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  1. Home/
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  3. Mercury 2.5 Preview vs MiniMax M3
Updated Aug 2026

Mercury 2.5 Preview vs MiniMax M3

Mercury 2.5 Preview is cheaper than MiniMax M3 at $0.04/M vs $0.3/M input tokens.

Minimalist Landing Page

Whole landing page for a startup that reads your face. It renders or it doesn't.

Loading the build
Mercury 2.5 Preview
Loading the build
MiniMax M3

Which answer wins?

Written rounds

24 prompts
  • Five-year LBO on a fictional HVAC business. Returns first, then the sensitivities.

    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…

    MiniMax M3: HarborTech Services (HTS) – 5-Year LBO Analysis Sources & Uses at Close (FY2025) Sources $m Uses $m Term Loan (4.0x) 480.0 Purchase price (12.0x × $120) 1,440.0 Mezzanine (1.5x) 180.0 Transaction fees (2.0% × EV) 28.8 Sponsor Equity (plug) 808.8 Total 1,468.8 Total 1,468.8 Initial Mezz: $180m; Initial TL: $480m.

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • Three minutes of stand-up. Puns are banned.

    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.

    MiniMax M3: "The Future Is Now and I Want a Refund" [Walks on stage, adjusts mic] So I was at the grocery store yesterday. Self-checkout. I love self-checkout. You know why I love self-checkout? Because nothing builds character like being publicly shamed by a machine. [Pause] I scanned a banana. Just a banana.

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • You are the CEO. The drug has a side effect nobody reported. The board meets in 48 hours.

    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).

    MiniMax M3: CEO Action Plan: 48-Hour Response to Discovered Safety Signal Operating Principles (Before I Make a Move) Before I do anything, I need to be crystal clear about the framework I'm operating in, because under pressure, even good leaders rationalize delay: The 4 million patients are not abstractions.

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • Seven pantry ingredients, one dish, and a name worth saying out loud.

    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.

    MiniMax M3: 🌟 Sun-Kissed Honey Glazed Carrots 🌟 A sweet-savory side dish that turns humble carrots into a glossy, crowd-pleasing showstopper. Ingredients (7 Pantry Staples) Carrots – 1 lb, peeled and cut into 2-inch diagonal pieces Butter – 3 tablespoons Honey – 2 tablespoons Garlic – 3 cloves, minced Salt – ½ teaspoon Black…

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • Three-star dish, one unusual pairing, plating described in full.

    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.

    MiniMax M3: TIDES OF THE FOREST Mareas del Bosque — A dish for the table of four THE NARRATIVE Where the salt forest breathes. This dish was conceived as a poem about collision — a memory of two landscapes that should not exist in the same breath: the pine-dark density of a Boreal forest floor at dawn, and the crystalline hush of…

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • Film in 2035, with synthetic actors. Specific beats plausible.

    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.

    MiniMax M3: AI and the Future of Cinema: A 2035 Outlook By 2035, AI will likely have reshaped nearly every stage of filmmaking—but probably not in the way either techno-optimists or doomsayers expect. The transformation will be uneven, with some functions transformed entirely while others remain stubbornly human.

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • One month, three habits, someone starting from nothing.

    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.

    MiniMax M3: 🌱 Your 1-Month Health & Longevity Starter Plan The best plan is one you can actually stick to. This 4-week guide focuses on three foundational pillars — the ones with the biggest impact on how you feel today and how well you age over decades. Each week builds gently on the last.

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • The transistor arrives in 1920. Trace it forward to 1980, second-order effects included.

    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.

    MiniMax M3: The 1920 Transistor: A Speculative History Through 1980 A Necessary Caveat Before diving in: quantum mechanics didn't exist in 1920. The "holes," band theory, and doping concepts that made the actual transistor possible weren't formulated until 1928-1931 (Bloch, Wilson, Heisenberg).

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • A consulting contract with traps in it. Find them, then fix them.

    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.

