Ember-1 vs Mercury 2
Ember-1 leads the LLM Stats Score 43.1 to 23.5. Mercury 2 is 16.0x cheaper per token.
Fireworks AI · Inception · Updated for 2026
Which is better?
Ember-1 leads the overall LLM Stats Score 43.1 to 23.5, ranking #51 overall.
In the 1 individual benchmarks reported for both models, Ember-1 wins 1; this is a narrower head-to-head signal than the composite indexes.
On price, Mercury 2 is roughly 16.0x cheaper per token on a blended 3:1 input/output basis, which adds up quickly at production volume.
Ember-1 also accepts a larger context window (1,040,000 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 Ember-1
- overall performance matters — it scores 43.1 and ranks #51 on LLM Stats
- your work emphasizes reasoning and coding — it leads those capability indexes
- you value its reported benchmark strengths — it wins 1 of 1 exact shared results
- you process long inputs — it offers a 1,040,000 token context window
- you want the most recent training data — it shipped Sep 2026
Choose Mercury 2
- cost matters — it's about 16.0x cheaper per token
At a glance
The differences that matter most.
Individual benchmarks
4 reported for Ember-1 · 6 for Mercury 2
Ember-1 outperforms in 1 benchmarks (Tau2 Airline), while Mercury 2 is better at 0 benchmarks.
Ember-1 significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.
Human preference
Blind head-to-head votes and playground preference scores
Pricing Analysis
Price comparison per million tokens
For input processing, Ember-1 ($3.00/1M tokens) is 12.0x more expensive than Mercury 2 ($0.25/1M tokens).
For output processing, Ember-1 ($15.00/1M tokens) is 20.0x more expensive than Mercury 2 ($0.75/1M tokens).
In conclusion, Ember-1 is more expensive than Mercury 2.*
* Using a 3:1 ratio of input to output tokens
Context Window
Maximum input and output token capacity
Ember-1 accepts 1,040,000 input tokens compared to Mercury 2's 128,000 tokens. Only Mercury 2 specifies output context (8,192 tokens).
License
Usage and distribution terms
Both models are licensed under proprietary licenses.
Both models have usage restrictions defined by their respective organizations.
Proprietary
Closed source
Proprietary
Closed source
Release Timeline
When each model was launched
Ember-1 was released on 2026-09-23, while Mercury 2 was released on 2026-02-24.
Ember-1 is 7 months newer than Mercury 2.
Sep 23, 2026
2 weeks ago
7mo newerFeb 24, 2026
7 months ago
Knowledge Cutoff
When training data ends
Neither model specifies a knowledge cutoff date.
Unable to compare the recency of their training data.
Provider Availability
Ember-1 is available from Fireworks. Mercury 2 is available from Inception.
Ember-1
Mercury 2
Outputs Comparison
Judge for yourself.
Run your own prompts against Ember-1 and Mercury 2 side-by-side, then vote on the output you prefer.
FAQ
Common questions about Ember-1 vs Mercury 2.