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DeepSeek-V4-Flash-Max vs Mercury 3

DeepSeek-V4-Flash-Max and Mercury 3 are closely matched at 38.9 and 36.1 on the LLM Stats Score. DeepSeek-V4-Flash-Max is 1.4x cheaper per token.

DeepSeek · Inception · Updated for 2026

Which is better?

DeepSeek-V4-Flash-Max and Mercury 3 are closely matched on the overall LLM Stats Score at 38.9 and 36.1.

In the 1 individual benchmarks reported for both models, Mercury 3 wins 1; this is a narrower head-to-head signal than the composite indexes.

On price, DeepSeek-V4-Flash-Max is roughly 1.4x cheaper per token on a blended 3:1 input/output basis, which adds up quickly at production volume.

DeepSeek-V4-Flash-Max also accepts a larger context window (1,048,576 input tokens), making it the stronger choice for long documents and large codebases.

Based on current LLM Stats indexes, shared benchmarks, pricing, and model metadata for 2026.

Choose DeepSeek-V4-Flash-Max

  • cost matters — it's about 1.4x cheaper per token
  • you process long inputs — it offers a 1,048,576 token context window
  • you need open weights you can self-host or fine-tune

Choose Mercury 3

  • you value its reported benchmark strengths — it wins 1 of 1 exact shared results
  • you want the most recent training data — it shipped Oct 2026

At a glance

The differences that matter most.

DeepSeek-V4-Flash-Max
DeepSeek
Mercury 3
Inception
Core performance indexes
LLM Stats Score
38.9
#77
36.1
#98
Reasoning
39.6
#72
34.8
#103
Coding
28.5
#73
21.5
#105
Agents
18.1
#92
19.4
#84
Cost, coverage & limits
Benchmark wins
0 of 1
1 of 1
Input price
$0.09 / M
$0.10 / M
Output price
$0.18 / M
$0.35 / M
Context window
1,048,576
1,000,000

Capability indexes

Additional strengths measured across groups of related public benchmarks

1 shared
Index
DeepSeek-V4-Flash-Max
Mercury 3
Long context
11.5#68
23.0#18
Conservative TrueSkill rating · higher is betterHow scores work

Individual benchmarks

19 reported for DeepSeek-V4-Flash-Max · 12 for Mercury 3

1 shared

DeepSeek-V4-Flash-Max outperforms in 0 benchmarks, while Mercury 3 is better at 1 benchmark (GPQA).

Mercury 3 significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.

Sat Oct 24 2026 • llm-stats.com

Human preference

Blind head-to-head votes and playground preference scores

Pricing Analysis

Price comparison per million tokens

DeepSeek-V4-Flash-Max costs less

For input processing, DeepSeek-V4-Flash-Max ($0.09/1M tokens) is 1.1x cheaper than Mercury 3 ($0.10/1M tokens).

For output processing, DeepSeek-V4-Flash-Max ($0.18/1M tokens) is 1.9x cheaper than Mercury 3 ($0.35/1M tokens).

In conclusion, Mercury 3 is more expensive than DeepSeek-V4-Flash-Max.*

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

Lowest available price from all providers
Sat Oct 24 2026 • llm-stats.com
DeepSeek
DeepSeek-V4-Flash-Max
Input tokens$0.09
Output tokens$0.18
Best providerDeepinfra
Inception
Mercury 3
Input tokens$0.10
Output tokens$0.35
Best providerInception
Notice missing or incorrect data?

Context Window

Maximum input and output token capacity

DeepSeek-V4-Flash-Max accepts 1,048,576 input tokens compared to Mercury 3's 1,000,000 tokens. DeepSeek-V4-Flash-Max can generate longer responses up to 1,048,576 tokens, while Mercury 3 is limited to 131,072 tokens.

DeepSeek
DeepSeek-V4-Flash-Max
Input1,048,576 tokens
Output1,048,576 tokens
Inception
Mercury 3
Input1,000,000 tokens
Output131,072 tokens
Sat Oct 24 2026 • llm-stats.com

License

Usage and distribution terms

DeepSeek-V4-Flash-Max is licensed under MIT, while Mercury 3 uses a proprietary license.

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

DeepSeek-V4-Flash-Max

MIT

Open weights

Mercury 3

Proprietary

Closed source

Release Timeline

When each model was launched

DeepSeek-V4-Flash-Max was released on 2026-04-23, while Mercury 3 was released on 2026-10-19.

Mercury 3 is 6 months newer than DeepSeek-V4-Flash-Max.

DeepSeek-V4-Flash-Max

Apr 23, 2026

5 months ago

Mercury 3

Oct 19, 2026

0 days ago

5mo 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-V4-Flash-Max is available from DeepInfra, DeepSeek. Mercury 3 is available from Inception.

DeepSeek-V4-Flash-Max

deepinfra logo
Deepinfra
Input Price:Input: $0.09/1MOutput Price:Output: $0.18/1M
deepseek logo
DeepSeek
Input Price:Input: $0.14/1MOutput Price:Output: $0.28/1M

Mercury 3

inception logo
Inception
Input Price:Input: $0.10/1MOutput Price:Output: $0.35/1M
* Prices shown are per million tokens

Outputs Comparison

Notice missing or incorrect data?

Judge for yourself.

Run your own prompts against DeepSeek-V4-Flash-Max and Mercury 3 side-by-side, then vote on the output you prefer.

DeepSeek-V4-Flash-Max
✓ Preferred
Mercury 3
Open in Playground

FAQ

Common questions about DeepSeek-V4-Flash-Max vs Mercury 3.

Which is better, DeepSeek-V4-Flash-Max or Mercury 3?

DeepSeek-V4-Flash-Max and Mercury 3 are closely matched on the LLM Stats Score at 38.9 and 36.1. DeepSeek-V4-Flash-Max is made by DeepSeek and Mercury 3 is made by Inception. The best choice depends on your use case — compare their capability indexes, individual benchmarks, pricing, and limits above.

How does DeepSeek-V4-Flash-Max compare to Mercury 3 in benchmarks?

DeepSeek-V4-Flash-Max scores CodeForces: 100.0%, HMMT Feb 26: 94.8%, LiveCodeBench: 91.6%, IMO-AnswerBench: 88.4%, GPQA: 88.1%. Mercury 3 scores GPQA: 89.2%, AA-LCR: 77.7%, IFBench: 76.8%, MRCR v2: 75.5%, DeepSearchQA: 71.3%.

Is DeepSeek-V4-Flash-Max cheaper than Mercury 3?

DeepSeek-V4-Flash-Max is 1.1x cheaper for input tokens. DeepSeek-V4-Flash-Max costs $0.09/M input and $0.18/M output via deepinfra. Mercury 3 costs $0.10/M input and $0.35/M output via inception.

What are the context window sizes for DeepSeek-V4-Flash-Max and Mercury 3?

DeepSeek-V4-Flash-Max supports 1.0M tokens and Mercury 3 supports 1.0M tokens. A larger context window lets you process longer documents, conversations, or codebases in a single request.

What are the main differences between DeepSeek-V4-Flash-Max and Mercury 3?

Key differences include LLM Stats Score (38.9 vs 36.1), context window (1.0M vs 1.0M), input pricing ($0.09 vs $0.10/M), licensing (MIT vs Proprietary). See the full comparison above for benchmark-by-benchmark results.

Who makes DeepSeek-V4-Flash-Max and Mercury 3?

DeepSeek-V4-Flash-Max is developed by DeepSeek and Mercury 3 is developed by Inception.

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