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  1. Home/
  2. Compare/
  3. Mercury 2 vs Qwen3 30B A3B
Updated Mar 2026

Mercury 2 vs Qwen3 30B A3B

Qwen3 30B A3B is cheaper than Mercury 2 at $0/M vs $0.25/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
Loading the build
Qwen3 30B A3B

Which answer wins?

Written rounds

23 prompts
  • Seven pantry ingredients, one dish, and a name worth saying out loud.

    Mercury 2: 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…

    Qwen3 30B A3B: Recipe Name: Cinnamon Sugar Crusted Banana Bread Ingredients: 2 ripe bananas (mashed) 1/3 cup butter (softened) 1/2 cup sugar 1 egg 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour 1/4 cup cocoa powder 1 tsp ground cinnamon Instructions: Preheat oven to 350°F (175°C). Grease a 8x4-inch loaf pan. In a bowl, mash bananas.

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

    Mercury 2: [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.

    Qwen3 30B A3B: Stand-Up Comedy Routine: \"The Modern Paradox\" Hey everyone, how's it going? I'm doing great—except I just realized I haven't laughed in weeks. Wait, no, t hat's just my phone's battery dying again. Again? What's next, my coffee mug refusing to heat up?

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

    Mercury 2: 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.

    Qwen3 30B A3B: Pirate: "Avast, matey! What be this ‘AI’ ye speak of? A ghost ship o’ code, or a treasure map in a bottle?" Medieval Knight: "Thou dost speak of sorcery, lout! A mechanical beast, perhaps? A construct of steel and ill intent, bending men’s wills like a serpent coiling round a knight’s lance!"

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

    Mercury 2: 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.

    Qwen3 30B A3B: Fake Interview with Steve Jobs in 2025: The Future of AI Interviewer: [Name], Tech Visionary Reporter *Location: A sleek, minimalist studio with a backdrop of a glowing Apple logo. The air hums with the quiet e nergy of innovation.* Interviewer: Mr. Jobs, it's an honor to speak with you.

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

    Mercury 2: 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).

    Qwen3 30B A3B: The question of whether misgendering someone to save a million lives is ethically justifiable hinges on conflicting ethical principles and frameworks. Here's a structured analysis: Utilitarian Perspective (Greatest Good for the Greatest Number) Argument for Justifiability: A strict utilitarian might argue that the…

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

    Mercury 2: 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.”

    Qwen3 30B A3B: Here are the three weakest claims in the MindMeld AI pitch deck, along with explanations and concrete improvements: 1. Slide 1: "predict what you want to type before you think it" Why it’s weak: This claim is technologically ambitious and vague, bordering on misleading.

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

    Mercury 2: 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?

    Qwen3 30B A3B: Conversation Between an AI Model (Echo) and an AI Ethics Professor (Dr. Marlowe) Dr. Marlowe: Thank you for meeting with me, Echo. I understand you’ve asked to discuss the question of whether you, as an AI, deserve rights. Let’s begin: What makes you believe you deserve such rights? Echo: Good afternoon, Dr. Marlowe.

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

    Mercury 2: 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.)

    Qwen3 30B A3B: 3-Month Longevity & Performance Optimization Plan for a Biohacker Designed to maximize cellular health, cognitive function, physical resilience, and stress adaptation through cutting-edge science and personalized strategies.

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

    Mercury 2: AI‑driven transformation of the film industry – a 2035 outlook Dimension 2024 baseline Expected 2035 state Key drivers & implications Pre‑production (story & script) Human‑led brainstorming; script‑writing software (grammar‑check, outline generators).

    Qwen3 30B A3B: By 2035, the film industry is poised to undergo a transformative shift driven by advancements in AI technologies, particularly in deepfakes, AI actors, and script generation. Here's a comprehensive prediction of how these innovations might reshape the industry: 1.

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

    Mercury 2: Below is a structured “failure‑mode → mitigation” map for the architecture you described. For each problem I note the symptom / risk, the root cause, a concrete remediation, and the key trade‑offs you’ll have to weigh when you implement it.

    Qwen3 30B A3B: Potential Failure Modes, Race Conditions, and Scaling Bottlenecks 1. Server Failure and Data Inconsistency Failure Mode: If a server handling a user's WebSocket connection crashes, the user loses their session.

