Mercury 2.5 Preview is $0.1 cheaper per 1M input tokens (33.3% lower; 1.5x difference).
API cost decision in 10 seconds
NewCommand A+ vs Mercury 2.5 Preview
Pick Mercury 2.5 Preview when budget and context both matter.
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Data confirmed:
Prices normalized to USD per 1M tokens
Sample workload: 1M input + 500K output
Budget verdict
Pick Mercury 2.5 Preview when budget and context both matter.
On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, Mercury 2.5 Preview is estimated at $0.57 vs $1.05 for Command A+, saving $0.48 (45.2% lower).
Cost-first pickMercury 2.5 Preview
Context-first pickMercury 2.5 Preview
Sample savings$0.4845.2%
10x traffic gap$4.75
Mercury 2.5 Preview is cheaper on the standard workload and also has the larger context window. At 10x that traffic, the same price gap is about $4.75. Use the calculator below to replace the sample workload with your own token volume.
Cost sensitivity
Workload Sensitivity
Mercury 2.5 Preview stays cheaper across input-heavy, balanced, and output-heavy sample workloads.
| Workload shape | Token mix | Better pick | Command A+ | Mercury 2.5 Preview |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Input-heavy / RAG | 5M input + 500K output | Mercury 2.5 Preview | $2.25 | $1.38 |
| Balanced workload | 1M input + 1M output | Mercury 2.5 Preview | $1.8 | $0.95 |
| Output-heavy chatbot | 1M input + 5M output | Mercury 2.5 Preview | $7.8 | $3.95 |
Mercury 2.5 Preview is $0.75 cheaper per 1M output tokens (50% lower; 2x difference).
Mercury 2.5 Preview has 68K more context (1.35x larger).
Mercury 2.5 Preview is $0.48 cheaper on the standard workload (45.2% lower).
Estimate your workload cost
Your Workload Cost
This estimate uses normalized public API pricing per 1M tokens. It is a planning aid, not a billing quote. Verify provider pricing, limits, and terms before production use.
Quick Decision
Mercury 2.5 Preview has the lower input price; Mercury 2.5 Preview has the lower output price; Mercury 2.5 Preview offers the larger context window. For the 1M input plus 500K output sample, Mercury 2.5 Preview is cheaper for the standard workload.
For a 1M input token plus 500K output token workload, the estimated API cost is $1.05 for Command A+ and $0.57 for Mercury 2.5 Preview.
Choose Command A+ when its provider, model quality, latency, or availability is more important than the numeric price/context winner.
Choose Mercury 2.5 Preview when you care most about lower input-token price, lower output-token price, and larger context window.
- On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, Mercury 2.5 Preview is estimated at $0.57 vs $1.05 for Command A+, saving $0.48 (45.2% lower).
- Mercury 2.5 Preview is $0.48 cheaper on the standard workload (45.2% lower).
- Mercury 2.5 Preview is $0.1 cheaper per 1M input tokens (33.3% lower; 1.5x difference).
- Mercury 2.5 Preview is $0.75 cheaper per 1M output tokens (50% lower; 2x difference).
- Mercury 2.5 Preview has 68K more context (1.35x larger).
| Feature | NewCommand A+ (Cohere) | Mercury 2.5 Preview (Inception) |
|---|---|---|
| Input Price prompt tokens per 1M | $0.3 | $0.2 |
| Completion Price per 1M tokens | $1.5 | $0.75 |
| Sample Workload Cost 1M input + 500K output | $1.05 | $0.57 |
| Context Window | 192K | 260K |
| Release Date |
Use-Case Decision Matrix
| Use case | Better pick | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Budget-constrained production | Mercury 2.5 Preview | On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, Mercury 2.5 Preview is estimated at $0.57 vs $1.05 for Command A+, saving $0.48 (45.2% lower). |
| High-volume input processing | Mercury 2.5 Preview | Lower prompt-token price matters most when prompts, retrieved passages, or documents dominate the bill. |
| Long responses and chatbots | Mercury 2.5 Preview | Lower output-token price matters most when assistants generate many completion tokens. |
| RAG or long-document work | Mercury 2.5 Preview | A larger context window leaves more room for retrieved passages, conversation history, or source files. |
Related Alternatives
- North Mini Code (free) can replace Command A+ when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.
- Command R7B (12-2024) can replace Command A+ when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.11.
- Command R (08-2024) can replace Command A+ when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.45.
- Mercury 2.5 can replace Mercury 2.5 Preview when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.11.
- GLM 5.3 Flash offers 1.31M context with $0.4 sample workload cost.
- DeepSeek V4 Flash 0731 offers 1.31M context with $0.36 sample workload cost.
- GLM Flash Latest offers 1.31M context with $0.2 sample workload cost.
- DeepSeek V4 Flash Latest offers 1.31M context with $0.43 sample workload cost.
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- DeepSeek V4.1 Flash · DeepSeek · #3
- GLM 5.3 Flash · Z.ai · #4
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