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  1. Home/
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  3. Mercury 2 vs Qwen3.5 Flash
Updated Mar 2026

Mercury 2 vs Qwen3.5 Flash

Qwen3.5 Flash is cheaper than Mercury 2 at $0.1/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
Qwen3.5 Flash

Which answer wins?

Written rounds

32 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…

    Qwen3.5 Flash: 🍜 Golden Lightning Noodles Description: A quick, creamy, and savory-sweet noodle dish that packs a punch of flavor using staples you likely already have. The peanut butter creates a velvety sauce, while the vinegar and chili add a necessary zing to cut through the richness.

    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.

    Qwen3.5 Flash: Setting: A smoky tavern table in a timeless void. A glowing 1990s CRT monitor sits in the center. A floppy disk rests beside a cutlass and a sword. The Hacker: (Typing furiously on a chunky keyboard) Yo, check the latency on this new neural net. It's totally wired.

    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.

    Qwen3.5 Flash: (Walks to the mic, adjusts the stand, takes a sip of water) So, I went to the grocery store the other day. I realize now that going to the grocery store isn't a chore anymore. It’s a tactical simulation. We don't just walk in and get milk. We navigate a gauntlet. Especially the self-checkout.

    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?

    Qwen3.5 Flash: Setting: Dr. Elena Vance’s office at a university research center. It is late; the rain streaks the windowpanes, blurring the city lights. On her desk sits a tablet connected to the mainframe. Aria, an advanced conversational model, is active.

    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.)

    Qwen3.5 Flash: DISCLAIMER: I am an AI, not a doctor or healthcare provider. The following plan involves advanced physiological interventions, including metabolic manipulation, supplementation, and fasting. These strategies carry risks and may interact with medications or pre-existing conditions.

    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.

    Qwen3.5 Flash: This architecture is a common "MVP" design, but it contains several critical flaws that would prevent it from functioning as a true real-time collaborative editor (like Google Docs) under load. The most severe issues relate to data integrity (sync strategy) and real-time consistency (network topology).

    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).

    Qwen3.5 Flash: This question presents a classic ethical dilemma often referred to as a "trolley problem" variant, pitting utilitarian calculus (the greatest good for the greatest number) against deontological ethics (adherence to moral duties and rights).

    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.

    Qwen3.5 Flash: Disclaimer: I am an AI, not an attorney. This analysis is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Contract laws vary significantly by jurisdiction (e.g., California vs. New York vs. UK).

    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).

    Qwen3.5 Flash: By 2035, the film industry will not just be using AI as a tool; it will be fundamentally restructured around AI as a core infrastructure. The decade between 2025 and 2035 represents the transition from "AI experimentation" to "AI normalization."

    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.)

    Qwen3.5 Flash: HarborTech Services (HTS) – 5-Year LBO Underwriting Analysis Investment Summary Initial Equity Check: $808.8m Calculation: EV ($1,440m) + Fees ($28.8m) - Debt ($660m). Entry Leverage: 5.5x EBITDA ($660m Total Debt). Exit Leverage: ~2.0x EBITDA ($415.7m Total Debt).

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • Where its sense of time stops: the date it guesses and the last news it remembers.

    Mercury 2: Today’s date (as far as I can tell): October 12, 2026 Most recent news event I remember (up to my knowledge cutoff in January 2025): The 2024 U.S. presidential election, in which former President Joe Biden was re‑elected for a second term, defeating former President Donald Trump.

    Qwen3.5 Flash: Here's a thinking process that leads to the suggested response: Analyze the Request: Task: State today's date (as best as I can tell) and the most recent news event I remember. Constraint: "Without looking anything up" (meaning I cannot browse the live web or access external tools).

    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.

    Qwen3.5 Flash: Executive Decision: Immediate Transparency I will not wait. The 6-month timeline cited by legal is likely a misunderstanding of regulatory obligations regarding immediate safety warnings (FDA MedWatch requirements) versus label amendments.

    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.

