Mercury 2.5 Preview is $0.96 cheaper per 1M input tokens (96% lower; 25x difference).
API cost decision in 10 seconds
NewMercury 2.5 Preview vs GPT-5.6 Sol (batch)
Pick Mercury 2.5 Preview for lower cost; pick GPT-5.6 Sol (batch) 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 GPT-5.6 Sol (batch) 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 $3.5 for GPT-5.6 Sol (batch), saving $3.38 (96.7% lower).
Cost-first pickMercury 2.5 Preview
Context-first pickGPT-5.6 Sol (batch)
Sample savings$3.3896.7%
10x traffic gap$33.85
GPT-5.6 Sol (batch) has more context, but Mercury 2.5 Preview saves $3.38 on the standard workload. At 10x that traffic, the same price gap is about $33.85. 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 | GPT-5.6 Sol (batch) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Input-heavy / RAG | 5M input + 500K output | Mercury 2.5 Preview | $0.28 | $7.5 |
| Balanced workload | 1M input + 1M output | Mercury 2.5 Preview | $0.19 | $6 |
| Output-heavy chatbot | 1M input + 5M output | Mercury 2.5 Preview | $0.79 | $26 |
Mercury 2.5 Preview is $4.85 cheaper per 1M output tokens (97% lower; 33.3x difference).
GPT-5.6 Sol (batch) has 790K more context (4.04x larger).
Mercury 2.5 Preview is $3.38 cheaper on the standard workload (96.7% 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; GPT-5.6 Sol (batch) 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 $3.5 for GPT-5.6 Sol (batch).
Choose Mercury 2.5 Preview when you care most about lower input-token price, and lower output-token price.
Choose GPT-5.6 Sol (batch) 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 $3.5 for GPT-5.6 Sol (batch), saving $3.38 (96.7% lower).
- Mercury 2.5 Preview is $3.38 cheaper on the standard workload (96.7% lower).
- Mercury 2.5 Preview is $0.96 cheaper per 1M input tokens (96% lower; 25x difference).
- Mercury 2.5 Preview is $4.85 cheaper per 1M output tokens (97% lower; 33.3x difference).
- GPT-5.6 Sol (batch) has 790K more context (4.04x larger).
| Feature | NewMercury 2.5 Preview (Inception) | GPT-5.6 Sol (batch) (OpenAI) |
|---|---|---|
| Input Price prompt tokens per 1M | $0.04 | $1 |
| Completion Price per 1M tokens | $0.15 | $5 |
| Sample Workload Cost 1M input + 500K output | $0.11 | $3.5 |
| Context Window | 260K | 1.05M |
| 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 $3.5 for GPT-5.6 Sol (batch), saving $3.38 (96.7% 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 | GPT-5.6 Sol (batch) | A larger context window leaves more room for retrieved passages, conversation history, or source files. |
Related Alternatives
- gpt-oss-120b (free) can replace GPT-5.6 Sol (batch) when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.
- gpt-oss-20b (free) can replace GPT-5.6 Sol (batch) when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.
- gpt-oss-20b can replace GPT-5.6 Sol (batch) when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.1.
- gpt-oss-120b can replace GPT-5.6 Sol (batch) when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.12.
- Grok 4.20 Multi-Agent offers 2M context with $2.5 sample workload cost.
- Grok 4.20 offers 2M context with $2.5 sample workload cost.
- 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 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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