Mercury 2 vs Hy3 preview
Updated October 21, 2026. 31 benchmarks have a result for both. Coding is ranked on the Vibe Coding Index; every other board is shown as published.
Decision reading
Pick Hy3 preview for coding: it scores 22.4 on the Vibe Coding Index against 0.0 for Mercury 2.
Pick Mercury 2 when the benchmark that matters is IFBench, where it leads.
- Shared results
- 31
- Mercury 2 only
- 11
- Hy3 preview only
- 5
- Like-for-like categories
- 6 of 9
Shared results can support a head-to-head reading. Results only one model has describe coverage, not superiority.
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, four public coding benchmarks
Hy3 preview
Hy3 preview scores 22.4 against 0.0.
One benchmark behind each score
Intelligence
AA Intelligence Index
Hy3 preview
Hy3 preview leads, 25.3 against 10.8.
Same board, both measured
Agentic work
AA Agentic Index
Hy3 preview
Hy3 preview leads, 24.1 against 1.6.
Same board, both measured
Web design
Design Arena: websites
No call
Only Mercury 2 has a Design Arena: websites result, 1036.
Directional only
Long documents
Listed context window
Hy3 preview
Hy3 preview takes 262K tokens against 128K.
Listed by OpenRouter
Everyday cost
1K input + 500 output tokens
Hy3 preview
Mercury 2 $0.0006, Hy3 preview $0.0005 per turn.
List prices
At a glance
- Coding index
- Mercury 2 0.0 from 1 benchmark, Hy3 preview 22.4 from 1 benchmark.
- Widest category
- Agentic work, 22.2 points apart on average over 2 shared benchmarks.
- Widest single gap
- LMArena WebDev: React: Mercury 2 1160 against Hy3 preview 1349, 31.5 points apart on a 0 to 100 scale.
- Output price
- Mercury 2 $0.75 against Hy3 preview $0.60 per million output tokens, 1.3x apart.
- Context window
- Mercury 2 takes 128K tokens, Hy3 preview 262K.
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.
| Category | Mercury 2 | Bars | Hy3 preview | Ties |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Coding | 0 | 7 | ||
| Intelligence | 0 | 1 | ||
| Agentic work | 0 | 2 | ||
| Reasoning | 0 | 5 | ||
| Knowledge | 0 | 3 | ||
| General | 1 | 12 | ||
| All shared boards | 1 | 30 |
CodingLike-for-likeFour of these boards feed the Vibe Coding Index07
| Benchmark | Mercury 2 | Hy3 preview | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| LMArena WebDev | 1171 | 1357 | Hy3 preview |
| AA Coding Index | 31.1 | 58.8 | Hy3 preview |
| SciCode | 37.7% | Not measured | Only Mercury 2 measured |
| Terminal-Bench Hard (Artificial Analysis run) | 26.5% | 34.1% | Hy3 preview |
| WeirdML | 43.2% | Not measured | Only Mercury 2 measured |
| ALE-Bench | 785.6 | Not measured | Only Mercury 2 measured |
| LMArena Text: coding | 1390 | 1421 | Hy3 preview |
| LMArena Text: software and IT | 1385 | 1423 | Hy3 preview |
| LMArena WebDev: React | 1160 | 1349 | Hy3 preview |
| LMArena WebDev: HTML | 1199 | 1356 | Hy3 preview |
| Neither model has a result on the other 28 boards here | |||
IntelligenceLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index01
| Benchmark | Mercury 2 | Hy3 preview | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| AA Intelligence Index | 10.8 | 25.3 | Hy3 preview |
| Neither model has a result on the other 1 board here | |||
Agentic workLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index02
| Benchmark | Mercury 2 | Hy3 preview | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| AA Agentic Index | 1.6 | 24.1 | Hy3 preview |
| τ²-Bench Telecom | 70.8% | 92.7% | Hy3 preview |
| Neither model has a result on the other 37 boards here | |||
ReasoningLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index05
| Benchmark | Mercury 2 | Hy3 preview | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| GPQA Diamond (Artificial Analysis run) | 77.0% | 86.7% | Hy3 preview |
| Humanity's Last Exam (Artificial Analysis run) | 17.1% | 27.8% | Hy3 preview |
| LMArena Text: hard prompts | 1362 | 1413 | Hy3 preview |
| LMArena Text: expert | 1358 | 1422 | Hy3 preview |
| LMArena Text: hard prompts in English | 1374 | 1416 | Hy3 preview |
| Neither model has a result on the other 16 boards here | |||
MathDirectional onlyPublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index2 boards, none shared
| Benchmark | Mercury 2 | Hy3 preview | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| LMArena Text: math | Not measured | 1424 | Only Hy3 preview measured |
