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. Mercury 2vsQwen3 Coder
Updated Mar 2026

Mercury 2vsQwen3 Coder

Qwen3 Coder is cheaper than Mercury 2 at $0.22/M vs $0.25/M input tokens.

Mercury 2 and Qwen3 Coder compared across 53 shared prompts
SpecMercury 2Qwen3 Coder
Input price$0.25/M tokens$0.22/M tokens
Output price$0.75/M tokens$0.95/M tokens
Context window128K tokens—
Weights—Open
Free API (OpenRouter)NoNo
ReleasedMar 2026Jul 2025
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…

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…
Read the full answer
Qwen3 Coder183 words
Sunset Skillet Pasta A warm, comforting pasta dish with a hint of sweetness from sun-dried tomatoes Ingredients: Pasta (penne or spaghetti) - 1 cup Olive oil - 2 tablespoons Garlic - 3 cloves, minced Canned tomatoes - 1 can (14 oz) Sun-dried tomatoes - ¼ cup, chopped Parmesan cheese - ½ cup, grated Fresh basil - ¼ cup…
Read the full answer

Generate a Stand-Up Routine

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

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.
Read the full answer
Qwen3 Coder425 words
"Modern Life Problems" [Walks on stage, adjusts mic] So I downloaded one of those meditation apps last week. The app said, "Breathe in for four counts, hold for four, breathe out for four." I'm like, "Finally! Someone who speaks my language – a robot!" [Pause] But then it asked me to "clear my mind of all thoughts."
Read the full answer

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…

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.
Read the full answer
Qwen3 Coder751 words
48-Hour Crisis Action Plan Hours 1-6: Immediate Response Team Assembly Action: Convene emergency leadership team (Medical Affairs, Legal, Regulatory, PR, Compliance, Finance heads) Reasoning: Need comprehensive expertise to assess situation properly before board meeting Key tasks: Legal team prepares preliminary…
Read the full answer

Advanced Longevity Plan (Biohacker)

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

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.)
Read the full answer
Qwen3 Coder1,427 words
COMPREHENSIVE 3-MONTH LONGEVITY OPTIMIZATION PLAN MONTH 1: FOUNDATION & ASSESSMENT Week 1-2: Baseline Assessment & Setup Medical Monitoring: Comprehensive blood panel (comprehensive metabolic panel, lipid panel, inflammatory markers, hormones, vitamins) Advanced biomarkers: hs-CRP, homocysteine, ferritin, vitamin D…
Read the full answer

Startup Pitch Teardown

Here's a pitch deck summary for a startup called "MindMeld AI": **Slide 1 - Vision:** "We're building the future of human-AI collaboration.…

Mercury 2900 words
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.”
Read the full answer
Qwen3 Coder359 words
Here are the 3 weakest claims in this pitch deck: "Reads your brainwaves to predict what you want to type before you think it" (Slide 1) Why it's weak: Scientifically implausible: Current EEG technology cannot decode specific thoughts or predict them before they occur.
Read the full answer

Character Voice Test

Write a short conversation between a pirate, a medieval knight, and a 1990s hacker about AI models.

Mercury 2290 words
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.
Read the full answer
Qwen3 Coder202 words
The Unlikely Trio At a peculiar cross-temporal tavern, three figures sit around a wooden table Blackbeard the Pirate: Arrr, so let me get this straight - ye're tellin' me there be magical talking boxes that think like humans? Sir Gareth the Knight: Indeed, though 'tis sorcery most unnatural.
Read the full answer
Our Verdict
Mercury 2
Mercury 2
Qwen3 Coder
Qwen3 Coder

Not enough votes to call it. On the specs, nothing separates them.