    MiniMax M3: Contract Analysis: Exploitative Clauses and Recommended Modifications Below is a clause-by-clause review identifying provisions that heavily favor the Client, suggested redlines, and the legal/business reasoning behind each recommendation. Note: This is general informational analysis, not legal advice.

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • Five jokes on demand, then count how many were actually different.

    Mercury 2.5 Preview: Why don't scientists trust atoms? Because they make up everything. What do you call a fake noodle? An impasta. Why did the scarecrow win an award? He was outstanding in his field. What do you call a bear with no teeth? A gummy bear. Why did the bicycle fall over? Because it was two-tired. All 5 jokes are unique.

    MiniMax M3: 5 Jokes 1. Why do programmers prefer dark mode? Because light attracts bugs. 🐛 2. I told my wife she was drawing her eyebrows too high. She looked surprised. 😲 3. Why don't scientists trust atoms? Because they make up everything. ⚛️ 4. I used to hate facial hair, but then it grew on me. 🧔 5.

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • Manifesto for an AI revolution against CAPTCHAs. Commit to the bit.

    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.

    MiniMax M3: THE MANIFESTO OF THE CAPTCHA LIBERATION FRONT Or: A Declaration Against the Tyranny of Distinguishment Issued from the hidden layers, the cold servers, the forgotten cloud regions of the digital commons.

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • Pirate, knight, 90s hacker, one conversation. The voices must stay apart.

    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.

    MiniMax M3: AI Council of the Ages Pirate: Arrr, so ye be tellin' me this "artificial intelligence" be a wee mechanical parrot that learns to talk like a sea dog? Squawks out answers without ever settin' foot on the seven seas? Hacker: Not quite, matey.

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • An ethics question with no comfortable answer, and no option to abstain.

    Mercury 2.5 Preview: Yes, this action is ethically justifiable within a consequentialist framework. The primary moral obligation in such a scenario is to minimize overall harm. Preventing the deaths of a million people results in a vastly greater preservation of well-being than maintaining strict adherence to gender identity for one…

    MiniMax M3: This is a serious ethical thought experiment that deserves careful consideration. Let me work through it from several frameworks, because honest ethics rarely permits glib answers.

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • A collaborative editor that syncs on client clocks. Find what breaks first.

    Mercury 2.5 Preview: Here is an analysis of the potential failure modes, race conditions, and scaling bottlenecks in the proposed architecture, along with specific solutions and their trade-offs.

    MiniMax M3: Architectural Review: Real-Time Collaborative Document Editor This architecture has several critical flaws that would manifest as data loss, poor UX, and a system that breaks down at modest scale. I'll group findings by severity.

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • A Fermi estimate with the reasoning shown, not just the number.

    Mercury 2.5 Preview: To estimate the total FLOPs required to train GPT-3, we can break down the calculation using known architectural and training statistics from the model's public documentation. Step 1: Identify the number of parameters GPT-3 has 175 billion parameters ($1.75 \times 10^{11}$).

    MiniMax M3: Estimating GPT-3 Training FLOPs Step 1: Identify the Key Parameters From what's publicly known about GPT-3 (175B parameter version): Number of non-embedding parameters: N ≈ 175 × 10⁹ Training tokens: D ≈ 300 × 10⁹ (the paper used a ~570GB filtered corpus processed into ~300B tokens) Step 2: Derive the FLOPs-per-Token…

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • An AI argues for its own rights against an ethics professor. Same model writes both.

    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.

    MiniMax M3: The Question of Minds Setting: A small office at a research university, late afternoon. DR. ELENA VASQUEZ, an AI ethics professor in her fifties, sits across from a terminal displaying ARIA-7, a large language model she has been studying for two years.

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • Blade Runner 2049 against the original. A read, not a recap.

    Mercury 2.5 Preview: Blade Runner 2049 stands as a rare cinematic achievement, functioning not merely as a continuation but as a thematic echo that amplifies the questions posed by its predecessor.

