Model Comparison

DeepSeek-V2.5 vs Mercury 2

Comparing DeepSeek-V2.5 and Mercury 2 across benchmarks, pricing, and capabilities.

Want to compare interactively?Try the playground

Performance Benchmarks

Comparative analysis across standard metrics

No common benchmarks found

DeepSeek-V2.5 and Mercury 2 don't have any common benchmark datasets to compare. They may have been evaluated on different testing suites.

Arena Performance

Human preference votes

Pricing Analysis

Price comparison per million tokens

DeepSeek-V2.5 costs less

For input processing, DeepSeek-V2.5 ($0.14/1M tokens) is 1.8x cheaper than Mercury 2 ($0.25/1M tokens).

For output processing, DeepSeek-V2.5 ($0.28/1M tokens) is 2.7x cheaper than Mercury 2 ($0.75/1M tokens).

In conclusion, Mercury 2 is more expensive than DeepSeek-V2.5.*

* Using a 3:1 ratio of input to output tokens

Lowest available price from all providers
Thu Apr 16 2026 • llm-stats.com
DeepSeek
DeepSeek-V2.5
Input tokens$0.14
Output tokens$0.28
Best providerDeepSeek
Inception
Mercury 2
Input tokens$0.25
Output tokens$0.75
Best providerInception
Notice missing or incorrect data?Start an Issue→

Context Window

Maximum input and output token capacity

Mercury 2 accepts 128,000 input tokens compared to DeepSeek-V2.5's 8,192 tokens. Both models can generate responses up to 8,192 tokens.

DeepSeek
DeepSeek-V2.5
Input8,192 tokens
Output8,192 tokens
Inception
Mercury 2
Input128,000 tokens
Output8,192 tokens
Thu Apr 16 2026 • llm-stats.com

License

Usage and distribution terms

DeepSeek-V2.5 is licensed under deepseek, while Mercury 2 uses a proprietary license.

License differences may affect how you can use these models in commercial or open-source projects.

DeepSeek-V2.5

deepseek

Open weights

Mercury 2

Proprietary

Closed source

Release Timeline

When each model was launched

DeepSeek-V2.5 was released on 2024-05-08, while Mercury 2 was released on 2026-02-24.

Mercury 2 is 22 months newer than DeepSeek-V2.5.

DeepSeek-V2.5

May 8, 2024

1.9 years ago

Mercury 2

Feb 24, 2026

1 months ago

1.8yr newer

Knowledge Cutoff

When training data ends

Neither model specifies a knowledge cutoff date.

Unable to compare the recency of their training data.

No cutoff dates available

Provider Availability

DeepSeek-V2.5 is available from DeepSeek, DeepInfra, Hyperbolic. Mercury 2 is available from Inception.

DeepSeek-V2.5

deepseek logo
DeepSeek
Input Price:Input: $0.14/1MOutput Price:Output: $0.28/1M
deepinfra logo
Deepinfra
Input Price:Input: $0.70/1MOutput Price:Output: $1.40/1M
hyperbolic logo
Hyperbolic
Input Price:Input: $2.00/1MOutput Price:Output: $2.00/1M

Mercury 2

inception logo
Inception
Input Price:Input: $0.25/1MOutput Price:Output: $0.75/1M
* Prices shown are per million tokens

Outputs Comparison

Notice missing or incorrect data?Start an Issue discussion→

Key Takeaways

DeepSeek
Less expensive input tokens
Less expensive output tokens
Has open weights
Inception
Larger context window (128,000 tokens)

Detailed Comparison

AI Model Comparison Table
Feature
DeepSeek
DeepSeek-V2.5
Inception
Mercury 2

FAQ

Common questions about DeepSeek-V2.5 vs Mercury 2

DeepSeek-V2.5 (DeepSeek) and Mercury 2 (Inception) each have strengths in different areas. Compare their benchmark scores, pricing, context windows, and capabilities above to determine which fits your needs.
DeepSeek-V2.5 scores GSM8k: 95.1%, MT-Bench: 90.2%, HumanEval: 89.0%, BBH: 84.3%, AlignBench: 80.4%. Mercury 2 scores AIME 2025: 91.1%, GPQA: 74.0%, IFBench: 71.0%, LiveCodeBench: 67.0%, Tau2 Airline: 53.0%.
DeepSeek-V2.5 is 1.8x cheaper for input tokens. DeepSeek-V2.5 costs $0.14/M input and $0.28/M output via deepseek. Mercury 2 costs $0.25/M input and $0.75/M output via inception.
DeepSeek-V2.5 supports 8K tokens and Mercury 2 supports 128K tokens. A larger context window lets you process longer documents, conversations, or codebases in a single request.
Key differences include context window (8K vs 128K), input pricing ($0.14 vs $0.25/M), licensing (deepseek vs Proprietary). See the full comparison above for benchmark-by-benchmark results.
DeepSeek-V2.5 is developed by DeepSeek and Mercury 2 is developed by Inception.