Mercury 2.5 is $0.93 cheaper per 1M input tokens (95.9% lower; 24.1x difference).
API cost decision in 10 seconds
NewMercury 2.5 vs GLM 5.2
Pick Mercury 2.5 for lower cost; pick GLM 5.2 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 for lower cost; pick GLM 5.2 only if the larger context window matters more.
On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, Mercury 2.5 is estimated at $0.11 vs $2.48 for GLM 5.2, saving $2.37 (95.4% lower).
Cost-first pickMercury 2.5
Context-first pickGLM 5.2
Sample savings$2.3795.4%
10x traffic gap$23.69
GLM 5.2 has more context, but Mercury 2.5 saves $2.37 on the standard workload. At 10x that traffic, the same price gap is about $23.69. Use the calculator below to replace the sample workload with your own token volume.
Cost sensitivity
Workload Sensitivity
Mercury 2.5 stays cheaper across input-heavy, balanced, and output-heavy sample workloads.
| Workload shape | Token mix | Better pick | Mercury 2.5 | GLM 5.2 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Input-heavy / RAG | 5M input + 500K output | Mercury 2.5 | $0.28 | $6.35 |
| Balanced workload | 1M input + 1M output | Mercury 2.5 | $0.19 | $4 |
| Output-heavy chatbot | 1M input + 5M output | Mercury 2.5 | $0.79 | $16.15 |
Mercury 2.5 is $2.89 cheaper per 1M output tokens (95.1% lower; 20.2x difference).
GLM 5.2 has 788.58K more context (4.03x larger).
Mercury 2.5 is $2.37 cheaper on the standard workload (95.4% 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 has the lower input price; Mercury 2.5 has the lower output price; GLM 5.2 offers the larger context window. For the 1M input plus 500K output sample, Mercury 2.5 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 and $2.48 for GLM 5.2.
Choose Mercury 2.5 when you care most about lower input-token price, and lower output-token price.
Choose GLM 5.2 when you care most about larger context window.
- On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, Mercury 2.5 is estimated at $0.11 vs $2.48 for GLM 5.2, saving $2.37 (95.4% lower).
- Mercury 2.5 is $2.37 cheaper on the standard workload (95.4% lower).
- Mercury 2.5 is $0.93 cheaper per 1M input tokens (95.9% lower; 24.1x difference).
- Mercury 2.5 is $2.89 cheaper per 1M output tokens (95.1% lower; 20.2x difference).
- GLM 5.2 has 788.58K more context (4.03x larger).
| Feature | NewMercury 2.5 (Inception) | GLM 5.2 (Z.ai) |
|---|---|---|
| Input Price prompt tokens per 1M | $0.04 | $0.966 |
| Completion Price per 1M tokens | $0.15 | $3.036 |
| Sample Workload Cost 1M input + 500K output | $0.11 | $2.48 |
| Context Window | 260K | 1.05M |
| Release Date |
Use-Case Decision Matrix
| Use case | Better pick | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Budget-constrained production | Mercury 2.5 | On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, Mercury 2.5 is estimated at $0.11 vs $2.48 for GLM 5.2, saving $2.37 (95.4% lower). |
| High-volume input processing | Mercury 2.5 | Lower prompt-token price matters most when prompts, retrieved passages, or documents dominate the bill. |
| Long responses and chatbots | Mercury 2.5 | Lower output-token price matters most when assistants generate many completion tokens. |
| RAG or long-document work | GLM 5.2 | A larger context window leaves more room for retrieved passages, conversation history, or source files. |
Related Alternatives
- GLM 5.2 (free) can replace GLM 5.2 when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.
- GLM 4.5 Air (free) can replace GLM 5.2 when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.
- GLM 4 32B can replace GLM 5.2 when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.15.
- GLM 5.3 Flash can replace GLM 5.2 when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.2.
- 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.
- Hy4 preview · Tencent · #1
- GPT-5.6 Luna · OpenAI · #2
- DeepSeek V4 Flash 0731 · DeepSeek · #3
- GLM 5.3 Flash · Z.ai · #4
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