| LMArena Text: mathematical work | Not measured | 1442 | Only Hy3 preview measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 11 boards here | |||
KnowledgeLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index03
| Benchmark | Mercury 2 | Hy3 preview | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| LMArena Text: science | 1343 | 1416 | Hy3 preview |
| LMArena Text: medicine and healthcare | 1363 | 1405 | Hy3 preview |
| LMArena Text: legal and government | Not measured | 1430 | Only Hy3 preview measured |
| LMArena Text: business and finance | 1349 | 1397 | Hy3 preview |
| Neither model has a result on the other 13 boards here | |||
Web designDirectional onlyPublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index8 boards, none shared
| Benchmark | Mercury 2 | Hy3 preview | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| Design Arena: websites | 1036 | Not measured | Only Mercury 2 measured |
| Design Arena: UI components | 998 | Not measured | Only Mercury 2 measured |
| Design Arena: game dev | 985 | Not measured | Only Mercury 2 measured |
| Design Arena: data viz | 1009 | Not measured | Only Mercury 2 measured |
| Design Arena: 3D | 982 | Not measured | Only Mercury 2 measured |
| Design Arena: all code categories | 1022 | Not measured | Only Mercury 2 measured |
| Design Arena: SVG | 998 | Not measured | Only Mercury 2 measured |
| Design Arena: ASCII art | 990 | Not measured | Only Mercury 2 measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 1 board here | |||
GeneralLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index112
| Benchmark | Mercury 2 | Hy3 preview | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| IFBench | 69.8% | 63.1% | Mercury 2 |
| Long context reasoning (AA-LCR) | 43.7% | 64.7% | Hy3 preview |
| LMArena Text | 1354 | 1401 | Hy3 preview |
| LMArena Text: instruction following | 1328 | 1383 | Hy3 preview |
| LMArena Text: creative writing | 1286 | 1339 | Hy3 preview |
| LMArena Text: English | 1378 | 1409 | Hy3 preview |
| LMArena Text: non-English | 1330 | 1390 | Hy3 preview |
| LMArena Text: Chinese | 1414 | 1435 | Hy3 preview |
| LMArena Text: French | Not measured | 1425 | Only Hy3 preview measured |
| LMArena Text: Spanish | Not measured | 1399 | Only Hy3 preview measured |
| LMArena Text: Russian | 1304 | 1399 | Hy3 preview |
| LMArena Text: multi-turn | 1357 | 1411 | Hy3 preview |
| LMArena Text: longer queries | 1329 | 1402 | Hy3 preview |
| LMArena Text: writing and language | 1300 | 1370 | Hy3 preview |
| LMArena Text: entertainment and media | 1314 | 1352 | Hy3 preview |
| Neither model has a result on the other 31 boards here | |||
Image generationNot comparablePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index0 boards, none shared
| Benchmark | Mercury 2 | Hy3 preview | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| 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
Hy3 preview costs less
Repository review
50K input + 3K output tokens
Hy3 preview costs less
Agent loop
200K input + 10K output tokens
Hy3 preview 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 | Tencent Hy3 preview |
|---|---|---|
| Maker | Inception | Tencent |
| Weights | No public weights listed | Open weights |
| Released | March 4, 2026 | April 22, 2026 |
| Context window | 128K | 262K |
| Input $/Mtok | $0.25 | $0.18 |
| Output $/Mtok | $0.75 | $0.60 |
| Coding index | 0.0 | 22.4 |
| Independent measurements behind it | 1 | 1 |
| Cost per solved task | Not computable | Not computable |
| Source | OpenRouter listing | OpenRouter listing |
Questions
Is Mercury 2 better than Hy3 preview for coding?
Pick Hy3 preview for coding: it scores 22.4 on the Vibe Coding Index against 0.0 for Mercury 2. Pick Mercury 2 when the benchmark that matters is IFBench, where it leads.
Which is cheaper, Mercury 2 or Hy3 preview?
Mercury 2 costs $0.25 per million input tokens and $0.75 per million output tokens; Hy3 preview costs $0.18 and $0.60. Cost per solved task is known for neither of them.
Which has the bigger context window, Mercury 2 or Hy3 preview?
Hy3 preview, with 262K tokens against 128K.
How many benchmarks is the Mercury 2 vs Hy3 preview comparison based on?
31 benchmarks have a result for both models as of October 21, 2026. Mercury 2's coding index rests on 1 independent benchmark and Hy3 preview's on 1. Where only one model has a result, the page says so instead of naming a winner.