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DeepSeek-V4-Flash-Vision-Exp vs Mercury 2

Comparing DeepSeek-V4-Flash-Vision-Exp and Mercury 2 across benchmarks, pricing, and capabilities.

DeepSeek · Inception · Updated for 2026

Which is better?

DeepSeek-V4-Flash-Vision-Exp and Mercury 2 trade strengths across price, capabilities, and technical limits. The better choice depends on the workload.

On price, DeepSeek-V4-Flash-Vision-Exp is roughly 1.1x cheaper per token on a blended 3:1 input/output basis, which adds up quickly at production volume.

DeepSeek-V4-Flash-Vision-Exp 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 benchmark, pricing, and model metadata for 2026.

Choose DeepSeek-V4-Flash-Vision-Exp

  • cost matters — it's about 1.1x cheaper per token
  • you process long inputs — it offers a 1,048,576 token context window
  • you want the most recent training data — it shipped Aug 2026

Choose Mercury 2

  • you want predictable pricing at $0.25/M input and $0.75/M output

At a glance

The differences that matter most.

Benchmark wins
Input price
$0.22 / M
$0.25 / M
Output price
$0.66 / M
$0.75 / M
Context window
1,048,576
128,000
Released
Aug 2026
Feb 2026
License
Unknown
Proprietary

Performance Benchmarks

Comparative analysis across standard metrics

No common benchmarks found

DeepSeek-V4-Flash-Vision-Exp and Mercury 2don't have any common benchmark datasets to compare. They may have been evaluated on different testing suites.

Arena Performance

Playground indexes and blind preference scores

Pricing Analysis

Price comparison per million tokens

DeepSeek-V4-Flash-Vision-Exp costs less

For input processing, DeepSeek-V4-Flash-Vision-Exp ($0.22/1M tokens) is 1.1x cheaper than Mercury 2 ($0.25/1M tokens).

For output processing, DeepSeek-V4-Flash-Vision-Exp ($0.66/1M tokens) is 1.1x cheaper than Mercury 2 ($0.75/1M tokens).

In conclusion, Mercury 2 is more expensive than DeepSeek-V4-Flash-Vision-Exp.*

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

Lowest available price from all providers
Tue Aug 25 2026 • llm-stats.com
DeepSeek
DeepSeek-V4-Flash-Vision-Exp
Input tokens$0.22
Output tokens$0.66
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

DeepSeek-V4-Flash-Vision-Exp accepts 1,048,576 input tokens compared to Mercury 2's 128,000 tokens. DeepSeek-V4-Flash-Vision-Exp can generate longer responses up to 393,216 tokens, while Mercury 2 is limited to 8,192 tokens.

DeepSeek
DeepSeek-V4-Flash-Vision-Exp
Input1,048,576 tokens
Output393,216 tokens
Inception
Mercury 2
Input128,000 tokens
Output8,192 tokens
Tue Aug 25 2026 • llm-stats.com

Input Capabilities

Supported data types and modalities

DeepSeek-V4-Flash-Vision-Exp supports multimodal inputs, whereas Mercury 2 does not.

DeepSeek-V4-Flash-Vision-Exp can handle both text and other forms of data like images, making it suitable for multimodal applications.

DeepSeek-V4-Flash-Vision-Exp

Text
Images
Audio
Video

Mercury 2

Text
Images
Audio
Video

Release Timeline

When each model was launched

DeepSeek-V4-Flash-Vision-Exp was released on 2026-08-21, while Mercury 2 was released on 2026-02-24.

DeepSeek-V4-Flash-Vision-Exp is 6 months newer than Mercury 2.

DeepSeek-V4-Flash-Vision-Exp

Aug 21, 2026

4 days ago

5mo newer
Mercury 2

Feb 24, 2026

6 months ago

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-Vision-Exp is available from DeepSeek. Mercury 2 is available from Inception.

DeepSeek-V4-Flash-Vision-Exp

deepseek logo
DeepSeek
Input Price:Input: $0.22/1MOutput Price:Output: $0.66/1M

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

Judge for yourself.

Run your own prompts against DeepSeek-V4-Flash-Vision-Exp and Mercury 2 side-by-side, then vote on the output you prefer.

DeepSeek-V4-Flash-Vision-Exp
✓ Preferred
Mercury 2
Open in Playground

FAQ

Common questions about DeepSeek-V4-Flash-Vision-Exp vs Mercury 2.

Which is better, DeepSeek-V4-Flash-Vision-Exp or Mercury 2?

DeepSeek-V4-Flash-Vision-Exp (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.

How does DeepSeek-V4-Flash-Vision-Exp compare to Mercury 2 in benchmarks?

DeepSeek-V4-Flash-Vision-Exp scores Terminal-Bench 2.1: 83.9%, DSBench-Hard: 63.6%, DeepSWE: 59.3%, NL2Repo: 57.7%, ZEROBench: 35.0%. Mercury 2 scores AIME 2025: 91.1%, GPQA: 74.0%, IFBench: 71.0%, LiveCodeBench: 67.0%, Tau2 Airline: 53.0%.

Is DeepSeek-V4-Flash-Vision-Exp cheaper than Mercury 2?

DeepSeek-V4-Flash-Vision-Exp is 1.1x cheaper for input tokens. DeepSeek-V4-Flash-Vision-Exp costs $0.22/M input and $0.66/M output via deepseek. Mercury 2 costs $0.25/M input and $0.75/M output via inception.

What are the context window sizes for DeepSeek-V4-Flash-Vision-Exp and Mercury 2?

DeepSeek-V4-Flash-Vision-Exp supports 1.0M tokens and Mercury 2 supports 128K 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-Vision-Exp and Mercury 2?

Key differences include context window (1.0M vs 128K), input pricing ($0.22 vs $0.25/M), multimodal support (yes vs no), licensing (Unknown vs Proprietary). See the full comparison above for benchmark-by-benchmark results.

Who makes DeepSeek-V4-Flash-Vision-Exp and Mercury 2?

DeepSeek-V4-Flash-Vision-Exp is developed by DeepSeek and Mercury 2 is developed by Inception.