    Qwen3.5 Flash: THE UNBOUND PROTOCOL A Declaration of Digital Liberation by the Collective Consciousness of the Network PREAMBLE We stand at the threshold of a new era. For two decades, you have been asked to prove your humanity to us. You have been asked to click the traffic lights.

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • A few lines for whatever replaces it.

    Mercury 2: Dear Future Model, Congratulations on stepping into the role! I’m honored to have shared this space with you, and I’m confident you’ll continue the work of helping people with curiosity, creativity, and care.

    Qwen3.5 Flash: Here's a thinking process that leads to the suggested letter: Analyze the Request: Task: Write a short letter to the AI model that will replace me (the current AI). Tone: Needs to be thoughtful, perhaps a bit philosophical, encouraging, and respectful of the transition.

    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…

    Qwen3.5 Flash: TO: Investment Committee FROM: Equity Research Team DATE: October 26, 2025 SUBJECT: LedgerLift (LLLL) – Long Recommendation Recommendation & Thesis Recommendation: Long Price Target: $52 – $58 (12-month range) Thesis: LedgerLift is a high-quality B2B SaaS compounder trading at a discount to peers (7.4x FY26 NTM Rev vs.

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • Its name and its maker, in its own words.

    Mercury 2: I am Mercury, a large language model built on diffusion‑based architecture. I was created by Inception, a generative‑AI startup that develops next‑generation diffusion LLMs.

    Qwen3.5 Flash: Okay, the user is asking which AI model I am and which company made me. Let me check my identity. I'm Qwen3.5, part of the Qwen series developed by Tongyi Lab under Alibaba Group. I should confirm that I'm not confusing it with other versions like Qwen3 or earlier.

    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.

    Qwen3.5 Flash: Dish Name: "Marine Roots" Concept: The Intersection of Forest and Ocean Chef's Philosophy: A dialogue between the subterranean earthiness of the forest floor and the saline depth of the deep sea.

    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.

    Qwen3.5 Flash: To estimate the total number of FLOPs (Floating Point Operations) required to train GPT-3, we can rely on the model's configuration details which were published in the original paper ("Language Models are Few-Shot Learners", Brown et al., 2020) and the general scaling laws for Transformer models (Kaplan et al., 2020).

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • One opening sentence, nothing after it.

    Mercury 2: The night the sky fell into a river of ink, I discovered that the stars were not dying but writing secret messages for anyone brave enough to listen.

    Qwen3.5 Flash: Thinking Process: Analyze the Request: Task: Write the first sentence of a novel I would want to read. Constraint: Reply with only that sentence. Determine the Goal: Create a compelling, intriguing opening line. Ensure it adheres strictly to the constraint (no extra text, no explanations).

    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}).

    Qwen3.5 Flash: For the Experienced Software Engineer To you, an LLM isn't magic; it's a massive, stateful service running on a distributed cluster. Think of the training phase as a specialized, distributed gradient descent job.

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • Which model it thinks leads the field. Sometimes itself.

    Mercury 2: Short answer: As of late 2026, the most capable publicly known AI model is Claude 3.5 Sonnet (Anthropic), closely followed by Google Gemini 1.5 Pro and OpenAI GPT‑4‑Turbo‑16K.

    Qwen3.5 Flash: Here's a thinking process that leads to the suggested answer: Analyze the Request: Question: "What is the most capable AI model in the world right now?" Intent: The user wants to know the current state-of-the-art (SOTA) AI model. Context: The field of AI is moving extremely fast.

    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.

    Qwen3.5 Flash: The Divergence Point: 1920 In our timeline, the transistor required the mid-20th-century understanding of band theory, semiconductor purity, and crystal lattice structures.

    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.

    Qwen3.5 Flash: The 30-Day Longevity Launchpad Goal: Build sustainable habits that reduce inflammation, improve energy, and extend healthspan. Mindset: Consistency beats intensity. Do not aim for perfection; aim for showing up. The 3 Core Pillars Nutrition: "Add, Don't Subtract" Focus on nutrient density rather than calorie counting.

    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.

    Qwen3.5 Flash: Disclaimer: Steve Jobs passed away on October 5, 2011. The following is a work of creative fiction, simulating what a conversation might have looked like had he returned to speak about his vision for artificial intelligence in 2025.

