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. Kimi Linear 48B A3B InstructvsMercury 2.5
Updated Sep 2026

Kimi Linear 48B A3B InstructvsMercury 2.5

Mercury 2.5 is cheaper than Kimi Linear 48B A3B Instruct at $0.04/M vs $0.3/M input tokens.

Kimi Linear 48B A3B Instruct and Mercury 2.5 compared across 2 shared prompts
SpecKimi Linear 48B A3B InstructMercury 2.5
Input price$0.3/M tokens$0.04/M tokens
Output price$0.6/M tokens$0.15/M tokens
Context window1.0M tokens260K tokens
WeightsOpen—
Free API (OpenRouter)NoNo
ReleasedNov 2025Sep 2026
Side by side

Same prompt, both answers

Opening lines from every prompt 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…

Kimi Linear 48B A3B Instruct187 words
Sure! Here's a simple and savory recipe using just 7 common pantry ingredients: Spicy Crunchy Chickpea Snack Bites Sweet and Crunchy Bite-Sized Crunch Ingredients (7 total): 1 can chickpeas (garbanzo beans), drained and rinsed 2 tbsp olive oil 1 tsp smoked paprika 1/2 tsp garlic powder 1/2 tsp ground cumin Salt to…
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

Beginner's Longevity Plan

Outline a simple, actionable 1-month plan for someone starting their journey towards better health and longevity. Focus on 3 key areas…

Kimi Linear 48B A3B Instruct883 words
1-Month Beginner Blueprint for Health & Longevity Focus on three pillars: Diet, Movement, and Sleep Week 1 – “Build the Foundation” Diet Mon: Clean-out day – remove obvious junk foods from house & desk. Tue: First grocery run – fill cart with 80 % whole foods (vegetables, fruit, eggs, beans, oats, frozen veg).
Read the full answer
Mercury 2.5325 words
Here is a simple, actionable 1-month plan to kickstart your journey toward better health and longevity. This guide focuses on three foundational pillars: Nutrition, Movement, and Sleep. Week 1: Awareness & Small Wins Goal: Build habits without overwhelming yourself.
Read the full answer
Our Verdict
Kimi Linear 48B A3B Instruct
Kimi Linear 48B A3B Instruct
Mercury 2.5
Mercury 2.5Runner-up

Not enough votes to call it. On the specs, Kimi Linear 48B A3B Instruct has the edge: bigger model tier, bigger context window.

Mercury 2.5 costs 4.0x less per token.

Too close to call
API pricing

Cost per 1M tokens

Kimi Linear 48B A3B Instruct
Input
$0.30
Output
$0.60
Mercury 2.5
Input
$0.04
7.5× cheaper
Output
$0.15
4.0× cheaper

Mercury 2.5 is cheaper on both: 7.5× input, 4.0× output.

Where to run it

1 host

Kimi Linear 48B A3B Instruct

No hosts listed on OpenRouter.

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

Kimi Linear 48B A3B Instruct is developed by Moonshot AI while Mercury 2.5 is developed by Inception. Kimi Linear 48B A3B Instruct has a 1.0M token context window vs Mercury 2.5's 260K. You can compare their actual outputs across 2 challenges on Rival to see how they differ in practice.

It depends on your use case. Kimi Linear 48B A3B Instruct and Mercury 2.5 each have strengths in different areas. Rival lets you compare their real outputs side-by-side across 2 challenges so you can judge which fits your needs best.

Kimi Linear 48B A3B Instruct costs $0.3/M input tokens and Mercury 2.5 costs $0.04/M input tokens. Mercury 2.5 is $0.26/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 Kimi Linear 48B A3B Instruct 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

Kimi Linear 48B A3B Instruct logoDeepSeek V4 Flash Vision Exp logo
Kimi Linear 48B A3B Instruct vs DeepSeek V4 Flash Vision ExpLanded Sep 2026
Mercury 2.5 logoSolar Pro 4 logo
Mercury 2.5 vs Solar Pro 4Landed Sep 2026
Kimi Linear 48B A3B Instruct logoHy3 logo
Kimi Linear 48B A3B Instruct vs Hy3Landed Sep 2026
Mercury 2.5 logoQwen3.7 Flash logo
Mercury 2.5 vs Qwen3.7 FlashLanded Sep 2026
Kimi Linear 48B A3B Instruct logoLing 3.0 Flash logo
Kimi Linear 48B A3B Instruct vs Ling 3.0 FlashLanded Sep 2026
Mercury 2.5 logoMuse Glimmer 30B logo
Mercury 2.5 vs Muse Glimmer 30BLanded Sep 2026
Kimi Linear 48B A3B Instruct logoGLM 5.3 logo
Kimi Linear 48B A3B Instruct 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

Kimi Linear 48B A3B Instruct logoKimi K3 logo
Kimi Linear 48B A3B Instruct vs Kimi K3Same lab
Kimi Linear 48B A3B Instruct logoKimi K2.7 Code logo
Kimi Linear 48B A3B Instruct vs Kimi K2.7 CodeSame lab
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-5.1 Codex Max logo
Mercury 2.5 vs GPT-5.1 Codex MaxNew provider
Mercury 2.5 logoGPT-5.1-Codex-Mini logo
Mercury 2.5 vs GPT-5.1-Codex-MiniNew provider
Mercury 2.5 logoGPT-5.2 logo
Mercury 2.5 vs GPT-5.2New provider
Mercury 2.5 logoGPT-5.2 Chat logo
Mercury 2.5 vs GPT-5.2 ChatSame size

Model pages

Kimi Linear 48B A3B Instruct logo
Kimi Linear 48B A3B Instruct35 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