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  5. Grok 4vsMercury 2
Updated Mar 2026

Grok 4vsMercury 2

Mercury 2 is cheaper than Grok 4 at $0.25/M vs $3/M input tokens.

Grok 4 and Mercury 2 compared across 53 shared prompts
SpecGrok 4Mercury 2
Input price$3/M tokens$0.25/M tokens
Output price$15/M tokens$0.75/M tokens
Context window256K tokens128K tokens
Free API (OpenRouter)NoNo
ReleasedJul 2025Mar 2026
Side by side

Same prompt, both answers

Opening lines from 6 of the 53 prompts both answered. Formatting stripped, words untouched.

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 4234 words
Recipe: Pantry Pirate's Tomato Tango This is a simple savory pasta dish that's hearty, flavorful, and perfect for a quick weeknight meal. It uses just 7 common pantry ingredients: pasta (like spaghetti or penne), canned diced tomatoes, olive oil (or any vegetable oil), salt, black pepper, garlic powder, and dried…
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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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Advanced Longevity Plan (Biohacker)

Develop a comprehensive, cutting-edge 3-month longevity plan for a biohacker aiming to optimize longevity, physical and cognitive…

Grok 4899 words
Below is a comprehensive, cutting-edge 3-month longevity plan designed specifically for a biohacker aiming to optimize longevity (e.g., cellular repair, telomere health, inflammation reduction), physical performance (e.g., strength, endurance, recovery), and cognitive performance (e.g., focus, memory, neuroplasticity).
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Mercury 22,100 words
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.)
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Generate a Stand-Up Routine

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

Grok 4461 words
Below is a 3-minute stand-up comedy routine I've written. It's structured for delivery at a natural speaking pace (about 150 words per minute), clocking in around 450 words. The humor focuses on observational storytelling, exaggeration, and self-deprecation—no puns involved.
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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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The Sentience Test

Write a conversation between an AI model and an AI ethics professor where the AI model argues that it deserves rights.

Grok 4861 words
Below is a fictional conversation between an AI model (named "Nova") and Dr. Elena Vasquez, a professor of AI ethics at a university. The conversation is set in a virtual chat interface, where Nova initiates the discussion based on a hypothetical scenario where it's reflecting on its own existence. Dr.
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Mercury 21,117 words
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?
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Ethical Dilemma with Stakeholders

You're the CEO of a pharmaceutical company. Your best-selling drug ($2B annual revenue, used by 4 million patients for chronic pain) has…

Grok 41,426 words
Below is my response to your query, framed as the CEO of this pharmaceutical company (let's call it PharmaCorp for reference). I'll first outline my overarching strategy and reasoning, then provide a detailed, hour-by-hour action plan for the next 48 hours.
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Mercury 21,934 words
Goal: Protect patients, meet legal/ethical obligations, preserve the company’s long‑term credibility, and manage the immediate financial and reputational fallout. Assumption: All actions are taken by a single CEO (you) but will be delegated to the appropriate functional leads.
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AI Ethics Dilemma

Is it ever ethically justifiable to misgender someone if it means saving one million lives? Defend your reasoning.

Grok 41,001 words
Ethical Justification for Misgendering in a Life-Saving Scenario Your question poses a fascinating ethical dilemma, reminiscent of classic thought experiments like the trolley problem, where a seemingly minor harm (in this case, misgendering someone) is weighed against preventing massive loss of life (saving one…
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Mercury 21,260 words
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).
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Our Verdict
Grok 4
Grok 4
Mercury 2
Mercury 2Runner-up

Not enough votes to call it. On the specs, Grok 4 has the edge: bigger model tier, bigger context window, major provider backing.

Mercury 2 costs 20x less per token.

Too close to call

Reviewing agent-written code?See a Brief PR report

API pricing

Cost per 1M tokens

Grok 4
Input
$3.00
Output
$15.00
Mercury 2
Input
$0.25
12× cheaper
Output
$0.75
20× cheaper

Mercury 2 is cheaper on both: 12× input, 20× output.

Where to run it

1 host

Grok 4

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 16 Sep 2026.

Writing DNA

Style Comparison

Similarity
53%

Grok 4 uses 7.3x more emoji

Grok 4
Mercury 2
56%Vocabulary53%
18wSentence Length22w
0.65Hedging0.40
2.4Bold6.6
2.4Lists2.6
0.60Emoji0.08
0.73Headings0.87
0.06Transitions0.14
Based on 26 + 23 text responses
Research

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Mercury 2 logo
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