Mercury 2.5 Preview is $0.15 cheaper per 1M input tokens (42.9% lower; 1.75x difference).
API cost decision in 10 seconds
Mercury 2.5 Preview vs LFM2.5-2.6B
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 $0.6 for LFM2.5-2.6B, saving $0.03 (4.2% lower).
Cost-first pickMercury 2.5 Preview
Context-first pickMercury 2.5 Preview
Sample savings$0.034.2%
10x traffic gap$0.25
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 $0.25. Use the calculator below to replace the sample workload with your own token volume.
Cost sensitivity
Workload Sensitivity
Cost winner changes by workload shape: input-heavy / RAG favors Mercury 2.5 Preview, balanced workload favors LFM2.5-2.6B, and output-heavy chatbot favors LFM2.5-2.6B.
| Workload shape | Token mix | Better pick | Mercury 2.5 Preview | LFM2.5-2.6B |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Input-heavy / RAG | 5M input + 500K output | Mercury 2.5 Preview | $1.38 | $2 |
| Balanced workload | 1M input + 1M output | LFM2.5-2.6B | $0.95 | $0.85 |
| Output-heavy chatbot | 1M input + 5M output | LFM2.5-2.6B | $3.95 | $2.85 |
LFM2.5-2.6B is $0.25 cheaper per 1M output tokens (33.3% lower; 1.5x difference).
Mercury 2.5 Preview has 132K more context (2.03x larger).
Mercury 2.5 Preview is $0.03 cheaper on the standard workload (4.2% 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; LFM2.5-2.6B 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 $0.57 for Mercury 2.5 Preview and $0.6 for LFM2.5-2.6B.
Choose Mercury 2.5 Preview when you care most about lower input-token price, and larger context window.
Choose LFM2.5-2.6B when you care most about lower output-token price.
- On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, Mercury 2.5 Preview is estimated at $0.57 vs $0.6 for LFM2.5-2.6B, saving $0.03 (4.2% lower).
- Mercury 2.5 Preview is $0.03 cheaper on the standard workload (4.2% lower).
- Mercury 2.5 Preview is $0.15 cheaper per 1M input tokens (42.9% lower; 1.75x difference).
- LFM2.5-2.6B is $0.25 cheaper per 1M output tokens (33.3% lower; 1.5x difference).
- Mercury 2.5 Preview has 132K more context (2.03x larger).
| Feature | Mercury 2.5 Preview (Inception) | LFM2.5-2.6B (LiquidAI) |
|---|---|---|
| Input Price prompt tokens per 1M | $0.2 | $0.35 |
| Completion Price per 1M tokens | $0.75 | $0.5 |
| Sample Workload Cost 1M input + 500K output | $0.57 | $0.6 |
| Context Window | 260K | 128K |
| 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 $0.6 for LFM2.5-2.6B, saving $0.03 (4.2% 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 | LFM2.5-2.6B | 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
- Mercury 2.5 can replace Mercury 2.5 Preview when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.11.
- Mercury 3 can replace Mercury 2.5 Preview when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.28.
- LFM2.5-2.6B (free) can replace LFM2.5-2.6B when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.
- LFM2.5-1.2B-Thinking (free) can replace LFM2.5-2.6B when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.
- Llama 4 Scout offers 1.31M context with $0.25 sample workload cost.
- MiMo-V2.6-Flash offers 1.05M context with $0.28 sample workload cost.
- GPT-6 Luna offers 1.05M context with $0.35 sample workload cost.
- GPT-6 Luna Pro offers 1.05M context with $0.35 sample workload cost.
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