Mercury 3 vs Ministral 3 14B 2512
Ministral 3 14B 2512 costs 1.7x less per output token than Mercury 3 ($0.20 vs $0.35 per million). Updated October 23, 2026; 3 benchmarks have a result for both.
Mercury 3 or Ministral 3 14B 2512: which to pick
Only Mercury 3 has a coding score, 29.3 on the Vibe Coding Index; Ministral 3 14B 2512 has none, so the two cannot be ranked on coding.
Pick Ministral 3 14B 2512 for output tokens 1.7x cheaper ($0.20 vs $0.35 per million).
- Shared results
- 3
- Mercury 3 only
- 9
- Ministral 3 14B 2512 only
- 4
- 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.
Coding
Vibe Coding Index, six public coding benchmarks
No call
Only Mercury 3 has a coding score, so no call is made.
One side not measured
Intelligence
AA Intelligence Index
No call
Only Ministral 3 14B 2512 has a AA Intelligence Index result, 6.0.
Directional only
Agentic work
AA Agentic Index
No call
Only Ministral 3 14B 2512 has a AA Agentic Index result, 1.1.
Directional only
Web design
Design Arena: websites
Mercury 3
Mercury 3 leads, 1226 against 1081.
Same board, both measured
General
Vals Index
No call
Only Mercury 3 has a Vals Index result, 43.7%.
Directional only
Long documents
Listed context window
Mercury 3
Mercury 3 takes 1M tokens against 262K.
Listed by OpenRouter
Everyday cost
1K input + 500 output tokens
Mercury 3
Mercury 3 $0.0003, Ministral 3 14B 2512 $0.0003 per turn.
List prices
At a glance
- Coding index
- Mercury 3 29.3 from 2 benchmarks, Ministral 3 14B 2512 not benchmarked.
- Widest category
- Web design, 20.9 points apart on average over 3 shared benchmarks.
- Widest single gap
- Design Arena: game dev: Mercury 3 1227 against Ministral 3 14B 2512 1037, 23.8 points apart on a 0 to 100 scale.
- Output price
- Mercury 3 $0.35 against Ministral 3 14B 2512 $0.20 per million output tokens, 1.7x apart.
- Context window
- Mercury 3 takes 1M tokens, Ministral 3 14B 2512 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 3 | Bars | Ministral 3 14B 2512 | Ties |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Web design | 3 | 0 | ||
| All shared boards | 3 | 0 |
CodingDirectional onlySix of these boards feed the Vibe Coding Index3 boards, none shared
| Benchmark | Mercury 3 | Ministral 3 14B 2512 | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| AA Coding Index | Not measured | 14.4 | Only Ministral 3 14B 2512 measured |
| Terminal-Bench 4 (Vals AI) | 3.0% | Not measured | Only Mercury 3 measured |
| Vibe Code Bench (Vals AI) | 60.9% | Not measured | Only Mercury 3 measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 40 boards here | |||
IntelligenceDirectional onlyPublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index1 board, none shared
| Benchmark | Mercury 3 | Ministral 3 14B 2512 | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| AA Intelligence Index | Not measured | 6.0 | Only Ministral 3 14B 2512 measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 1 board here | |||
Agentic workDirectional onlyPublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index4 boards, none shared
| Benchmark | Mercury 3 | Ministral 3 14B 2512 | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| AA Agentic Index | Not measured | 1.1 | Only Ministral 3 14B 2512 measured |
| Tax Agent Bench (Vals AI) | 18.2% | Not measured | Only Mercury 3 measured |
| Legal Research Bench (Vals AI) | 28.9% | Not measured | Only Mercury 3 measured |
| Harvey's Legal Agent Benchmark (Vals AI) | 5.0% | Not measured | Only Mercury 3 measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 38 boards here | |||
ReasoningNot comparablePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index0 boards, none shared
| Benchmark | Mercury 3 | Ministral 3 14B 2512 | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| Neither model has a result on 23 boards here | |||
MathNot comparablePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index0 boards, none shared
| Benchmark | Mercury 3 | Ministral 3 14B 2512 | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| Neither model has a result on 14 boards here | |||
KnowledgeNot comparablePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index0 boards, none shared
| Benchmark | Mercury 3 | Ministral 3 14B 2512 | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| Neither model has a result on 20 boards here | |||
Web designLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index30
| Benchmark | Mercury 3 | Ministral 3 14B 2512 | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| Design Arena: websites | 1226 | 1081 | Mercury 3 |
| Design Arena: UI components | 1247 | Not measured | Only Mercury 3 measured |
| Design Arena: game dev | 1227 | 1037 | Mercury 3 |
| Design Arena: data viz | 1201 | Not measured | Only Mercury 3 measured |
| Design Arena: 3D | Not measured | 991 | Only Ministral 3 14B 2512 measured |
| Design Arena: all code categories | 1231 | 1064 | Mercury 3 |
| Design Arena: SVG | 1174 | Not measured | Only Mercury 3 measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 2 boards here | |||
GeneralDirectional onlyPublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index1 board, none shared
| Benchmark | Mercury 3 | Ministral 3 14B 2512 | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| Vals Index | 43.7% | Not measured | Only Mercury 3 measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 47 boards here | |||
Image generationNot comparablePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index0 boards, none shared
| Benchmark | Mercury 3 | Ministral 3 14B 2512 | 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
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 | Mistral Ministral 3 14B 2512 |
|---|---|---|
| Maker | Inception | Mistral AI |
| Weights | No public weights listed | Open weights |
| Released | October 16, 2026 | December 2, 2025 |
| Context window | 1M | 262K |
| Input $/Mtok | $0.10 | $0.20 |
| Output $/Mtok | $0.35 | $0.20 |
| Coding index | 29.3 | Not benchmarked |
| Independent measurements behind it | 2 | 0 |
| Cost per solved task | Not computable | Not computable |
| Source | OpenRouter listing | OpenRouter listing |
Questions
Is Mercury 3 better than Ministral 3 14B 2512 for coding?
Only Mercury 3 has a coding score, 29.3 on the Vibe Coding Index; Ministral 3 14B 2512 has none, so the two cannot be ranked on coding. Pick Ministral 3 14B 2512 for output tokens 1.7x cheaper ($0.20 vs $0.35 per million).
Which is cheaper, Mercury 3 or Ministral 3 14B 2512?
Mercury 3 costs $0.10 per million input tokens and $0.35 per million output tokens; Ministral 3 14B 2512 costs $0.20 and $0.20. Cost per solved task is known for neither of them.
Which has the bigger context window, Mercury 3 or Ministral 3 14B 2512?
Mercury 3, with 1M tokens against 262K.
How many benchmarks is the Mercury 3 vs Ministral 3 14B 2512 comparison based on?
3 benchmarks have a result for both models as of October 23, 2026. Mercury 3's coding index rests on 2 independent benchmarks and Ministral 3 14B 2512's on 0. Where only one model has a result, the page says so instead of naming a winner.