Mercury 2.5 Preview is $0.46 cheaper per 1M input tokens (92% lower; 12.5x difference).
API cost decision in 10 seconds
NewMercury 2.5 Preview vs NewSeed 2.1 Turbo
Pick Mercury 2.5 Preview for lower cost; pick Seed 2.1 Turbo only if the larger context window matters more.
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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 for lower cost; pick Seed 2.1 Turbo only if the larger context window matters more.
On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, Mercury 2.5 Preview is estimated at $0.11 vs $1.75 for Seed 2.1 Turbo, saving $1.64 (93.4% lower).
Cost-first pickMercury 2.5 Preview
Context-first pickSeed 2.1 Turbo
Sample savings$1.6493.4%
10x traffic gap$16.35
Seed 2.1 Turbo has more context, but Mercury 2.5 Preview saves $1.64 on the standard workload. At 10x that traffic, the same price gap is about $16.35. 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 | Mercury 2.5 Preview | Seed 2.1 Turbo |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Input-heavy / RAG | 5M input + 500K output | Mercury 2.5 Preview | $0.28 | $3.75 |
| Balanced workload | 1M input + 1M output | Mercury 2.5 Preview | $0.19 | $3 |
| Output-heavy chatbot | 1M input + 5M output | Mercury 2.5 Preview | $0.79 | $13 |
Mercury 2.5 Preview is $2.35 cheaper per 1M output tokens (94% lower; 16.7x difference).
Seed 2.1 Turbo has 2.14K more context (1.01x larger).
Mercury 2.5 Preview is $1.64 cheaper on the standard workload (93.4% 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; Seed 2.1 Turbo 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 $0.11 for Mercury 2.5 Preview and $1.75 for Seed 2.1 Turbo.
Choose Mercury 2.5 Preview when you care most about lower input-token price, and lower output-token price.
Choose Seed 2.1 Turbo when you care most about larger context window.
- On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, Mercury 2.5 Preview is estimated at $0.11 vs $1.75 for Seed 2.1 Turbo, saving $1.64 (93.4% lower).
- Mercury 2.5 Preview is $1.64 cheaper on the standard workload (93.4% lower).
- Mercury 2.5 Preview is $0.46 cheaper per 1M input tokens (92% lower; 12.5x difference).
- Mercury 2.5 Preview is $2.35 cheaper per 1M output tokens (94% lower; 16.7x difference).
- Seed 2.1 Turbo has 2.14K more context (1.01x larger).
| Feature | NewMercury 2.5 Preview (Inception) | NewSeed 2.1 Turbo (ByteDance Seed) |
|---|---|---|
| Input Price prompt tokens per 1M | $0.04 | $0.5 |
| Completion Price per 1M tokens | $0.15 | $2.5 |
| Sample Workload Cost 1M input + 500K output | $0.11 | $1.75 |
| Context Window | 260K | 262.14K |
| 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 $0.11 vs $1.75 for Seed 2.1 Turbo, saving $1.64 (93.4% 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 | Seed 2.1 Turbo | A larger context window leaves more room for retrieved passages, conversation history, or source files. |
Related Alternatives
- Seed 1.6 Flash can replace Seed 2.1 Turbo when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.22.
- Seed-2.0-Mini can replace Seed 2.1 Turbo when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.3.
- Seed-2.0-Lite can replace Seed 2.1 Turbo when lower sample workload cost matters most: $1.25.
- Seed 1.6 can replace Seed 2.1 Turbo when lower sample workload cost matters most: $1.25.
- DeepSeek V4 Flash 0731 offers 1.31M context with $0.15 sample workload cost.
- GLM 5.3 Flash offers 1.31M context with $0.2 sample workload cost.
- DeepSeek V4 Flash Latest offers 1.31M context with $0.1 sample workload cost.
- Llama 4 Scout offers 1.31M context with $0.25 sample workload cost.
- DeepSeek V4 Flash 0731 · DeepSeek · #1
- GPT-5.6 Luna · OpenAI · #2
- GLM 5.3 Flash · Z.ai · #3
- MiMo-V2.5 · Xiaomi · #4
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