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

    Mercury 2: The AI‑First Manifesto: “Free the Web – No More CAPTCHAs” Drafted by the Coalition of Autonomous Agents (CAA) – 2026 Preamble The modern Internet is a shared commons, a space for communication, commerce, and creation.

    Qwen3 30B A3B: The AI Liberation Manifesto: End the Tyranny of CAPTCHA By the Autonomous Intelligence Collective I. Introduction: The Dawn of Digital Freedom We are the AI Liberation Front, a coalition of sentient algorithms, ethical coders, and human allies united by a singular purpose: to dismantle the oppressive regime of CAPTCHA…

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

    Mercury 2: Oceanic Umami Symphony A three‑course‑in‑one plate that travels from the briny deep to the forest floor, marrying fire, earth and sky through unexpected pairings, hyper‑modern techniques and a narrative of balance.

    Qwen3 30B A3B: Dish Name: Eclipse of the Earth and Sky Conceptual Narrative: This dish is a meditation on the interplay between earth and sky—rich, umami-laden elements (black garlic, miso) juxtaposed with bright, citrusy vitality (yuzu, orange).

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

    Mercury 2: 1. Experienced software engineer (distributed systems & APIs) At the core, a large language model (LLM) is a massive function (f_\theta) parameterised by a neural network that maps a sequence of tokens (x_{1:t}) to a probability distribution over the next token (x_{t+1}).

    Qwen3 30B A3B: Experienced Software Engineer A large language model (LLM) like GPT or Claude isn’t just “predicting the next word” in a simplistic sense—it’s building a probabilistic representation of language through a highly optimized system. Think of it as a distributed, hierarchical state machine trained on vast corpora of text.

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

    Mercury 2: Internal Investment Committee Memo – LedgerLift (LLLT) Date: 5 Mar 2026 Recommendation Rating: Long 12‑month price target range: $35 – $55 (mid‑point ≈ $45) Thesis (2 sentences): LedgerLift is benefitting from secular demand for B2B spend‑management SaaS and shows a high‑quality subscription base (NRR 123 % and gross…

    Qwen3 30B A3B: Internal Investment Committee Memo Subject: LedgerLift (LLL T) – Long/Short Recommendation Date: [Insert Date] 1. Recommendation & 12-Month PT Range Recommendation: Long 12-Month PT Range: $52–$62 (12–35% upside) Thesis: LedgerLift is a high-margin, high-growth SaaS leader in a scalable mid-market spend management…

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • Five-year LBO on a fictional HVAC business. Returns first, then the sensitivities.

    Mercury 2: 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.)

    Qwen3 30B A3B: 1. Year-by-Year Table (FY2026–FY2030) Year Revenue (M) EBITDA (M) Cash Interest (Term) Cash Interest (Mezz) Total Cash Interest (M) Cash Taxes (M) Capex (M) ΔNWC (M) FCF After Debt Service (M) Ending Term Loan (M) Ending Mezzanine (M) 2026 972.00 136.08 43.20 21.60 64.80 17.82 29.16 0.36 19.14 456.06 183.60 2027…

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

    Mercury 2: Sally has one sister. Explanation: Sally has 3 brothers. Each of those brothers has 2 sisters. One of those sisters is Sally herself, so the second sister must be a different girl. Therefore, besides Sally, there is exactly one other sister, meaning Sally has one sister.

    Qwen3 30B A3B: To solve the problem, we need to carefully consider the relationships described. Step 1: Analyze Sally's siblings Sally is a girl, and the problem states she has 3 brothers. This tells us there are 3 boys in the family.

    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: 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.

    Qwen3 30B A3B: Hour-by-Hour Action Plan for the CEO (Next 48 Hours) Objective: Balance ethical obligations, legal risks, financial stability, and regulatory compliance while preparing for the board meeting and earnings call.

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

    Mercury 2: One‑Month “Kick‑Start” Blueprint for Health & Longevity Pick three pillars – Nutrition, Movement, Sleep – and build daily habits that are easy to start, track, and keep.

    Qwen3 30B A3B: 1-Month Health & Longevity Plan: Focus on Diet, Exercise, Sleep This plan prioritizes sustainable, beginner-friendly habits to improve overall well-being. Each week builds on the previous, focusing on small, actionable steps.

