GPT-4.1 mini vs Mercury 2
Mercury 2 leads the LLM Stats Score 23.6 to 14.0. Mercury 2 is 1.9x cheaper per token.
OpenAI · Inception · Updated for 2026
Which is better?
Mercury 2 leads the overall LLM Stats Score 23.6 to 14.0, ranking #173 overall.
In the 2 individual benchmarks reported for both models, Mercury 2 wins 2; this is a narrower head-to-head signal than the composite indexes.
On price, Mercury 2 is roughly 1.9x cheaper per token on a blended 3:1 input/output basis, which adds up quickly at production volume.
GPT-4.1 mini also accepts a larger context window (1,047,576 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 GPT-4.1 mini
- you process long inputs — it offers a 1,047,576 token context window
Choose Mercury 2
- overall performance matters — it scores 23.6 and ranks #173 on LLM Stats
- your work emphasizes reasoning and coding — it leads those capability indexes
- you value its reported benchmark strengths — it wins 2 of 2 exact shared results
- cost matters — it's about 1.9x cheaper per token
- you want the most recent training data — it shipped Feb 2026
At a glance
The differences that matter most.
Capability indexes
Additional strengths measured across groups of related public benchmarks
Individual benchmarks
28 reported for GPT-4.1 mini · 6 for Mercury 2
GPT-4.1 mini outperforms in 0 benchmarks, while Mercury 2 is better at 2 benchmarks (AIME 2025, GPQA).
Mercury 2 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, GPT-4.1 mini ($0.40/1M tokens) is 1.6x more expensive than Mercury 2 ($0.25/1M tokens).
For output processing, GPT-4.1 mini ($1.60/1M tokens) is 2.1x more expensive than Mercury 2 ($0.75/1M tokens).
In conclusion, GPT-4.1 mini is more expensive than Mercury 2.*
* Using a 3:1 ratio of input to output tokens
Context Window
Maximum input and output token capacity
GPT-4.1 mini accepts 1,047,576 input tokens compared to Mercury 2's 128,000 tokens. GPT-4.1 mini can generate longer responses up to 32,768 tokens, while Mercury 2 is limited to 8,192 tokens.
Input capabilities
Documented input modalities across available providers
GPT-4.1 mini supports multimodal inputs, whereas Mercury 2 does not.
GPT-4.1 mini can handle both text and other forms of data like images, making it suitable for multimodal applications.
GPT-4.1 mini
Mercury 2
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
GPT-4.1 mini was released on 2025-04-14, while Mercury 2 was released on 2026-02-24.
Mercury 2 is 11 months newer than GPT-4.1 mini.
Apr 14, 2025
1.4 years ago
Feb 24, 2026
6 months ago
10mo newerKnowledge Cutoff
When training data ends
GPT-4.1 mini has a documented knowledge cutoff of 2024-05-31, while Mercury 2's cutoff date is not specified.
We can confirm GPT-4.1 mini's training data extends to 2024-05-31, but cannot make a direct comparison without Mercury 2's cutoff date.
May 2024
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Provider Availability
GPT-4.1 mini is available from OpenAI. Mercury 2 is available from Inception.
GPT-4.1 mini
Mercury 2
Outputs Comparison
Judge for yourself.
Run your own prompts against GPT-4.1 mini and Mercury 2 side-by-side, then vote on the output you prefer.
FAQ
Common questions about GPT-4.1 mini vs Mercury 2.