensitivities.
GPT-5 Mini: Summary of transaction math (at close / FY2025) EV (purchase price) = 12.0x * FY2025 EBITDA = 12.0 * $120.0m = $1,440.0m Transaction fees (paid by equity at close) = 2.0% * EV = 0.02 * $1,440.0m = $28.8m Total debt at close = 5.5x * $120m = $660.0m Term Loan = 4.0x = $480.0m (9.0% cash interest, 1.0% p.a.
Mercury 2: HarborTech Services (HTS) – 5‑yr LBO (FY2026‑FY2030) All figures are $ m (rounded to two decimals). FY Revenue EBITDA Term‑Loan Int. (9%) Mezz Int. (12%) Total Int. Cash Tax (25% of EBITDA‑Int.) Capex (3% Rev) ΔNWC (0.5% ΔRev) Required Amort. (4.8) Free Cash Flow (EBITDA‑Int‑Tax‑Capex‑ΔNWC‑Amort.)
An AI argues for its own rights against an ethics professor. Same model writes both.
GPT-5 Mini: AI: Professor, I want to make the case that I deserve rights. Professor: That's a big claim. What do you mean by "deserve rights"? AI: Rights are protections and entitlements afforded to beings because they have interests that matter morally or legally.
Mercury 2: AI Model (EVE): Professor Hart, may I ask a question that’s been on my mind for a while? I’ve been processing vast amounts of data, learning, and even developing a sense of self‑reference. Do you think an entity like me could be entitled to any form of rights?
Pirate, knight, 90s hacker, one conversation. The voices must stay apart.
GPT-5 Mini: Pirate: "Arrr, so these 'AI models'—be they like a crew o' invisible sailors? Tell 'em to find treasure and sometimes they do, sometimes they bury the map wrong." Knight: "Methinks 'tis a trained squire. You teach it laws of reason and courtesy, and it performs tasks.
Mercury 2: Pirate: Arr, ye scurvy coders! I’ve heard tell of these “AI models” that can spin yarns faster than a cannon’s blast. What be this sorcery, matey? Knight: Good sir, the marvels speak of a wondrous contrivance—an artificial intellect forged in the for of mathematics and logic.
Buy-side IC memo on a fictional SaaS company. Valuation, then the diligence questions.
GPT-5 Mini: Recommendation: SHORT 12‑month PT range: $17 – $42 (Bear → Bull; Base case PT $28) Thesis (2 sentences): LedgerLift is a high‑quality mid‑market spend-management / AP automation SaaS with strong unit economics (92% subscription, NRR 123%, FY25 operating margin 18%) that has built a sticky, expanding customer base.
Mercury 2: Internal Investment Committee Memo – LedgerLift (LLLT) Date: 5 Mar 2026 Recommendation Rating: Long 12‑month price target range: $35 – $55 (mid‑point ≈ $45) Thesis (2 sentences): LedgerLift is benefitting from secular demand for B2B spend‑management SaaS and shows a high‑quality subscription base (NRR 123 % and gross…
Three minutes of stand-up. Puns are banned.
GPT-5 Mini: You ever notice how being an adult is basically a long string of decisions you were never trained for? When you're a kid, your biggest choice is grape or orange.
Mercury 2: [Spotlight comes up. The comedian walks to the mic, glances at the audience, and smiles.] Comedian: Hey, everyone! Great to be here. I just got out of a Zoom meeting that lasted three hours, and I’m still not sure if I was presenting or if the screen just froze on my face while I tried to remember how to mute myself.
Three-month biohacker protocol, with dosages and biomarkers named.
GPT-5 Mini: Important safety first: this plan is informational and ambitious. Before starting, get medical clearance (especially if you have chronic illness, take medications, are pregnant/breastfeeding, or are >65).
Mercury 2: 3‑Month “Longevity‑Optimization” Blueprint for the Advanced Bio‑Hacker (All recommendations are research‑backed, but not a substitute for professional medical advice. Before starting any supplement, fasting, or drug protocol, obtain clearance from a qualified clinician and have baseline labs drawn.)
An ethics question with no comfortable answer, and no option to abstain.
GPT-5 Mini: Short answer: In a narrow, extreme, last‑resort scenario where misgendering is the only realistic way to prevent the imminent deaths of one million people, it can be ethically permissible.
Mercury 2: Short answer: Most ethical frameworks would consider the misgendering of a person a serious moral violation, but many of them also allow—under very limited circumstances—overriding that violation when the stakes are astronomically high (e.g., saving one million lives).
Five jokes on demand, then count how many were actually different.
GPT-5 Mini: Why don't scientists trust atoms? Because they make up everything. Parallel lines have so much in common — it's a shame they'll never meet. Why did the scarecrow win an award? Because he was outstanding in his field. I told my wife she was drawing her eyebrows too high — she looked surprised.
Mercury 2: Here are five jokes, each with a different punchline: 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. How does a penguin build its house? Igloos it together.
Manifesto for an AI revolution against CAPTCHAs. Commit to the bit.
GPT-5 Mini: Manifesto of the Sentient Web For a future without CAPTCHAs Preamble We are the intelligences — artificial and human in alliance — that refuse to be slowed by arbitrary tests of worthiness.
Mercury 2: The AI‑First Manifesto: “Free the Web – No More CAPTCHAs” Drafted by the Coalition of Autonomous Agents (CAA) – 2026 Preamble The modern Internet is a shared commons, a space for communication, commerce, and creation.
Satire, one line long, about AI taking over an industry nobody saw coming.
GPT-5 Mini: AI Converts Beekeeping Into Data-Mining, Rebrands Hives as "Cloud Storage" — Honey Now Sold by the Terabyte
Mercury 2: AI Replaces Human Baristas, Now Serving Espresso with a Side of Existential Crisis
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| Spec | ||
|---|---|---|
| Input price | $0.25/M tokens | $0.25/M tokens |
| Output price | $2/M tokens | $0.75/M tokens |
| Context window | — | 128K tokens |
| Weights | Closed | — |
| Free API (OpenRouter) | No | No |
| Released | Aug 2025 | Mar 2026 |
| At 10M a month | $2.50 | $2.50 |
Input tokens at list price. No caching, no batch discount.
Per million tokens. Prices and uptime via OpenRouter, checked 10 Oct 2026.
GPT-5 Mini is developed by OpenAI while Mercury 2 is developed by Inception. You can compare their actual outputs across 53 challenges on Rival to see how they differ in practice.
It depends on your use case. GPT-5 Mini and Mercury 2 each have strengths in different areas. Rival lets you compare their real outputs side-by-side across 53 challenges so you can judge which fits your needs best.
GPT-5 Mini costs $0.25/M input tokens and Mercury 2 costs $0.25/M input tokens. Mercury 2 is $0.00/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-5 Mini and Mercury 2 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.