Too close to call

Reviewing agent-written code?See a Brief PR report

API pricing

Cost per 1M tokens

Mercury 2
Input
$0.25
Output
$0.75
1.3× cheaper
Qwen3 Coder
Input
$0.22
1.1× cheaper
Output
$0.95

Qwen3 Coder wins input (1.1× cheaper)·Mercury 2 wins output (1.3× cheaper)

Where to run it

6 hosts, cheapest first

Mercury 21 host
HostInOutContextUptime
Inception$0.25 in·$0.75 out·128k·100% up
Qwen3 Coder5 hosts
HostInOutContextUptime
Google Vertex AI$0.22 in·$1.80 out·262k·100% upDDeepInfrafp4$0.30 in·$1.00 out·262k·97.4% upVVenicefp8$0.35 in·$1.50 out·256k·94% upNNovitafp8$0.38 in·$1.55 out·262k·81.7% upAlibaba Cloud$0.97 in·$4.88 out·262k·100% up

Per million tokens. Prices and uptime via OpenRouter, checked 25 Sep 2026.

Writing DNA

Style Comparison

Similarity
44%

Qwen3 Coder uses 4.6x more emoji

Mercury 2
Qwen3 Coder
53%Vocabulary61%
22wSentence Length62w
0.40Hedging0.62
6.6Bold4.4
2.6Lists4.9
0.08Emoji0.37
0.87Headings1.31
0.14Transitions0.17
Based on 23 + 28 text responses
Research

What we learned reading every model

FAQ

Common questions

Mercury 2 is developed by Inception while Qwen3 Coder is developed by Qwen. You can compare their actual outputs across 53 challenges on Rival to see how they differ in practice.

It depends on your use case. Mercury 2 and Qwen3 Coder 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.

Mercury 2 costs $0.25/M input tokens and Qwen3 Coder costs $0.22/M input tokens. Qwen3 Coder is $0.03/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 Mercury 2 and Qwen3 Coder 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

Mercury 2 logoSolar Mini 4 logo
Mercury 2 vs Solar Mini 4Landed Sep 2026
Qwen3 Coder logoQwen3.8 Max Prime logo
Qwen3 Coder vs Qwen3.8 Max PrimeLanded Sep 2026
Mercury 2 logoGLM 5.3 Prime logo
Mercury 2 vs GLM 5.3 PrimeLanded Sep 2026
Qwen3 Coder logoQwen3.8 Omni Flash logo
Qwen3 Coder vs Qwen3.8 Omni FlashLanded Sep 2026
Mercury 2 logoCommand A+ logo
Mercury 2 vs Command A+Landed Sep 2026
Qwen3 Coder logoClaude Opus 5.5 logo
Qwen3 Coder vs Claude Opus 5.5Landed Sep 2026
Mercury 2 logoGPT-6 Luna Pro logo
Mercury 2 vs GPT-6 Luna ProLanded Sep 2026
Qwen3 Coder logoGPT-6 Sol Pro logo
Qwen3 Coder vs GPT-6 Sol ProLanded Sep 2026

Same lab, same size, long tail

Mercury 2 logoMercury logo
Mercury 2 vs MercuryVersion compare
Mercury 2 logoMercury 2.5 logo
Mercury 2 vs Mercury 2.5Same lab
Qwen3 Coder logoQwen3.7 Flash logo
Qwen3 Coder vs Qwen3.7 FlashSame lab
Qwen3 Coder logoQwen3.8 Flash logo
Qwen3 Coder vs Qwen3.8 FlashSame lab
Mercury 2 logoNemotron 3.5 Lightning logo
Mercury 2 vs Nemotron 3.5 LightningSame size
Mercury 2 logoNVIDIA Nemotron Nano 9B V2 logo
Mercury 2 vs NVIDIA Nemotron Nano 9B V2Same size
Mercury 2 logoNex-N2.5-Mini (free) logo
Mercury 2 vs Nex-N2.5-Mini (free)New provider
Mercury 2 logoNex-N2.5-Pro (free) logo
Mercury 2 vs Nex-N2.5-Pro (free)New provider

Model pages

Mercury 2 logo
Mercury 253 outputs, specs and price
Qwen3 Coder logo
Qwen3 Coder59 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