Grok-3 Mini vs Mercury 2
Grok-3 Mini leads the LLM Stats Score 31.3 to 23.5. Grok-3 Mini is 1.1x cheaper per token.
xAI · Inception · Updated for 2026
Which is better?
Grok-3 Mini leads the overall LLM Stats Score 31.3 to 23.5, ranking #127 overall.
In the 3 individual benchmarks reported for both models, Grok-3 Mini wins 2; this is a narrower head-to-head signal than the composite indexes.
On price, Grok-3 Mini is roughly 1.1x cheaper per token on a blended 3:1 input/output basis, which adds up quickly at production volume.
Based on current LLM Stats indexes, shared benchmarks, pricing, and model metadata for 2026.
Choose Grok-3 Mini
- overall performance matters — it scores 31.3 and ranks #127 on LLM Stats
- your work emphasizes reasoning — it leads those capability indexes
- you value its reported benchmark strengths — it wins 2 of 3 exact shared results
- cost matters — it's about 1.1x cheaper per token
Choose Mercury 2
- 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
4 reported for Grok-3 Mini · 6 for Mercury 2
Grok-3 Mini outperforms in 2 benchmarks (GPQA, LiveCodeBench), while Mercury 2 is better at 1 benchmark (AIME 2025).
Grok-3 Mini shows notably better performance in the majority of benchmarks.
Human preference
Blind head-to-head votes and playground preference scores
Pricing Analysis
Price comparison per million tokens
For input processing, Grok-3 Mini ($0.30/1M tokens) is 1.2x more expensive than Mercury 2 ($0.25/1M tokens).
For output processing, Grok-3 Mini ($0.50/1M tokens) is 1.5x cheaper than Mercury 2 ($0.75/1M tokens).
In conclusion, Mercury 2 is more expensive than Grok-3 Mini.*
* Using a 3:1 ratio of input to output tokens
Context Window
Maximum input and output token capacity
Both models have the same input context window of 128,000 tokens. Mercury 2 can generate longer responses up to 8,192 tokens, while Grok-3 Mini is limited to 8,000 tokens.
Input capabilities
Documented input modalities across available providers
Grok-3 Mini supports multimodal inputs, whereas Mercury 2 does not.
Grok-3 Mini can handle both text and other forms of data like images, making it suitable for multimodal applications.
Grok-3 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
Grok-3 Mini was released on 2025-02-17, while Mercury 2 was released on 2026-02-24.
Mercury 2 is 12 months newer than Grok-3 Mini.
Feb 17, 2025
1.6 years ago
Feb 24, 2026
7 months ago
1.0yr newerKnowledge Cutoff
When training data ends
Grok-3 Mini has a documented knowledge cutoff of 2024-11-17, while Mercury 2's cutoff date is not specified.
We can confirm Grok-3 Mini's training data extends to 2024-11-17, but cannot make a direct comparison without Mercury 2's cutoff date.
Nov 2024
—
Provider Availability
Grok-3 Mini is available from xAI. Mercury 2 is available from Inception.
Grok-3 Mini
Mercury 2
Outputs Comparison
Judge for yourself.
Run your own prompts against Grok-3 Mini and Mercury 2 side-by-side, then vote on the output you prefer.
FAQ
Common questions about Grok-3 Mini vs Mercury 2.