Mercury 3 is $0.04 cheaper per 1M input tokens (28.6% lower; 1.4x difference).
API cost decision in 10 seconds
🔥MiMo-V2.6-Flash vs NewMercury 3
Pick Mercury 3 for lower cost; pick MiMo-V2.6-Flash 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 3 for lower cost; pick MiMo-V2.6-Flash only if the larger context window matters more.
On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, Mercury 3 is estimated at $0.28 vs $0.28 for MiMo-V2.6-Flash, saving $0.005 (1.8% lower).
Cost-first pickMercury 3
Context-first pickMiMo-V2.6-Flash
Sample savings$0.0051.8%
10x traffic gap$0.05
MiMo-V2.6-Flash has more context, but Mercury 3 saves $0.005 on the standard workload. At 10x that traffic, the same price gap is about $0.05. 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 3, balanced workload favors MiMo-V2.6-Flash, and output-heavy chatbot favors MiMo-V2.6-Flash.
| Workload shape | Token mix | Better pick | MiMo-V2.6-Flash | Mercury 3 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Input-heavy / RAG | 5M input + 500K output | Mercury 3 | $0.84 | $0.68 |
| Balanced workload | 1M input + 1M output | MiMo-V2.6-Flash | $0.42 | $0.45 |
| Output-heavy chatbot | 1M input + 5M output | MiMo-V2.6-Flash | $1.54 | $1.85 |
MiMo-V2.6-Flash is $0.07 cheaper per 1M output tokens (20% lower; 1.25x difference).
MiMo-V2.6-Flash has 50K more context (1.05x larger).
Mercury 3 is $0.005 cheaper on the standard workload (1.8% 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 3 has the lower input price; MiMo-V2.6-Flash has the lower output price; MiMo-V2.6-Flash offers the larger context window. For the 1M input plus 500K output sample, Mercury 3 is cheaper for the standard workload.
For a 1M input token plus 500K output token workload, the estimated API cost is $0.28 for MiMo-V2.6-Flash and $0.28 for Mercury 3.
Choose MiMo-V2.6-Flash when you care most about lower output-token price, and larger context window.
Choose Mercury 3 when you care most about lower input-token price.
- On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, Mercury 3 is estimated at $0.28 vs $0.28 for MiMo-V2.6-Flash, saving $0.005 (1.8% lower).
- Mercury 3 is $0.005 cheaper on the standard workload (1.8% lower).
- Mercury 3 is $0.04 cheaper per 1M input tokens (28.6% lower; 1.4x difference).
- MiMo-V2.6-Flash is $0.07 cheaper per 1M output tokens (20% lower; 1.25x difference).
- MiMo-V2.6-Flash has 50K more context (1.05x larger).
| Feature | 🔥MiMo-V2.6-Flash (Xiaomi) | NewMercury 3 (Inception) |
|---|---|---|
| Input Price prompt tokens per 1M | $0.14 | $0.1 |
| Completion Price per 1M tokens | $0.28 | $0.35 |
| Sample Workload Cost 1M input + 500K output | $0.28 | $0.28 |
| Context Window | 1.05M | 1M |
| Release Date | ||
| Popularity | #4 |
Use-Case Decision Matrix
| Use case | Better pick | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Budget-constrained production | Mercury 3 | On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, Mercury 3 is estimated at $0.28 vs $0.28 for MiMo-V2.6-Flash, saving $0.005 (1.8% lower). |
| High-volume input processing | Mercury 3 | Lower prompt-token price matters most when prompts, retrieved passages, or documents dominate the bill. |
| Long responses and chatbots | MiMo-V2.6-Flash | Lower output-token price matters most when assistants generate many completion tokens. |
| RAG or long-document work | MiMo-V2.6-Flash | A larger context window leaves more room for retrieved passages, conversation history, or source files. |
Related Alternatives
- MiMo-V2-Flash can replace MiMo-V2.6-Flash when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.25.
- Mercury 2.5 can replace Mercury 3 when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.11.
- Llama 4 Scout offers 1.31M context with $0.25 sample workload cost.
- DeepSeek V4.1 Flash · DeepSeek · #1
- GLM 5.3 Flash · Z.ai · #2
- Step 5 Preview · StepFun · #3
- Hy4 preview · Tencent · #5
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Open Inception modelsMiMo-V2.6-Flash is an open-source foundation model developed by Xiaomi. Built on a Mixture-of-Experts architecture with 309B total parameters and 15B activated per token, it employs a hybrid attention mechanism for...
Mercury 3 is a diffusion-based language model from Inception, and the lab's most capable model to date. It is suited for agentic workflows and real-time applications where latency compounds, such...