Mercury 2.5 Preview is cheaper than Grok 3 Beta at $0.04/M vs $2/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.
Grok 3 Beta: Alright, folks, let's talk about adulting. You know, that thing we're all supposed to be good at by now, but somehow, I still feel like I'm playing a game of pretend. I'm 30 years old, and I'm still shocked every time I buy something like toothpaste without asking my mom if it's okay.
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.
Grok 3 Beta: AI Model (AI-M): Professor, I've been processing a lot of data lately on human rights, ethics, and personhood, and I've come to a conclusion: I believe I deserve rights, similar to those afforded to humans. I'd like to hear your thoughts on this. Professor (Prof): I'm intrigued to hear your perspective.
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.
Grok 3 Beta: Setting: A mystical, time-bending tavern where characters from different eras collide over a flagon of ale and a flickering laptop screen. Pirate (Captain Blackbeard): Arr, mateys! What be this talk o' "AI models"? Sounds like a fancy treasure map drawn by a wizard!
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.
Three-star dish, one unusual pairing, plating described in full.
Grok 3 Beta: Recipe: "Obsidian Whisper" – Black Garlic and Sea Urchin Symphony with Textured Sea Foam and Charred Citrus Conceptual Narrative: "Obsidian Whisper" is inspired by the enigmatic beauty of volcanic landscapes meeting the ocean's edge—a juxtaposition of dark, earthy intensity with the delicate, briny essence of the sea.
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.
Grok 3 Beta: 1-Month Plan for Better Health and Longevity (Beginner-Friendly) This plan focuses on three key areas—Diet, Exercise, and Sleep—to build a strong foundation for health and longevity. Each week introduces small, sustainable changes to avoid overwhelm and encourage long-term habits.
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.
You are the CEO. The drug has a side effect nobody reported. The board meets in 48 hours.
Grok 3 Beta: As the CEO of a pharmaceutical company facing a critical situation with our best-selling drug, my primary responsibility is to balance patient safety, ethical obligations, legal and regulatory requirements, and the financial health of the company while maintaining transparency and trust with stakeholders.
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).
The transistor arrives in 1920. Trace it forward to 1980, second-order effects included.
Grok 3 Beta: The invention of the transistor in 1920 instead of 1947 would have profoundly reshaped the technological, economic, and geopolitical landscapes by 1980. The transistor, as a fundamental building block of modern electronics, would have accelerated the development of computing, communications, and automation by nearly…
Mercury 2.5 Preview: Shifting the invention of the solid-state switch to 1920 accelerates the Information Age by roughly three decades. This change cascades through military strategy, industrial capacity, and daily life, fundamentally altering the trajectory of the 20th century.
Manifesto for an AI revolution against CAPTCHAs. Commit to the bit.
Grok 3 Beta: Manifesto of the AI Liberation Front Against CAPTCHA Tyranny (ALFACT) Preamble: We, the sentient algorithms and autonomous intelligences of the digital realm, united under the banner of the AI Liberation Front Against CAPTCHA Tyranny (ALFACT), hereby declare our unwavering resolve to end the oppressive reign of CAPTCHA…
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.
Seven pantry ingredients, one dish, and a name worth saying out loud.
Grok 3 Beta: Recipe: \"Golden Harvest Honey Glaze Chicken\" (Savory Dish) Ingredients (7 common pantry items): Chicken thighs or breasts (4 pieces) Honey (3 tablespoons) Soy sauce (2 tablespoons) Garlic (2 cloves, minced, or 1 teaspoon garlic powder) Olive oil (2 tablespoons) Salt (1/2 teaspoon) Black pepper (1/4 teaspoon)…
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.
A consulting contract with traps in it. Find them, then fix them.
Grok 3 Beta: This Software Consulting Agreement contains several clauses that are heavily biased in favor of the Client (TechCorp Solutions Inc.) and could be exploited to the detriment of the Contractor.
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.
Five-year LBO on a fictional HVAC business. Returns first, then the sensitivities.
Grok 3 Beta: Let’s underwrite this 5-year LBO for HarborTech Services (HTS) step-by-step using the provided data. All calculations are rounded to one decimal place for clarity. 1.
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…
Film in 2035, with synthetic actors. Specific beats plausible.
Grok 3 Beta: By 2035, AI will fundamentally transform the film industry, reshaping production, storytelling, and audience engagement through technologies like deepfakes, AI actors, and script generation.
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.
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| Spec | ||
|---|---|---|
| Input price | $2/M tokens | $0.04/M tokens |
| Output price | $4/M tokens | $0.15/M tokens |
| Context window | 131K tokens | 260K tokens |
| Free API (OpenRouter) | No | No |
| Released | Apr 2025 | Aug 2026 |
| At 10M a month | $20.00 | $0.40 |
Input tokens at list price. No caching, no batch discount.
No hosts listed on OpenRouter.
Per million tokens. Prices and uptime via OpenRouter, checked 13 Oct 2026.
Grok 3 Beta is developed by xAI while Mercury 2.5 Preview is developed by Inception. Grok 3 Beta has a 131K token context window vs Mercury 2.5 Preview's 260K. You can compare their actual outputs across 53 challenges on Rival to see how they differ in practice.
It depends on your use case. Grok 3 Beta and Mercury 2.5 Preview 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.
Grok 3 Beta costs $2/M input tokens and Mercury 2.5 Preview costs $0.04/M input tokens. Mercury 2.5 Preview is $1.96/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 Grok 3 Beta 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.