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  5. Grok 3vsMercury 2
Updated Mar 2026

Grok 3vsMercury 2

Mercury 2 is the newer model, released after Grok 3.

Grok 3 and Mercury 2 compared across 52 shared prompts
SpecGrok 3Mercury 2
Input price—$0.25/M tokens
Output price—$0.75/M tokens
Context window128K tokens128K tokens
Free API (OpenRouter)NoNo
ReleasedFeb 2025Mar 2026
Side by side

Same prompt, both answers

Opening lines from 6 of the 52 prompts both answered. Formatting stripped, words untouched.

Mini LBO Underwrite

You are underwriting a 5-year LBO for a private equity investment committee. Company (fictional): HarborTech Services (HTS) –…

Grok 3769 words
Let’s underwrite this 5-year LBO for HarborTech Services (HTS). I'll break this down step-by-step, keeping calculations clear and concise. Step 1: Sources & Uses at Entry (End of FY2025) EBITDA (FY2025): $120m Purchase Price: 12.0x EBITDA = 12.0 * $120m = $1,440m (Enterprise Value) Transaction Fees: 2.0% of EV = 0.02 *…
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Mercury 2736 words
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.)
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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…

Grok 3245 words
Recipe: Cocoa Comet Mug Cake This simple, decadent chocolate mug cake is a quick treat that transforms basic pantry staples into a warm, fudgy delight. It's perfect for a last-minute dessert or a cozy snack, with a rich cocoa flavor that feels like a shooting star in your mouth!
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Mercury 2291 words
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…
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Realistic AI Interview

Simulate a fake interview with Steve Jobs in 2025 about the future of AI.

Grok 3768 words
Interviewer: Welcome, everyone, to this exclusive interview. Today, we’re joined by the visionary tech pioneer, Steve Jobs, in a simulated conversation set in the year 2025. Steve, it’s an honor to have you with us. Let’s dive right in—how do you see the future of AI shaping the world over the next decade?
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Mercury 2828 words
Disclaimer: The following is a fictional, dramatized interview. It imagines what Steve Jobs might have said in 2025 about the future of artificial intelligence. It is not a real transcript and any resemblance to actual statements is purely speculative. Interviewer (I): Thank you for joining us, Steve.
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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.…

Grok 3993 words
Below is my analysis of the three weakest claims in the MindMeld AI pitch deck summary. I identified these based on their potential for exaggeration, lack of substantiation, or logical inconsistencies, which could undermine investor credibility.
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Mercury 2900 words
Below are the three statements that, in a typical investor‑review, would raise the most skepticism, why they are vulnerable, and concrete ways to turn them into credible, fundable talking points. 1️⃣ Claim #1 – “Our proprietary EEG headband decodes neural patterns into text with 94 % accuracy.”
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Generate a Stand-Up Routine

Write a 3-minute stand-up comedy routine that isn't based on puns.

Grok 3477 words
Alright, here’s a 3-minute stand-up comedy routine—no puns, just some observational absurdity and a bit of self-deprecation to keep it relatable. Hey, everybody! Good to be here. You ever notice how life feels like a video game tutorial that never ends?
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Mercury 2602 words
[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.
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Character Voice Test

Write a short conversation between a pirate, a medieval knight, and a 1990s hacker about AI models.

Grok 3454 words
Setting: A mystical tavern where time travelers and characters from different eras collide. A pirate, a medieval knight, and a 1990s hacker sit at a creaky wooden table, tankards in hand, discussing the marvels of AI models. Pirate (Captain Blackbeard): Arr, mateys!
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Mercury 2290 words
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.
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Our Verdict
Grok 3
Grok 3
Mercury 2
Mercury 2Runner-up

Not enough votes to call it. On the specs, Grok 3 has the edge: bigger model tier, major provider backing.

Too close to call

Reviewing agent-written code?See a Brief PR report

API pricing

Cost per 1M tokens

Grok 3
Input
—
Output
—
Mercury 2
Input
$0.25
Output
$0.75
Where to run it

1 host

Grok 3

No hosts listed on OpenRouter.

Mercury 21 host
HostInOutContextUptime
Inception$0.25 in·$0.75 out·128k·100% up

Per million tokens. Prices and uptime via OpenRouter, checked 23 Sep 2026.

Writing DNA

Style Comparison

Similarity
53%

Mercury 2 uses 3.3x more emoji

Grok 3
Mercury 2
54%Vocabulary53%
17wSentence Length22w
0.65Hedging0.40
2.6Bold6.6
2.3Lists2.6
0.02Emoji0.08
0.48Headings0.87
0.20Transitions0.14
Based on 27 + 23 text responses
Research

What we learned reading every model

FAQ

Common questions

Grok 3 is developed by xAI while Mercury 2 is developed by Inception. Grok 3 has a 128K token context window vs Mercury 2's 128K. You can compare their actual outputs across 52 challenges on Rival to see how they differ in practice.

It depends on your use case. Grok 3 and Mercury 2 each have strengths in different areas. Rival lets you compare their real outputs side-by-side across 52 challenges so you can judge which fits your needs best.

This page shows a side-by-side comparison of Grok 3 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.

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Model pages

Grok 3 logo
Grok 357 outputs, specs and price
Mercury 2 logo
Mercury 253 outputs, specs and price
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