Grok-3 Mini vs Mercury 2
Grok-3 Mini shows notably better performance in the majority of benchmarks. Grok-3 Mini is 1.1x cheaper per token.
xAI · Inception · Updated for 2026
Which is better?
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.
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 benchmark, pricing, and model metadata for 2026.
Choose Grok-3 Mini
- you want the strongest raw capability — it leads on 2 of 3 shared benchmarks
- 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.
Performance Benchmarks
Comparative analysis across standard metrics
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.
Arena Performance
Playground indexes and blind 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
Supported data types and modalities
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
1.5 years ago
Feb 24, 2026
6 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
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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.