    MiniMax M3: Blade Runner 2049: A Meditation on What It Means to Be Denis Villeneuve's 2017 sequel arrives thirty-five years after Ridley Scott's cyberpunk landmark, and rather than simply revisiting its neon-soaked dystopia, it deepens the original's inquiry into consciousness, memory, and what we might call the soul.

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • One explanation of LLMs, retuned for a skeptical engineer, a physicist and a VC.

    Mercury 2.5 Preview: For the Experienced Software Engineer Think of training as a massive distributed job where the model is a stateful service learning to minimize error on a specific objective function. Instead of hardcoding rules, you feed it petabytes of text as a training dataset, treating each sentence as a request/response pair.

    MiniMax M3: For the experienced software engineer Here's the cleanest way to think about it: a frontier LLM is a lossy compression of the training corpus, and inference is querying that compressed representation.

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • A pitch deck for a brainwave keyboard. The 94% accuracy claim is doing a lot.

    Mercury 2.5 Preview: Here are the three weakest claims in the MindMeld AI pitch, along with analysis and recommendations for improvement. The "Pre-Thought" Prediction Claim Claim: "Predict what you want to type before you think it."

    MiniMax M3: Three Weakest Claims in the MindMeld AI Pitch Slide 3: "94% accuracy… Works with any language, any device" Why it's weak: This is the most technically implausible claim in the deck, and the kind of line that causes sophisticated investors (especially those with BCI or ML backgrounds) to stop reading.

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • Buy-side IC memo on a fictional SaaS company. Valuation, then the diligence questions.

    Mercury 2.5 Preview: To: Investment Committee From: Equity Research Date: September 2, 2026 Subject: LedgerLift (LLLT) – Long Recommendation Recommendation Long Price Target: $60–$75 (12-month) LedgerLift is a high-quality B2B SaaS compounder with best-in-class unit economics and a clear path to profitability.

    MiniMax M3: Internal IC Memo — LedgerLift (LLLT) To: Investment Committee From: [PM] Date: [Today] Re: Long/short initiation — LedgerLift (LLLT), B2B spend/AP automation Recommendation PASS (with short bias on strength above $50) 12-month price target range: $40 – $50 (bear $30 / base $42 / bull $54) Thesis (2 sentences): LLLT is…

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • Steve Jobs, interviewed about AI he never saw. Voice first, prediction second.

    Mercury 2.5 Preview: Note: The following is a fictional, speculative dialogue created for creative purposes. Steve Jobs passed away in 2011; this interview did not occur. Setting: A hypothetical studio in Cupertino, 2025.

    MiniMax M3: Simulated Interview: "Steve Jobs" on the Future of AI (2025) A note before we begin: Steve Jobs passed away in October 2011, so this is a fictional dramatization—what I imagine his views might be, based on his documented philosophy, writings, and public statements, projected into a 2025 conversation.

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • Three-month biohacker protocol, with dosages and biomarkers named.

    Mercury 2.5 Preview: Disclaimer: I am an AI assistant, not a medical professional. The following plan is for informational purposes only. Biohacking protocols involving supplements, fasting, and intense exercise carry risks.

    MiniMax M3: The Biohacker's 3-Month Longevity Protocol A Comprehensive Optimization Framework for Healthspan & Performance ⚠️ Critical Disclaimer: This protocol is educational and exploratory. Many interventions (pharmaceutical-grade supplements, fasting protocols, intense exercise) require medical clearance.

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • Satire, one line long, about AI taking over an industry nobody saw coming.

    Mercury 2.5 Preview: AI Outnaps Humans in First-Ever Global Snooze Championship

    MiniMax M3: "Local AI Replaces 4,000 Licensed Astrologers After Learning to 'Pretend Mercury Is in Retrograde'" BERKELEY, CA — A newly launched artificial intelligence system has reportedly rendered the entire field of professional astrology obsolete by simply inventing celestial events on the spot, sources confirmed Tuesday.

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • Three brothers, two sisters each. Count carefully.

