Model Comparison

Mercury 2 vs Muse Spark 1.1Which is better in 2026?

Comparing Mercury 2 and Muse Spark 1.1 across benchmarks, pricing, and capabilities.

Verdict: Mercury 2 vs Muse Spark 1.1 — which is better?

Mercury 2 (by Inception) and Muse Spark 1.1 (by Meta) are two of the AI models people compare most. Here is how they stack up on benchmarks, price and capabilities, and which one to pick in 2026.

On price, Mercury 2 is roughly 5.3x cheaper per token on a blended 3:1 input/output basis, which adds up quickly at production volume.

Muse Spark 1.1 also accepts a larger context window (1,048,576 input tokens), making it the stronger choice for long documents and large codebases.

Choose Mercury 2 if…

  • cost matters — it's about 5.3x cheaper per token

Choose Muse Spark 1.1 if…

  • you process long inputs — it offers a 1,048,576 token context window
  • you want the most recent training data — it shipped Jul 2026

Performance Benchmarks

Comparative analysis across standard metrics

No common benchmarks found

Mercury 2 and Muse Spark 1.1don't have any common benchmark datasets to compare. They may have been evaluated on different testing suites.

Arena Performance

Human preference votes

Pricing Analysis

Price comparison per million tokens

Mercury 2 costs less

For input processing, Mercury 2 ($0.25/1M tokens) is 5.0x cheaper than Muse Spark 1.1 ($1.25/1M tokens).

For output processing, Mercury 2 ($0.75/1M tokens) is 5.7x cheaper than Muse Spark 1.1 ($4.25/1M tokens).

In conclusion, Muse Spark 1.1 is more expensive than Mercury 2.*

* Using a 3:1 ratio of input to output tokens

Lowest available price from all providers
Tue Jul 28 2026 • llm-stats.com
Inception
Mercury 2
Input tokens$0.25
Output tokens$0.75
Best providerInception
Meta
Muse Spark 1.1
Input tokens$1.25
Output tokens$4.25
Best providerMeta
Notice missing or incorrect data?Start an Issue→

Context Window

Maximum input and output token capacity

Muse Spark 1.1 accepts 1,048,576 input tokens compared to Mercury 2's 128,000 tokens. Muse Spark 1.1 can generate longer responses up to 131,072 tokens, while Mercury 2 is limited to 8,192 tokens.

Inception
Mercury 2
Input128,000 tokens
Output8,192 tokens
Meta
Muse Spark 1.1
Input1,048,576 tokens
Output131,072 tokens
Tue Jul 28 2026 • llm-stats.com

Input Capabilities

Supported data types and modalities

Muse Spark 1.1 supports multimodal inputs, whereas Mercury 2 does not.

Muse Spark 1.1 can handle both text and other forms of data like images, making it suitable for multimodal applications.

Mercury 2

Text
Images
Audio
Video

Muse Spark 1.1

Text
Images
Audio
Video

License

Usage and distribution terms

Both models are licensed under proprietary licenses.

Both models have usage restrictions defined by their respective organizations.

Mercury 2

Proprietary

Closed source

Muse Spark 1.1

Proprietary

Closed source

Release Timeline

When each model was launched

Mercury 2 was released on 2026-02-24, while Muse Spark 1.1 was released on 2026-07-09.

Muse Spark 1.1 is 5 months newer than Mercury 2.

Mercury 2

Feb 24, 2026

5 months ago

Muse Spark 1.1

Jul 9, 2026

2 weeks ago

4mo newer

Knowledge Cutoff

When training data ends

Neither model specifies a knowledge cutoff date.

Unable to compare the recency of their training data.

No cutoff dates available

Provider Availability

Mercury 2 is available from Inception. Muse Spark 1.1 is available from Meta Model API.

Mercury 2

inception logo
Inception
Input Price:Input: $0.25/1MOutput Price:Output: $0.75/1M

Muse Spark 1.1

meta logo
Meta
Input Price:Input: $1.25/1MOutput Price:Output: $4.25/1M
* Prices shown are per million tokens

Outputs Comparison

Notice missing or incorrect data?Start an Issue discussion→

Key Takeaways

Inception
Less expensive input tokens
Less expensive output tokens
Meta
Larger context window (1,048,576 tokens)
Supports multimodal inputs

Detailed Comparison

Interactive Arena

Judge for yourself.

Run your own prompts against Mercury 2 and Muse Spark 1.1 side-by-side, then vote on the output you prefer.

Mercury 2
✓ Preferred
Muse Spark 1.1
Open in Playground
AI Model Comparison Table
Feature
Inception
Mercury 2
Meta
Muse Spark 1.1

FAQ

Common questions about Mercury 2 vs Muse Spark 1.1.

Which is better, Mercury 2 or Muse Spark 1.1?

Mercury 2 (Inception) and Muse Spark 1.1 (Meta) each have strengths in different areas. Compare their benchmark scores, pricing, context windows, and capabilities above to determine which fits your needs.

How does Mercury 2 compare to Muse Spark 1.1 in benchmarks?

Mercury 2 scores AIME 2025: 91.1%, GPQA: 74.0%, IFBench: 71.0%, LiveCodeBench: 67.0%, Tau2 Airline: 53.0%. Muse Spark 1.1 scores CharXiv-R: 88.4%, MCP Atlas: 88.1%, OSWorld-Verified: 80.8%, Terminal-Bench 2.1: 80.0%, BabyVision: 76.3%.

Is Mercury 2 cheaper than Muse Spark 1.1?

Mercury 2 is 5.0x cheaper for input tokens. Mercury 2 costs $0.25/M input and $0.75/M output via inception. Muse Spark 1.1 costs $1.25/M input and $4.25/M output via meta.

What are the context window sizes for Mercury 2 and Muse Spark 1.1?

Mercury 2 supports 128K tokens and Muse Spark 1.1 supports 1.0M tokens. A larger context window lets you process longer documents, conversations, or codebases in a single request.

What are the main differences between Mercury 2 and Muse Spark 1.1?

Key differences include context window (128K vs 1.0M), input pricing ($0.25 vs $1.25/M), multimodal support (no vs yes). See the full comparison above for benchmark-by-benchmark results.

Who makes Mercury 2 and Muse Spark 1.1?

Mercury 2 is developed by Inception and Muse Spark 1.1 is developed by Meta.

Related comparisons