Mercury 2.5 vs 
Quasar Alpha
Quasar Alpha has a larger context window than Mercury 2.5 (1.0M tokens vs 260K tokens).
Minimalist Landing Page
Whole landing page for a startup that reads your face. It renders or it doesn't.
Loading the build
Loading the build
Which answer wins?
Price and specs
| Spec | Mercury 2.5 | Quasar Alpha |
|---|---|---|
| Input price | $0.04/M tokens | — |
| Output price | $0.15/M tokens | — |
| Context window | 260K tokens | 1.0M tokens |
| Free API (OpenRouter) | No | — |
| Released | Sep 2026 | Apr 2025 |
| At 10M a month | $0.40 | not listed |
Input tokens at list price. No caching, no batch discount.
Where to run it
Quasar Alpha
No hosts listed on OpenRouter.
Per million tokens. Prices and uptime via OpenRouter, checked 10 Oct 2026.
Common questions
What is the difference between Mercury 2.5 and Quasar Alpha?
Mercury 2.5 is developed by Inception while Quasar Alpha is developed by OpenRouter. Mercury 2.5 has a 260K token context window vs Quasar Alpha's 1.0M. You can compare their actual outputs across 6 challenges on Rival to see how they differ in practice.
Which is better, Mercury 2.5 or Quasar Alpha?
It depends on your use case. Mercury 2.5 and Quasar Alpha each have strengths in different areas. Rival lets you compare their real outputs side-by-side across 6 challenges so you can judge which fits your needs best.
How can I compare Mercury 2.5 and Quasar Alpha on Rival?
This page shows a side-by-side comparison of Mercury 2.5 and Quasar Alpha 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.
More comparisons
Against the newest arrivals
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Same lab, same size, long tail
- Mercury 2.5 vs Mercury 2.5 PreviewSame lab
- Mercury 2.5 vs MercurySame lab
- Quasar Alpha vs Ox AlphaSame lab
- Quasar Alpha vs OpenRouter Fusion · Budget (Jun 2026)Same lab
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