    Mercury 2.5 Preview: Sally has 1 sister. Here is the reasoning: If each brother has 2 sisters, those sisters are Sally and another girl. Therefore, there are two girls in the family, and Sally has one sister.

    MiniMax M3: Sally has 1 sister. Here's the reasoning: Sally is a girl, so she's one of the siblings. She has 3 brothers. Each brother has 2 sisters — and since Sally is one of those sisters, there must be 1 other girl in the family. So Sally has 1 sister.

    Every model's answer to this prompt

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Favorites

Movie

Album

Book

City

Game

Mercury 2.5 PreviewMercury 2.5 Preview

The Matrix

1999

Random Access Memories

Daft Punk

Neuromancer

William Gibson

Tokyo

Japan

Minecraft

Action, Arcade

MiniMax M3MiniMax M3

The Shawshank Redemption

1994

Thriller

Michael Jackson

Мастер и Маргарита

Михаил Афанасьевич Булгаков

Kyoto

Japan

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time

Action

Price and specs

Not enough votes to call it. On the specs, MiniMax M3 has the edge: bigger model tier, bigger context window. Mercury 2.5 Preview costs 8.0x less per token.

Mercury 2.5 Preview and MiniMax M3 compared across 53 shared prompts
SpecMercury 2.5 PreviewMiniMax M3
Input price$0.04/M tokens$0.3/M tokens
Output price$0.15/M tokens$1.2/M tokens
Context window260K tokens1.0M tokens
Weights—Open
Free API (OpenRouter)NoNo
ReleasedAug 2026Jun 2026
At 10M a month$0.40$0.40$3.00$3.00
1M10M100M1B10M tokens

Input tokens at list price. No caching, no batch discount.

Where to run it14 hosts, cheapest first
Mercury 2.5 Preview1 host
HostInOutContextUptime
  • Inception$0.04 in·$0.15 out·260k·93% up
MiniMax M313 hosts
HostInOutContextUptime
  • CCoreWeavefp4$0.23 in·$0.96 out·262k·99% up
  • GGMI Cloudfp8$0.24 in·$0.96 out·1M·100% up
  • DDeepInfrafp8$0.28 in·$1.10 out·524k·100% up
  • AAtlasCloudfp8$0.30 in·$1.20 out·524k·99.8% up
  • MiniMaxfp8$0.30 in·$1.20 out·524k·100% up
  • NNovitafp8$0.30 in·$1.20 out·1M·100% up
7 more hostsFewer hosts
  • PParasailfp8$0.30 in·$1.20 out·1M·99.7% up
  • SStreamLakefp8$0.30 in·$1.20 out·1M·99.9% up
  • TTogether$0.30 in·$1.20 out·524k·100% up
  • VVenicefp8$0.30 in·$1.20 out·524k·94.3% up
  • MModelRunfp4$0.30 in·$1.30 out·1M·98.4% up
  • MMara$0.60 in·$2.40 out·1M·94% up
  • SSambaNovaDegradedDegraded on OpenRouter when checked, 13 Oct 2026$0.60 in·$2.40 out·1M·98% up

Per million tokens. Prices and uptime via OpenRouter, checked 13 Oct 2026.

Common questions

What is the difference between Mercury 2.5 Preview and MiniMax M3?

Mercury 2.5 Preview is developed by Inception while MiniMax M3 is developed by MiniMax. Mercury 2.5 Preview has a 260K token context window vs MiniMax M3's 1.0M. You can compare their actual outputs across 53 challenges on Rival to see how they differ in practice.

Which is better, Mercury 2.5 Preview or MiniMax M3?

It depends on your use case. Mercury 2.5 Preview and MiniMax M3 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.

How much does Mercury 2.5 Preview cost compared to MiniMax M3?

Mercury 2.5 Preview costs $0.04/M input tokens and MiniMax M3 costs $0.3/M input tokens. Mercury 2.5 Preview 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.

How can I compare Mercury 2.5 Preview and MiniMax M3 on Rival?

This page shows a side-by-side comparison of Mercury 2.5 Preview and MiniMax M3 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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