Mercury 2.5 vs Palmyra X5
Mercury 2.5 costs 40.0x less per output token than Palmyra X5 ($0.15 vs $6.00 per million). Updated October 22, 2026; no benchmark has tested both models yet.
- Coding
- 1.6
- Overall
- No data
- Output $/M
- $0.15
- Coding
- No data
- Overall
- No data
- Output $/M
- $6.00
Mercury 2.5 or Palmyra X5: which to pick
Only Mercury 2.5 has a coding score, 1.6 on the Vibe Coding Index; Palmyra X5 has none, so the two cannot be ranked on coding.
Pick Palmyra X5 for a larger context window (1.04M against 260K tokens).
No benchmark has tested both yet. Mercury 2.5 has results on Terminal-Bench 4 (Vals AI), Vibe Code Bench (Vals AI) and Code migration (Vals AI); Palmyra X5 has none yet. Compare them on price and context instead.
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.
Coding
Vibe Coding Index, six public coding benchmarks
No call
Only Mercury 2.5 has a coding score, so no call is made.
One side not measured
Intelligence
AA Intelligence Index
No call
Only Mercury 2.5 has a AA Intelligence Index result, 12.3.
Directional only
Long documents
Listed context window
Palmyra X5
Palmyra X5 takes 1.04M tokens against 260K.
Listed by OpenRouter
Everyday cost
1K input + 500 output tokens
Mercury 2.5
Mercury 2.5 $0.0001, Palmyra X5 $0.0036 per turn.
List prices
At a glance
- Coding index
- Mercury 2.5 1.6 from 2 benchmarks, Palmyra X5 not benchmarked.
- Widest category
- None yet: no category has been tested on both models.
- Widest single gap
- None yet: no benchmark has tested both models.
- Output price
- Mercury 2.5 $0.15 against Palmyra X5 $6.00 per million output tokens, 40.0x apart.
- Context window
- Mercury 2.5 takes 260K tokens, Palmyra X5 1.04M.
Benchmark by benchmark
Every board either model has a result on, a category to a fold; bars are each result on a 0 to 100 scale. Only one model is measured on each, so no row names a leader.
CodingDirectional onlySix of these boards feed the Vibe Coding Index9 boards measured
| Benchmark | Mercury 2.5 | Palmyra X5 | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| Terminal-Bench 4 (Vals AI) | 0.0% | Not measured | Only Mercury 2.5 measured |
| Vibe Code Bench (Vals AI) | 3.7% | Not measured | Only Mercury 2.5 measured |
| Code migration (Vals AI) | 4.5% | Not measured | Only Mercury 2.5 measured |
| IOI (Vals AI) | 2.4% | Not measured | Only Mercury 2.5 measured |
| Terminal-Bench 2.1 (Vals AI) | 34.5% | Not measured | Only Mercury 2.5 measured |
| SkillsBench (Vals AI) | 18.1% | Not measured | Only Mercury 2.5 measured |
| CyberBench (Vals AI) | 45.5% | Not measured | Only Mercury 2.5 measured |
| SciCode | 38.5% | Not measured | Only Mercury 2.5 measured |
| ALE-Bench | 301.6 | Not measured | Only Mercury 2.5 measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 30 boards here | |||
IntelligenceDirectional onlyPublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index1 board measured
| Benchmark | Mercury 2.5 | Palmyra X5 | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| AA Intelligence Index | 12.3 | Not measured | Only Mercury 2.5 measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 1 board here | |||
Agentic workDirectional onlyPublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index5 boards measured
| Benchmark | Mercury 2.5 | Palmyra X5 | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| Finance Agent (Vals AI) | 18.9% | Not measured | Only Mercury 2.5 measured |
| Tax Agent Bench (Vals AI) | 2.5% | Not measured | Only Mercury 2.5 measured |
| Legal Research Bench (Vals AI) | 4.3% | Not measured | Only Mercury 2.5 measured |
| Excel Modeling Benchmark (Vals AI) | 8.8% | Not measured | Only Mercury 2.5 measured |
| Terminal-Bench-Science (Vals AI) | 0.0% | Not measured | Only Mercury 2.5 measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 36 boards here | |||
ReasoningDirectional onlyPublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index1 board measured
| Benchmark | Mercury 2.5 | Palmyra X5 | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| Humanity's Last Exam (Artificial Analysis run) | 11.8% | Not measured | Only Mercury 2.5 measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 21 boards here | |||
MathDirectional onlyPublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index1 board measured
| Benchmark | Mercury 2.5 | Palmyra X5 | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| ProofBench | 3.0% | Not measured | Only Mercury 2.5 measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 12 boards here | |||
KnowledgeDirectional onlyPublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index2 boards measured
| Benchmark | Mercury 2.5 | Palmyra X5 | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| LegalBench (Vals AI) | 83.1% | Not measured | Only Mercury 2.5 measured |
| MedCode (Vals AI) | 31.3% | Not measured | Only Mercury 2.5 measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 16 boards here | |||
GeneralDirectional onlyPublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index3 boards measured
| Benchmark | Mercury 2.5 | Palmyra X5 | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| Public Benefits Bench (Vals AI) | 45.3% | Not measured | Only Mercury 2.5 measured |
| MedScribe (Vals AI) | 55.1% | Not measured | Only Mercury 2.5 measured |
| Long context reasoning (AA-LCR) | 71.7% | Not measured | Only Mercury 2.5 measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 43 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
Mercury 2.5 costs less
Repository review
50K input + 3K output tokens
Mercury 2.5 costs less
Agent loop
200K input + 10K output tokens
Mercury 2.5 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.
| Specification | Inception Mercury 2.5 | Writer Palmyra X5 |
|---|---|---|
| Maker | Inception | Writer |
| Weights | No public weights listed | No public weights listed |
| Released | September 8, 2026 | January 21, 2026 |
| Context window | 260K | 1.04M |
| Input $/Mtok | $0.04 | $0.60 |
| Output $/Mtok | $0.15 | $6.00 |
| Coding index | 1.6 | Not benchmarked |
| Independent measurements behind it | 2 | 0 |
| Cost per solved task | Not computable | Not computable |
| Source | OpenRouter listing | OpenRouter listing |
Questions
Is Mercury 2.5 better than Palmyra X5 for coding?
Only Mercury 2.5 has a coding score, 1.6 on the Vibe Coding Index; Palmyra X5 has none, so the two cannot be ranked on coding. Pick Palmyra X5 for a larger context window (1.04M against 260K tokens).
Which is cheaper, Mercury 2.5 or Palmyra X5?
Mercury 2.5 costs $0.04 per million input tokens and $0.15 per million output tokens; Palmyra X5 costs $0.60 and $6.00. Cost per solved task is known for neither of them.
Which has the bigger context window, Mercury 2.5 or Palmyra X5?
Palmyra X5, with 1.04M tokens against 260K.
Has any benchmark tested both Mercury 2.5 and Palmyra X5?
No benchmark has tested both yet. Mercury 2.5 has results on Terminal-Bench 4 (Vals AI), Vibe Code Bench (Vals AI) and Code migration (Vals AI); Palmyra X5 has none yet. Compare them on price and context instead. Data as of October 22, 2026.