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. GPT-5.6 SolvsMercury 2.5
Updated Sep 2026

GPT-5.6 SolvsMercury 2.5

Mercury 2.5 is cheaper than GPT-5.6 Sol at $0.04/M vs $5/M input tokens.

GPT-5.6 Sol and Mercury 2.5 compared across 20 shared prompts
SpecGPT-5.6 SolMercury 2.5
Input price$5/M tokens$0.04/M tokens
Output price$30/M tokens$0.15/M tokens
Context window1.1M tokens260K tokens
WeightsClosed—
Free API (OpenRouter)NoNo
ReleasedJul 2026Sep 2026
Side by side

Same prompt, both answers

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

Startup Pitch Teardown

Here's a pitch deck summary for a startup called "MindMeld AI": **Slide 1 - Vision:** "We're building the future of human-AI collaboration.…

GPT-5.6 Sol757 words
“Our non-invasive EEG headband decodes neural patterns into text with 94% accuracy—any language, any device.” Why it’s weak “94% accuracy” is undefined. It could mean binary intent classification, selecting among a handful of words, character accuracy, or genuinely open-ended text decoding—vastly different…
Read the full answer
Mercury 2.5544 words
Based on the pitch deck summary, here are the three weakest claims, along with an analysis of their vulnerabilities and concrete suggestions for improvement. The "Pre-Thought" Prediction Claim Claim: "MindMeld AI reads your brainwaves to predict what you want to type before you think it."
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…

GPT-5.6 Sol869 words
Experienced software engineer An LLM is best understood as a parameterized program learned from data rather than written by developers. Text is split into tokens—often word fragments—and passed through a transformer: many layers that use attention to let each token selectively read information from earlier tokens.
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

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…

GPT-5.6 Sol1,899 words
Low Tide, First Blossom Koji-cured scallop, caramelized white-chocolate cauliflower, compressed green strawberry, nori beurre blanc, dill oil, marine lace, and caviar Yield: 6 tasting-menu portions Concept: An imagined meeting point between a spring orchard and a cold tidal pool.
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.
Read the full answer

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…

GPT-5.6 Sol128 words
Pantry-Gold Peanut Butter Oat Cookies Chewy, warmly spiced cookies made with exactly seven pantry staples. Prep time: 10 minutes Cook time: 10–12 minutes Makes: About 14 cookies 7 Ingredients 1 cup peanut butter ¾ cup brown sugar 1 large egg 1 cup rolled oats ½ teaspoon baking soda ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon ¼ teaspoon…
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

Adversarial Contract Review

Here is a contract for a software consulting engagement: --- SOFTWARE CONSULTING AGREEMENT This Agreement is entered into between TechCorp…

GPT-5.6 Sol3,067 words
This is a contract-risk review, not jurisdiction-specific legal advice. Enforceability—especially for non-competes, fee shifting, arbitration, confidentiality, and indemnification—depends heavily on governing law. A lawyer in the applicable jurisdiction should review the final draft.
Read the full answer
Mercury 2.5501 words
Here is an analysis of the contract clauses that pose significant risk to the contractor, along with suggested modifications and legal reasoning. Scope and Compensation (Clause 1) Risk: The client can expand the project indefinitely without paying extra.
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…

GPT-5.6 Sol1,037 words
LedgerLift (LLLT) — Investment Committee Memo Recommendation: Short, modest size Current price: $46 12-month PT range: $30–$42 Midpoint: $36 Market cap: $8.74B Enterprise value: $7.34B Thesis: LedgerLift is a high-quality SaaS asset with strong retention and credible operating leverage, but the current price implies…
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
GPT-5.6 Sol
GPT-5.6 Sol
Mercury 2.5
Mercury 2.5Runner-up

Not enough votes to call it. On the specs, GPT-5.6 Sol has the edge: bigger model tier, bigger context window, major provider backing.

Mercury 2.5 costs 200x less per token.

Too close to call

Reviewing agent-written code?See a Brief PR report

API pricing

Cost per 1M tokens

GPT-5.6 Sol
Input
$5.00
Output
$30.00
Mercury 2.5
Input
$0.04
125× cheaper
Output
$0.15
200× cheaper

Mercury 2.5 is cheaper on both: 125× input, 200× output.

Where to run it

4 hosts, cheapest first

GPT-5.6 Sol3 hosts
HostInOutContextUptime
OpenAI$2.00 in·$10.00 out·1.1M·99.9% upAzure AI Foundry$4.00 in·$20.00 out·1.1M·100% upAmazon Bedrock$4.40 in·$22.00 out·1.1M·99.5% 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

GPT-5.6 Sol is developed by OpenAI while Mercury 2.5 is developed by Inception. GPT-5.6 Sol has a 1.1M 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. GPT-5.6 Sol 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.

GPT-5.6 Sol costs $5/M input tokens and Mercury 2.5 costs $0.04/M input tokens. Mercury 2.5 is $4.96/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-5.6 Sol 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

GPT-5.6 Sol logoDeepSeek V4 Flash Vision Exp logo
GPT-5.6 Sol vs DeepSeek V4 Flash Vision ExpLanded Sep 2026
Mercury 2.5 logoSolar Pro 4 logo
Mercury 2.5 vs Solar Pro 4Landed Sep 2026
GPT-5.6 Sol logoHy3 logo
GPT-5.6 Sol vs Hy3Landed Sep 2026
Mercury 2.5 logoQwen3.7 Flash logo
Mercury 2.5 vs Qwen3.7 FlashLanded Sep 2026
GPT-5.6 Sol logoLing 3.0 Flash logo
GPT-5.6 Sol vs Ling 3.0 FlashLanded Sep 2026
Mercury 2.5 logoMuse Glimmer 30B logo
Mercury 2.5 vs Muse Glimmer 30BLanded Sep 2026
GPT-5.6 Sol logoGLM 5.3 logo
GPT-5.6 Sol 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

GPT-5.6 Sol logoGPT-5.6 Luna logo
GPT-5.6 Sol vs GPT-5.6 LunaVersion compare
GPT-5.6 Sol logoGPT-6 Astra Pro logo
GPT-5.6 Sol vs GPT-6 Astra ProVersion compare
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
Mercury 2.5 logoGPT-4.1 Nano logo
Mercury 2.5 vs GPT-4.1 NanoCross-provider
Mercury 2.5 logoGPT-4.5 logo
Mercury 2.5 vs GPT-4.5Cross-provider
Mercury 2.5 logoGPT-4o (Omni) logo
Mercury 2.5 vs GPT-4o (Omni)Cross-provider
Mercury 2.5 logoGPT-4o mini logo
Mercury 2.5 vs GPT-4o miniCross-provider

Model pages

GPT-5.6 Sol logo
GPT-5.6 Sol58 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