Mercury 3 vs MiniMax M2
Mercury 3 leads the LLM Stats Score 36.1 to 26.4. Mercury 3 is 3.2x cheaper per token.
Inception · MiniMax · Updated for 2026
Which is better?
Mercury 3 leads the overall LLM Stats Score 36.1 to 26.4, ranking #98 overall.
In the 1 individual benchmarks reported for both models, Mercury 3 wins 1; this is a narrower head-to-head signal than the composite indexes.
On price, Mercury 3 is roughly 3.2x 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 Mercury 3
- overall performance matters — it scores 36.1 and ranks #98 on LLM Stats
- your work emphasizes reasoning and coding — it leads those capability indexes
- you value its reported benchmark strengths — it wins 1 of 1 exact shared results
- cost matters — it's about 3.2x cheaper per token
- you want the most recent training data — it shipped Oct 2026
Choose MiniMax M2
- you need open weights you can self-host or fine-tune
At a glance
The differences that matter most.
Individual benchmarks
12 reported for Mercury 3 · 16 for MiniMax M2
Mercury 3 outperforms in 1 benchmarks (GPQA), while MiniMax M2 is better at 0 benchmarks.
Mercury 3 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, Mercury 3 ($0.10/1M tokens) is 3.0x cheaper than MiniMax M2 ($0.30/1M tokens).
For output processing, Mercury 3 ($0.35/1M tokens) is 3.4x cheaper than MiniMax M2 ($1.20/1M tokens).
In conclusion, MiniMax M2 is more expensive than Mercury 3.*
* 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 1,000,000 tokens. MiniMax M2 can generate longer responses up to 1,000,000 tokens, while Mercury 3 is limited to 131,072 tokens.
License
Usage and distribution terms
Mercury 3 is licensed under a proprietary license, while MiniMax M2 uses MIT.
License differences may affect how you can use these models in commercial or open-source projects.
Proprietary
Closed source
MIT
Open weights
Release Timeline
When each model was launched
Mercury 3 was released on 2026-10-19, while MiniMax M2 was released on 2025-10-27.
Mercury 3 is 12 months newer than MiniMax M2.
Oct 19, 2026
0 days ago
11mo newerOct 27, 2025
11 months ago
Knowledge Cutoff
When training data ends
Neither model specifies a knowledge cutoff date.
Unable to compare the recency of their training data.
Provider Availability
Mercury 3 is available from Inception. MiniMax M2 is available from MiniMax, Novita.
Mercury 3
MiniMax M2
Outputs Comparison
Judge for yourself.
Run your own prompts against Mercury 3 and MiniMax M2 side-by-side, then vote on the output you prefer.
FAQ
Common questions about Mercury 3 vs MiniMax M2.