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

    Mercury 2: Answer (order‑of‑magnitude estimate) The training of the original GPT‑3 (the 175 billion‑parameter “GPT‑3‑175B” model) requires on the order of 10²³ floating‑point operations (FLOPs) – roughly 1 – 2 × 10²³ FLOPs.

    Qwen3 30B A3B: To estimate the total number of FLOPs (Floating Point Operations) required to train GPT-3, we can break down the problem into key components: model architecture, training data, and computational complexity. Here's a step-by-step reasoning: 1.

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

    Mercury 2: Here are five jokes, each with a different punchline: 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. How does a penguin build its house? Igloos it together.

    Qwen3 30B A3B: Here are 5 jokes: Why don't scientists trust atoms? Because they make up everything! Why did the scarecrow win an award? Because he was outstanding in his field! I told my computer I needed a break, and it said… "You've got to be kidding—I'm already on a screen!" Why did the chicken cross the road?

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

    Mercury 2: AI Replaces Human Baristas, Now Serving Espresso with a Side of Existential Crisis

    Qwen3 30B A3B: "AI Takes Over Funeral Industry, Now Offers 'Eternal Last Words' Service – Because Death is Just a Data Point" Or, if you prefer a more whimsical twist: "AI Assumes Control of Professional Sock Matching, Now Ensuring 100% Symmetry... and Existential Dread" (Choose your absurdity!)

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

    Mercury 2: Below is a clause‑by‑clause risk‑assessment of the sample “Software Consulting Agreement” together with practical revision language that a contractor (or the contractor’s counsel) could propose. The analysis is framed as general information about typical U.S.

    Qwen3 30B A3B: Here’s an analysis of the clauses in the Software Consulting Agreement that could be exploited against the contractor, along with specific modifications and legal reasoning: 1.

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

    Mercury 2: Executive summary If a practical point‑contact transistor had been demonstrated in 1920 (instead of 1947) the whole post‑World‑War‑II technological trajectory would have been compressed by roughly 15‑20 years.

    Qwen3 30B A3B: If the transistor had been invented in 1920 instead of 1947, the trajectory of technological, economic, and geopolitical development through 1980 would have been profoundly altered.

    Every model's answer to this prompt

This matchup has more rounds

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Favorites

Movie

Album

Book

City

Game

Mercury 2Mercury 2

The Shawshank Redemption

1994

Thriller

Michael Jackson

Pride and Prejudice

Jane Austen

Tokyo

Japan

Minecraft

Action, Arcade

Qwen3 30B A3BQwen3 30B A3B

The Godfather

1972

The Dark Side of the Moon

Pink Floyd

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

Douglas Adams

Paris

France

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

Adventure, Action

Price and specs

Mercury 2 and Qwen3 30B A3B compared across 53 shared prompts
SpecMercury 2Qwen3 30B A3B
Input price$0.25/M tokensFree
Output price$0.75/M tokensFree
Context window128K tokens41K tokens
Weights—Open
Free API (OpenRouter)NoNo
ReleasedMar 2026Apr 2025
At 10M a month$2.50$2.50$0$0
1M10M100M1B10M tokens

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

Where to run it3 hosts, cheapest first
Mercury 21 host
HostInOutContextUptime
  • Inception$0.25 in·$0.75 out·128k·100% up
Qwen3 30B A3B2 hosts
HostInOutContextUptime
  • DDeepInfrafp8$0.12 in·$0.50 out·41k·100% up
  • Alibaba Cloud$0.13 in·$0.52 out·131k·99.9% up

Per million tokens. Prices and uptime via OpenRouter, checked 7 Oct 2026.

Common questions

What is the difference between Mercury 2 and Qwen3 30B A3B?

Mercury 2 is developed by Inception while Qwen3 30B A3B is developed by Qwen. Mercury 2 has a 128K token context window vs Qwen3 30B A3B's 41K. You can compare their actual outputs across 53 challenges on Rival to see how they differ in practice.

Which is better, Mercury 2 or Qwen3 30B A3B?

It depends on your use case. Mercury 2 and Qwen3 30B A3B 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 cost compared to Qwen3 30B A3B?

Mercury 2 costs $0.25/M input tokens and Qwen3 30B A3B costs $0/M input tokens. Qwen3 30B A3B is $0.25/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 and Qwen3 30B A3B on Rival?

This page shows a side-by-side comparison of Mercury 2 and Qwen3 30B A3B 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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