Model Comparison

DeepSeek-V3.1 vs Mercury 2

Mercury 2 shows notably better performance in the majority of benchmarks. Mercury 2 is 1.2x cheaper per token.

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Performance Benchmarks

Comparative analysis across standard metrics

3 benchmarks

DeepSeek-V3.1 outperforms in 1 benchmarks (GPQA), while Mercury 2 is better at 2 benchmarks (AIME 2025, LiveCodeBench).

Mercury 2 shows notably better performance in the majority of benchmarks.

Tue Apr 14 2026 • llm-stats.com

Arena Performance

Human preference votes

Pricing Analysis

Price comparison per million tokens

Mercury 2 costs less

For input processing, DeepSeek-V3.1 ($0.27/1M tokens) is 1.1x more expensive than Mercury 2 ($0.25/1M tokens).

For output processing, DeepSeek-V3.1 ($1.00/1M tokens) is 1.3x more expensive than Mercury 2 ($0.75/1M tokens).

In conclusion, DeepSeek-V3.1 is more expensive than Mercury 2.*

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

Lowest available price from all providers
Tue Apr 14 2026 • llm-stats.com
DeepSeek
DeepSeek-V3.1
Input tokens$0.27
Output tokens$1.00
Best providerDeepinfra
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

DeepSeek-V3.1 accepts 163,840 input tokens compared to Mercury 2's 128,000 tokens. DeepSeek-V3.1 can generate longer responses up to 163,840 tokens, while Mercury 2 is limited to 8,192 tokens.

DeepSeek
DeepSeek-V3.1
Input163,840 tokens
Output163,840 tokens
Inception
Mercury 2
Input128,000 tokens
Output8,192 tokens
Tue Apr 14 2026 • llm-stats.com

License

Usage and distribution terms

DeepSeek-V3.1 is licensed under MIT, while Mercury 2 uses a proprietary license.

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

DeepSeek-V3.1

MIT

Open weights

Mercury 2

Proprietary

Closed source

Release Timeline

When each model was launched

DeepSeek-V3.1 was released on 2025-01-10, while Mercury 2 was released on 2026-02-24.

Mercury 2 is 14 months newer than DeepSeek-V3.1.

DeepSeek-V3.1

Jan 10, 2025

1.3 years ago

Mercury 2

Feb 24, 2026

1 months ago

1.1yr 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-V3.1 is available from DeepInfra, Novita. Mercury 2 is available from Inception.

DeepSeek-V3.1

deepinfra logo
Deepinfra
Input Price:Input: $0.27/1MOutput Price:Output: $1.00/1M
novita logo
Novita
Input Price:Input: $0.27/1MOutput Price:Output: $1.00/1M

Mercury 2

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

Outputs Comparison

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Key Takeaways

DeepSeek
Larger context window (163,840 tokens)
Has open weights
Higher GPQA score (74.9% vs 74.0%)
Inception
Less expensive input tokens
Less expensive output tokens
Higher AIME 2025 score (91.1% vs 49.8%)
Higher LiveCodeBench score (67.0% vs 56.4%)

Detailed Comparison

AI Model Comparison Table
Feature
DeepSeek
DeepSeek-V3.1
Inception
Mercury 2

FAQ

Common questions about DeepSeek-V3.1 vs Mercury 2

Mercury 2 shows notably better performance in the majority of benchmarks. DeepSeek-V3.1 is made by DeepSeek and Mercury 2 is made by Inception. The best choice depends on your use case — compare their benchmark scores, pricing, and capabilities above.
DeepSeek-V3.1 scores SimpleQA: 93.4%, MMLU-Redux: 91.8%, MMLU-Pro: 83.7%, GPQA: 74.9%, CodeForces: 69.7%. Mercury 2 scores AIME 2025: 91.1%, GPQA: 74.0%, IFBench: 71.0%, LiveCodeBench: 67.0%, Tau2 Airline: 53.0%.
Mercury 2 is 1.1x cheaper for input tokens. DeepSeek-V3.1 costs $0.27/M input and $1.00/M output via deepinfra. Mercury 2 costs $0.25/M input and $0.75/M output via inception.
DeepSeek-V3.1 supports 164K 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 (164K vs 128K), input pricing ($0.27 vs $0.25/M), licensing (MIT vs Proprietary). See the full comparison above for benchmark-by-benchmark results.
DeepSeek-V3.1 is developed by DeepSeek and Mercury 2 is developed by Inception.