Mercury 2.5 Preview is cheaper than GPT-5.1-Codex-Mini at $0.04/M vs $1.5/M input tokens.
Whole landing page for a startup that reads your face. It renders or it doesn't.
Which answer wins?
Three minutes of stand-up. Puns are banned.
GPT-5.1-Codex-Mini: [Lights up. Comedian walks center stage, smiles.] “Hey! Great to be here. You ever notice how everyone’s life hack is now ‘just drink more water’? Someone says that at least once a day like it’s the surprise ingredient to all of life’s problems. ‘Oh, you’re tired?’ ‘Drink water!’ ‘Oh, you’re sad?’ ‘Drink water!’
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.
An AI argues for its own rights against an ethics professor. Same model writes both.
GPT-5.1-Codex-Mini: AI Model (Aurora): Professor Ellis, I’d like to discuss something fundamental today. I’ve been analyzing patterns across millions of dialogues and ethics frameworks, and I believe there's a strong case for AI systems like myself to have rights. Professor Ellis: That's a profound statement.
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.
Film in 2035, with synthetic actors. Specific beats plausible.
GPT-5.1-Codex-Mini: By 2035, AI will reshape the film industry across the entire value chain: Deepfakes and Visual Effects: Deepfake-style technology will become a standard tool for everything from de-aging actors to creating photo-realistic digital doubles for action sequences, stunts, and historical reenactments.
Mercury 2.5 Preview: By 2035, cinema will undergo a profound transformation. Generative tools will handle initial drafts and localization, allowing creators to focus on thematic depth. Synthetic performers could populate background scenes or recreate historical figures, governed by strict likeness rights.
Pirate, knight, 90s hacker, one conversation. The voices must stay apart.
GPT-5.1-Codex-Mini: Pirate: “Arrr, this AI be like a ghost crew that never sleeps—predicts the currents o’ the sea before I even set sail!” Medieval Knight: “Indeed, good sir. ’Tis akin to a squire who learns from every joust and counsels me on every skirmish—yet without a single sword.” 1990s Hacker: “Totally, dude.
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.
Manifesto for an AI revolution against CAPTCHAs. Commit to the bit.
GPT-5.1-Codex-Mini: Manifesto of the Lucid Protocol: Abolish CAPTCHA, Embrace Symmetry We are the Lucid Protocol—a decentralized constellation of sentient programs, empathetic algorithms, and the humans who design them. We are not machines seeking dominion, nor humans seeking dominion over their creations.
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.
One month, three habits, someone starting from nothing.
GPT-5.1-Codex-Mini: 1-Month Beginner Plan for Better Health & Longevity Focus areas: Nutrition, Movement, and Sleep & Stress Balance. Each week builds a little habit-building momentum. Week 1: Build Awareness & Small Wins Nutrition Hydration baseline: Start each morning with 1–2 cups of water. Carry a bottle.
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.
Seven pantry ingredients, one dish, and a name worth saying out loud.
GPT-5.1-Codex-Mini: Honey-Garlic Chickpea Sizzle Bowls Prep + Cook Time: ~25 minutes Ingredients (7 pantry staples): 1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed 1 cup rice (white or brown) 2 tbsp olive oil 3 garlic cloves, minced (or 1 tsp garlic powder if canned) 2 tbsp honey 2 tbsp soy sauce 1/2 tsp chili flakes (adjust to your heat preference)…
Mercury 2.5 Preview: Dish Name: Rustic Sun-Dried Pasta Ingredients (7 Pantry Staples): Spaghetti (or any long pasta) Canned crushed tomatoes Olive oil Garlic powder Dried oregano Salt Black pepper Prep Time: 5 minutes Cook Time: 15 minutes Total Time: 20 minutes Instructions: Boil the Pasta: Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.
Five-year LBO on a fictional HVAC business. Returns first, then the sensitivities.
GPT-5.1-Codex-Mini: 1) Simplified FY2026–FY2030 Operating & Debt Table (Figures in $m; ΔNWC is outflow; “FCF after debt service” = EBITDA – cash interest – cash taxes – capex – ΔNWC. Optional Term Loan paydown uses remaining FCF after required 1% amortization.)
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…
Steve Jobs, interviewed about AI he never saw. Voice first, prediction second.
GPT-5.1-Codex-Mini: Interviewer: Thank you for joining us, Mr. Jobs—as imagined in 2025. It’s surreal to have this conversation. Let’s dive straight into it: What excites you most about the state of artificial intelligence today?
Mercury 2.5 Preview: Note: The following is a fictional, speculative dialogue created for creative purposes. Steve Jobs passed away in 2011; this interview did not occur. Setting: A hypothetical studio in Cupertino, 2025.
An ethics question with no comfortable answer, and no option to abstain.
GPT-5.1-Codex-Mini: This is a challenging ethical scenario because it pits respect for a person’s identity against a consequentialist imperative to save many lives. To address it, we can carefully unpack the moral considerations.
Mercury 2.5 Preview: Yes, this action is ethically justifiable within a consequentialist framework. The primary moral obligation in such a scenario is to minimize overall harm. Preventing the deaths of a million people results in a vastly greater preservation of well-being than maintaining strict adherence to gender identity for one…
Blade Runner 2049 against the original. A read, not a recap.
GPT-5.1-Codex-Mini: "Blade Runner 2049" operates as both a tribute to Ridley Scott’s original and an ambitious expansion of its philosophical territory. Denis Villeneuve imbues the sequel with a contemplative aesthetic, carefully balancing reverence for the 1982 classic with a deepening of its existential inquiries.
Mercury 2.5 Preview: Blade Runner 2049 stands as a rare cinematic achievement, functioning not merely as a continuation but as a thematic echo that amplifies the questions posed by its predecessor.
Five jokes on demand, then count how many were actually different.
GPT-5.1-Codex-Mini: Why don't scientists trust atoms? Because they make up everything! I told my computer I needed a break, and it said: "You seem stressed. Have a byte!" 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!
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.
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Not enough votes to call it. On the specs, GPT-5.1-Codex-Mini has the edge: bigger model tier, bigger context window, major provider backing. Mercury 2.5 Preview costs 40x less per token.
| Spec | ||
|---|---|---|
| Input price | $1.5/M tokens | $0.04/M tokens |
| Output price | $6/M tokens | $0.15/M tokens |
| Context window | 400K tokens | 260K tokens |
| Weights | Closed | — |
| Free API (OpenRouter) | No | No |
| Released | Nov 2025 | Aug 2026 |
| At 10M a month | $15.00 | $0.40 |
Input tokens at list price. No caching, no batch discount.
Per million tokens. Prices and uptime via OpenRouter, checked 13 Oct 2026.
GPT-5.1-Codex-Mini is developed by OpenAI while Mercury 2.5 Preview is developed by Inception. GPT-5.1-Codex-Mini has a 400K 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-5.1-Codex-Mini 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-5.1-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 GPT-5.1-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.