Grok 4.6 vs Mercury 3
Grok 4.6 leads the LLM Stats Score 44.5 to 36.1. Mercury 3 is 18.5x cheaper per token.
xAI · Inception · Updated for 2026
Which is better?
Grok 4.6 leads the overall LLM Stats Score 44.5 to 36.1, ranking #47 overall.
In the 1 individual benchmarks reported for both models, Grok 4.6 wins 1; this is a narrower head-to-head signal than the composite indexes.
On price, Mercury 3 is roughly 18.5x cheaper per token on a blended 3:1 input/output basis, which adds up quickly at production volume.
Mercury 3 also accepts a larger context window (1,000,000 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 Grok 4.6
- overall performance matters — it scores 44.5 and ranks #47 on LLM Stats
- your work emphasizes reasoning and agents — it leads those capability indexes
- you value its reported benchmark strengths — it wins 1 of 1 exact shared results
Choose Mercury 3
- cost matters — it's about 18.5x cheaper per token
- you process long inputs — it offers a 1,000,000 token context window
- you want the most recent training data — it shipped Oct 2026
At a glance
The differences that matter most.
Individual benchmarks
11 reported for Grok 4.6 · 12 for Mercury 3
Grok 4.6 outperforms in 1 benchmarks (GDPval-AA), while Mercury 3 is better at 0 benchmarks.
Grok 4.6 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, Grok 4.6 ($2.00/1M tokens) is 20.0x more expensive than Mercury 3 ($0.10/1M tokens).
For output processing, Grok 4.6 ($6.00/1M tokens) is 17.1x more expensive than Mercury 3 ($0.35/1M tokens).
In conclusion, Grok 4.6 is more expensive than Mercury 3.*
* Using a 3:1 ratio of input to output tokens
Context Window
Maximum input and output token capacity
Mercury 3 accepts 1,000,000 input tokens compared to Grok 4.6's 500,000 tokens. Only Mercury 3 specifies output context (131,072 tokens).
Input capabilities
Documented input modalities across available providers
Grok 4.6 supports multimodal inputs, whereas Mercury 3 does not.
Grok 4.6 can handle both text and other forms of data like images, making it suitable for multimodal applications.
Grok 4.6
Mercury 3
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 4.6 was released on 2026-08-12, while Mercury 3 was released on 2026-10-19.
Mercury 3 is 2 months newer than Grok 4.6.
Aug 12, 2026
2 months ago
Oct 19, 2026
3 days ago
2mo newerKnowledge Cutoff
When training data ends
Grok 4.6 has a documented knowledge cutoff of 2026-02-01, while Mercury 3's cutoff date is not specified.
We can confirm Grok 4.6's training data extends to 2026-02-01, but cannot make a direct comparison without Mercury 3's cutoff date.
Feb 2026
—
Provider Availability
Grok 4.6 is available from xAI. Mercury 3 is available from Inception.
Grok 4.6
Mercury 3
Outputs Comparison
Judge for yourself.
Run your own prompts against Grok 4.6 and Mercury 3 side-by-side, then vote on the output you prefer.
FAQ
Common questions about Grok 4.6 vs Mercury 3.