Mercury 3 vs MiniMax M1
Mercury 3 costs 6.3x less per output token than MiniMax M1 ($0.35 vs $2.20 per million). Updated October 22, 2026; no benchmark has tested both models yet.
- Coding
- No data
- Overall
- No data
- Output $/M
- $0.35
- Coding
- No data
- Overall
- No data
- Output $/M
- $2.20
Mercury 3 or MiniMax M1: which to pick
Neither model has a coding score yet, so the two cannot be ranked on coding.
Pick Mercury 3 for output tokens 6.3x cheaper ($0.35 vs $2.20 per million).
No benchmark has tested both yet. Mercury 3 has results on Design Arena: websites, Design Arena: UI components and Design Arena: game dev; MiniMax M1 on LMArena Text: coding, LMArena Text: software and IT and AA Intelligence Index. 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
Neither has a coding score yet.
One side not measured
Intelligence
AA Intelligence Index
No call
Only MiniMax M1 has a AA Intelligence Index result, 11.7.
Directional only
Web design
Design Arena: websites
No call
Only Mercury 3 has a Design Arena: websites result, 1229.
Directional only
Long documents
Listed context window
No call
Both take 1M tokens.
Listed by OpenRouter
Everyday cost
1K input + 500 output tokens
Mercury 3
Mercury 3 $0.0003, MiniMax M1 $0.0015 per turn.
List prices
At a glance
- Coding index
- Mercury 3 not benchmarked, MiniMax M1 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 3 $0.35 against MiniMax M1 $2.20 per million output tokens, 6.3x apart.
- Context window
- Both take 1M tokens.
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 Index2 boards measured
| Benchmark | Mercury 3 | MiniMax M1 | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| LMArena Text: coding | Not measured | 1359 | Only MiniMax M1 measured |
| LMArena Text: software and IT | Not measured | 1359 | Only MiniMax M1 measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 41 boards here | |||
IntelligenceDirectional onlyPublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index1 board measured
| Benchmark | Mercury 3 | MiniMax M1 | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| AA Intelligence Index | Not measured | 11.7 | Only MiniMax M1 measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 1 board here | |||
ReasoningDirectional onlyPublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index3 boards measured
| Benchmark | Mercury 3 | MiniMax M1 | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| LMArena Text: hard prompts | Not measured | 1339 | Only MiniMax M1 measured |
| LMArena Text: expert | Not measured | 1317 | Only MiniMax M1 measured |
| LMArena Text: hard prompts in English | Not measured | 1353 | Only MiniMax M1 measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 20 boards here | |||
MathDirectional onlyPublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index2 boards measured
| Benchmark | Mercury 3 | MiniMax M1 | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| LMArena Text: math | Not measured | 1361 | Only MiniMax M1 measured |
| LMArena Text: mathematical work | Not measured | 1363 | Only MiniMax M1 measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 12 boards here | |||
KnowledgeDirectional onlyPublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index4 boards measured
| Benchmark | Mercury 3 | MiniMax M1 | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| LMArena Text: science | Not measured | 1354 | Only MiniMax M1 measured |
| LMArena Text: medicine and healthcare | Not measured | 1355 | Only MiniMax M1 measured |
| LMArena Text: legal and government | Not measured | 1337 | Only MiniMax M1 measured |
| LMArena Text: business and finance | Not measured | 1319 | Only MiniMax M1 measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 16 boards here | |||
Web designDirectional onlyPublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index5 boards measured
| Benchmark | Mercury 3 | MiniMax M1 | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| Design Arena: websites | 1229 | Not measured | Only Mercury 3 measured |
| Design Arena: UI components | 1247 | Not measured | Only Mercury 3 measured |
| Design Arena: game dev | 1225 | Not measured | Only Mercury 3 measured |
| Design Arena: data viz | 1205 | Not measured | Only Mercury 3 measured |
| Design Arena: all code categories | 1231 | Not measured | Only Mercury 3 measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 4 boards here | |||
GeneralDirectional onlyPublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index17 boards measured
| Benchmark | Mercury 3 | MiniMax M1 | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| LMArena Text | Not measured | 1343 | Only MiniMax M1 measured |
| LMArena Text: instruction following | Not measured | 1312 | Only MiniMax M1 measured |
| LMArena Text: creative writing | Not measured | 1297 | Only MiniMax M1 measured |
| LMArena Text: English | Not measured | 1363 | Only MiniMax M1 measured |
| LMArena Text: non-English | Not measured | 1319 | Only MiniMax M1 measured |
| LMArena Text: Chinese | Not measured | 1360 | Only MiniMax M1 measured |
| LMArena Text: German | Not measured | 1350 | Only MiniMax M1 measured |
| LMArena Text: Japanese | Not measured | 1217 | Only MiniMax M1 measured |
| LMArena Text: Korean | Not measured | 1266 | Only MiniMax M1 measured |
| LMArena Text: French | Not measured | 1370 | Only MiniMax M1 measured |
| LMArena Text: Spanish | Not measured | 1353 | Only MiniMax M1 measured |
| LMArena Text: Russian | Not measured | 1329 | Only MiniMax M1 measured |
| LMArena Text: Polish | Not measured | 1329 | Only MiniMax M1 measured |
| LMArena Text: multi-turn | Not measured | 1335 | Only MiniMax M1 measured |
| LMArena Text: longer queries | Not measured | 1326 | Only MiniMax M1 measured |
| LMArena Text: writing and language | Not measured | 1311 | Only MiniMax M1 measured |
| LMArena Text: entertainment and media | Not measured | 1303 | Only MiniMax M1 measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 31 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 3 costs less
Repository review
50K input + 3K output tokens
Mercury 3 costs less
Agent loop
200K input + 10K output tokens
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.
| Specification | Inception Mercury 3 | MiniMax M1 |
|---|---|---|
| Maker | Inception | MiniMax |
| Weights | No public weights listed | No public weights listed |
| Released | October 16, 2026 | June 17, 2025 |
| Context window | 1M | 1M |
| Input $/Mtok | $0.10 | $0.40 |
| Output $/Mtok | $0.35 | $2.20 |
| Coding index | Not benchmarked | Not benchmarked |
| Independent measurements behind it | 0 | 0 |
| Cost per solved task | Not computable | Not computable |
| Source | OpenRouter listing | OpenRouter listing |
Questions
Is Mercury 3 better than MiniMax M1 for coding?
Neither model has a coding score yet, so the two cannot be ranked on coding. Pick Mercury 3 for output tokens 6.3x cheaper ($0.35 vs $2.20 per million).
Which is cheaper, Mercury 3 or MiniMax M1?
Mercury 3 costs $0.10 per million input tokens and $0.35 per million output tokens; MiniMax M1 costs $0.40 and $2.20. Cost per solved task is known for neither of them.
Which has the bigger context window, Mercury 3 or MiniMax M1?
Neither: both take 1M tokens.
Has any benchmark tested both Mercury 3 and MiniMax M1?
No benchmark has tested both yet. Mercury 3 has results on Design Arena: websites, Design Arena: UI components and Design Arena: game dev; MiniMax M1 on LMArena Text: coding, LMArena Text: software and IT and AA Intelligence Index. Compare them on price and context instead. Data as of October 22, 2026.