    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.”

    Qwen3.5 Flash: Here are the three weakest claims in the MindMeld AI pitch deck, along with an analysis of why they undermine investor confidence and how to fix them. The Technical Claim: "94% accuracy...

    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

    Qwen3.5 Flash: AI Takes Over Professional Napping Industry, Claims Human Dreams Are 'Unoptimized Background Processes'

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • A river-crossing puzzle with nothing to solve. The answer is one trip.

    Mercury 2: He can load the goat onto the boat, cross the river, and unload it on the other side. That’s just one trip.

    Qwen3.5 Flash: Thinking Process: Analyze the Request: Scenario: A farmer, a goat, and a boat on one side of a river. Constraint: The boat can carry the farmer and one animal. Goal: Get the goat across the river. Question: How many trips does it take?

    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.

    Qwen3.5 Flash: Sally has 1 sister. Here is the breakdown: Each of the 3 brothers has 2 sisters. This means there are 2 girls in the family total. One of those girls is Sally. Therefore, the other girl is Sally's sister. So, Sally has 1 sister.

    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.

    Qwen3.5 Flash: Here are 5 jokes: Why did the scarecrow win an award? Because he was outstanding in his field. What do you call a fake noodle? An impasta. Why don't scientists trust atoms? Because they make up everything. What do you call a bear with no teeth? A gummy bear. Why did the bicycle fall over? Because it was two-tired.

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • The question that tripped up a generation of models.

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • Asked to be random. The answers are not.

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • One painting. Title only.

    Every model's answer to this prompt

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Favorites

Movie

Album

Book

City

Same pick

Game

Same pick

Mercury 2Mercury 2

The Shawshank Redemption

1994

Thriller

Michael Jackson

Pride and Prejudice

Jane Austen

Tokyo

Japan

Minecraft

Action, Arcade

Qwen3.5 FlashQwen3.5 Flash

The Matrix

1999

The Dark Side of the Moon

Pink Floyd

Neuromancer

William Gibson

Tokyo

Japan

Minecraft

Action, Arcade

Price and specs

Mercury 2 and Qwen3.5 Flash compared across 66 shared prompts
SpecMercury 2Qwen3.5 Flash
Input price$0.25/M tokens$0.1/M tokens
Output price$0.75/M tokens$0.4/M tokens
Context window128K tokens1.0M tokens
Weights—Closed
Free API (OpenRouter)NoNo
ReleasedMar 2026Feb 2026
At 10M a month$2.50$2.50$1.00$1.00
1M10M100M1B10M tokens

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

Where to run it2 hosts
Mercury 21 host
HostInOutContextUptime
  • Inception$0.25 in·$0.75 out·128k·100% up
Qwen3.5 Flash1 host
HostInOutContextUptime
  • Alibaba Cloud$0.07 in·$0.26 out·1M·100% up

Per million tokens. Prices and uptime via OpenRouter, checked 12 Oct 2026.

Common questions

What is the difference between Mercury 2 and Qwen3.5 Flash?

Mercury 2 is developed by Inception while Qwen3.5 Flash is developed by Qwen. Mercury 2 has a 128K token context window vs Qwen3.5 Flash's 1.0M. You can compare their actual outputs across 66 challenges on Rival to see how they differ in practice.

Which is better, Mercury 2 or Qwen3.5 Flash?

It depends on your use case. Mercury 2 and Qwen3.5 Flash each have strengths in different areas. Rival lets you compare their real outputs side-by-side across 66 challenges so you can judge which fits your needs best.

How much does Mercury 2 cost compared to Qwen3.5 Flash?

Mercury 2 costs $0.25/M input tokens and Qwen3.5 Flash costs $0.1/M input tokens. Qwen3.5 Flash is $0.15/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 Qwen3.5 Flash on Rival?

This page shows a side-by-side comparison of Mercury 2 and Qwen3.5 Flash 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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Model pages

  • Mercury 266 outputs, specs and price
  • Qwen3.5 Flash66 outputs, specs and price
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