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Codestral 2508 vs Mercury 3

Mercury 3 costs 2.6x less per output token than Codestral 2508 ($0.35 vs $0.90 per million). Updated October 21, 2026; 5 benchmarks have a result for both.

Replace Codestral 2508 Replace Mercury 3
Codestral 2508Mistral AI
Coding
No data
Overall
No data
Output $/M
$0.90
0
Mercury 3Inception
Coding
No data
Overall
No data
Output $/M
$0.35
5
vs boards won of 5 shared

Codestral 2508 or Mercury 3: which to pick

Neither model has a coding score yet, so the two cannot be ranked on coding.

Pick Codestral 2508 for work measured by Design Arena: websites or Design Arena: UI components, where it leads.

Model ACodestral 2508Mistral AINot benchmarkedNo coding benchmarkNo cost per solved taskModel BMercury 3InceptionNot benchmarkedNo coding benchmarkNo cost per solved task
Shared results
5
Codestral 2508 only
2
Mercury 3 only
0
Like-for-like categories
1 of 9

Only benchmarks that tested both models count toward a pick; a result only one model has is shown but not compared.

Which one for your work

Each card is decided by one number both models carry. Where only one has it, the card says so and makes no call.

At a glance

Coding index
Codestral 2508 not benchmarked, Mercury 3 not benchmarked.
Widest category
Web design, 29.1 points apart on average over 5 shared benchmarks.
Widest single gap
Design Arena: game dev: Codestral 2508 968 against Mercury 3 1227, 32.4 points apart on a 0 to 100 scale.
Output price
Codestral 2508 $0.90 against Mercury 3 $0.35 per million output tokens, 2.6x apart.
Context window
Codestral 2508 takes 256K tokens, Mercury 3 1M.

Benchmark by benchmark

First the score: boards each model leads, per category, where both have a result. Then every board, a category to a fold; bars are each result on a 0 to 100 scale, so compare the two in a row, not one row with another.

Boards won, where both have a result
CategoryCodestral 2508BarsMercury 3Ties
Web design05
All shared boards05
CodingDirectional onlySix of these boards feed the Vibe Coding Index1 board, none shared
Coding benchmarks for Codestral 2508 and Mercury 3
BenchmarkCodestral 2508Mercury 3Leader
ALE-Bench137.8Not measuredOnly Codestral 2508 measured
Neither model has a result on the other 37 boards here
IntelligenceNot comparablePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index0 boards, none shared
Intelligence benchmarks for Codestral 2508 and Mercury 3
BenchmarkCodestral 2508Mercury 3Leader
Neither model has a result on 2 boards here
Agentic workNot comparablePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index0 boards, none shared
Agentic work benchmarks for Codestral 2508 and Mercury 3
BenchmarkCodestral 2508Mercury 3Leader
Neither model has a result on 39 boards here
ReasoningNot comparablePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index0 boards, none shared
Reasoning benchmarks for Codestral 2508 and Mercury 3
BenchmarkCodestral 2508Mercury 3Leader
Neither model has a result on 21 boards here
MathNot comparablePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index0 boards, none shared
Math benchmarks for Codestral 2508 and Mercury 3
BenchmarkCodestral 2508Mercury 3Leader
Neither model has a result on 13 boards here
KnowledgeNot comparablePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index0 boards, none shared
Knowledge benchmarks for Codestral 2508 and Mercury 3
BenchmarkCodestral 2508Mercury 3Leader
Neither model has a result on 17 boards here
Web designLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index05
Web design benchmarks for Codestral 2508 and Mercury 3
BenchmarkCodestral 2508Mercury 3Leader
Design Arena: websites10131244Mercury 3
Design Arena: UI components10171270Mercury 3
Design Arena: game dev9681227Mercury 3
Design Arena: data viz10171207Mercury 3
Design Arena: 3D1020Not measuredOnly Codestral 2508 measured
Design Arena: all code categories10071240Mercury 3
Neither model has a result on the other 3 boards here
GeneralNot comparablePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index0 boards, none shared
General benchmarks for Codestral 2508 and Mercury 3
BenchmarkCodestral 2508Mercury 3Leader
Neither model has a result on 46 boards here
Image generationNot comparablePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index0 boards, none shared
Image generation benchmarks for Codestral 2508 and Mercury 3
BenchmarkCodestral 2508Mercury 3Leader
Neither model has a result on 5 boards here

What each workload costs

Three fixed token mixes at each model's listed price, so per-token rates become a bill.

Chat turn

1K input + 500 output tokens

Codestral 2508$0.0008Fits in one request
Mercury 3$0.0003Fits in one request

Mercury 3 costs less

Repository review

50K input + 3K output tokens

Codestral 2508$0.018Fits in one request
Mercury 3$0.0060Fits in one request

Mercury 3 costs less

Agent loop

200K input + 10K output tokens

Codestral 2508$0.069Fits in one request
Mercury 3$0.024Fits in one request

Mercury 3 costs less

Listed OpenRouter rates, without cache or batch discounts. A workload that does not fit a model's context window would need splitting.

Specification differences

The leading value in a row is marked; a row with a missing value names no leader. Our two rows are marked in red.

Specifications of Codestral 2508 and Mercury 3
SpecificationMistral Codestral 2508Inception Mercury 3
MakerMistral AIInception
WeightsNo public weights listedNo public weights listed
ReleasedAugust 1, 2025October 16, 2026
Context window256K1M
Input $/Mtok$0.30$0.10
Output $/Mtok$0.90$0.35
Coding indexNot benchmarkedNot benchmarked
Independent measurements behind it00
Cost per solved taskNot computableNot computable
SourceOpenRouter listingOpenRouter listing

Questions

Is Codestral 2508 better than Mercury 3 for coding?

Neither model has a coding score yet, so the two cannot be ranked on coding. Pick Codestral 2508 for work measured by Design Arena: websites or Design Arena: UI components, where it leads.

Which is cheaper, Codestral 2508 or Mercury 3?

Codestral 2508 costs $0.30 per million input tokens and $0.90 per million output tokens; Mercury 3 costs $0.10 and $0.35. Cost per solved task is known for neither of them.

Which has the bigger context window, Codestral 2508 or Mercury 3?

Mercury 3, with 1M tokens against 256K.

How many benchmarks is the Codestral 2508 vs Mercury 3 comparison based on?

5 benchmarks have a result for both models as of October 21, 2026. Codestral 2508's coding index rests on 0 independent benchmarks and Mercury 3's on 0. Where only one model has a result, the page says so instead of naming a winner.

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