Mercury 3 vs Mistral Large 3 2512
Mercury 3 costs 4.3x less per output token than Mistral Large 3 2512 ($0.35 vs $1.50 per million). Updated October 22, 2026; 5 benchmarks have a result for both.
Mercury 3 or Mistral Large 3 2512: which to pick
Neither model has a coding score yet, so the two cannot be ranked on coding.
Pick Mercury 3 for output tokens 4.3x cheaper ($0.35 vs $1.50 per million) and a larger context window (1M against 262K tokens).
- Shared results
- 5
- Mercury 3 only
- 0
- Mistral Large 3 2512 only
- 23
- 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
Neither has a coding score yet.
One side not measured
Intelligence
AA Intelligence Index
No call
Only Mistral Large 3 2512 has a AA Intelligence Index result, 9.3.
Directional only
Agentic work
AA Agentic Index
No call
Only Mistral Large 3 2512 has a AA Agentic Index result, 1.0.
Directional only
Reasoning
GPQA Diamond
No call
Only Mistral Large 3 2512 has a GPQA Diamond result, 68.4%.
Directional only
Math
AIME
No call
Only Mistral Large 3 2512 has a AIME result, 42.9%.
Directional only
Knowledge
MMLU Pro
No call
Only Mistral Large 3 2512 has a MMLU Pro result, 79.8%.
Directional only
Web design
Design Arena: websites
Mercury 3
Mercury 3 leads, 1242 against 1162.
Same board, both measured
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, Mistral Large 3 2512 $0.0013 per turn.
List prices
Cost per solved task
One SWE-bench Verified task, solved
No call
Only Mistral Large 3 2512 has the number, $0.77.
Directional only
At a glance
- Coding index
- Mercury 3 not benchmarked, Mistral Large 3 2512 not benchmarked.
- Widest category
- Web design, 13.3 points apart on average over 5 shared benchmarks.
- Widest single gap
- Design Arena: UI components: Mercury 3 1255 against Mistral Large 3 2512 1099, 19.5 points apart on a 0 to 100 scale.
- Output price
- Mercury 3 $0.35 against Mistral Large 3 2512 $1.50 per million output tokens, 4.3x apart.
- Context window
- Mercury 3 takes 1M tokens, Mistral Large 3 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 | Mistral Large 3 2512 | Ties |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Web design | 5 | 0 | ||
| All shared boards | 5 | 0 |
CodingDirectional onlySix of these boards feed the Vibe Coding Index4 boards, none shared
| Benchmark | Mercury 3 | Mistral Large 3 2512 | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| AA Coding Index | Not measured | 20.1 | Only Mistral Large 3 2512 measured |
| LiveCodeBench (Vals AI) | Not measured | 55.3% | Only Mistral Large 3 2512 measured |
| SWE-bench Verified (Vals AI) | Not measured | 41.4% | Only Mistral Large 3 2512 measured |
| ALE-Bench | Not measured | 264.7 | Only Mistral Large 3 2512 measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 35 boards here | |||
IntelligenceDirectional onlyPublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index1 board, none shared
| Benchmark | Mercury 3 | Mistral Large 3 2512 | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| AA Intelligence Index | Not measured | 9.3 | Only Mistral Large 3 2512 measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 1 board here | |||
Agentic workDirectional onlyPublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index1 board, none shared
| Benchmark | Mercury 3 | Mistral Large 3 2512 | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| AA Agentic Index | Not measured | 1.0 | Only Mistral Large 3 2512 measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 40 boards here | |||
ReasoningDirectional onlyPublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index2 boards, none shared
| Benchmark | Mercury 3 | Mistral Large 3 2512 | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| GPQA Diamond | Not measured | 68.4% | Only Mistral Large 3 2512 measured |
| MMMU Pro (Vals AI) | Not measured | 66.2% | Only Mistral Large 3 2512 measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 20 boards here | |||
MathDirectional onlyPublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index2 boards, none shared
| Benchmark | Mercury 3 | Mistral Large 3 2512 | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| AIME | Not measured | 42.9% | Only Mistral Large 3 2512 measured |
| MGSM (Vals AI) | Not measured | 85.4% | Only Mistral Large 3 2512 measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 11 boards here | |||
KnowledgeDirectional onlyPublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index7 boards, none shared
| Benchmark | Mercury 3 | Mistral Large 3 2512 | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| MMLU Pro | Not measured | 79.8% | Only Mistral Large 3 2512 measured |
| LegalBench (Vals AI) | Not measured | 79.1% | Only Mistral Large 3 2512 measured |
| CaseLaw (Vals AI) | Not measured | 61.4% | Only Mistral Large 3 2512 measured |
| CorpFin (Vals AI) | Not measured | 61.0% | Only Mistral Large 3 2512 measured |
| TaxEval (Vals AI) | Not measured | 73.1% | Only Mistral Large 3 2512 measured |
| MortgageTax (Vals AI) | Not measured | 52.1% | Only Mistral Large 3 2512 measured |
| MedQA (Vals AI) | Not measured | 82.2% | Only Mistral Large 3 2512 measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 11 boards here | |||
Web designLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index50
| Benchmark | Mercury 3 | Mistral Large 3 2512 | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| Design Arena: websites | 1242 | 1162 | Mercury 3 |
| Design Arena: UI components | 1255 | 1099 | Mercury 3 |
| Design Arena: game dev | 1225 | 1080 | Mercury 3 |
| Design Arena: data viz | 1192 | 1136 | Mercury 3 |
| Design Arena: 3D | Not measured | 1099 | Only Mistral Large 3 2512 measured |
| Design Arena: all code categories | 1237 | 1141 | Mercury 3 |
| Design Arena: SVG | Not measured | 992 | Only Mistral Large 3 2512 measured |
| Design Arena: ASCII art | Not measured | 1069 | Only Mistral Large 3 2512 measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 1 board here | |||
GeneralDirectional onlyPublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index3 boards, none shared
| Benchmark | Mercury 3 | Mistral Large 3 2512 | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| SAGE (Vals AI) | Not measured | 24.6% | Only Mistral Large 3 2512 measured |
| DTBench | Not measured | 65.1% | Only Mistral Large 3 2512 measured |
| LMCA | Not measured | 16.7% | Only Mistral Large 3 2512 measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 43 boards here | |||
Image generationNot comparablePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index0 boards, none shared
| Benchmark | Mercury 3 | Mistral Large 3 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 Large 3 2512 |
|---|---|---|
| Maker | Inception | Mistral AI |
| Weights | No public weights listed | No public weights listed |
| Released | October 16, 2026 | December 1, 2025 |
| Context window | 1M | 262K |
| Input $/Mtok | $0.10 | $0.50 |
| Output $/Mtok | $0.35 | $1.50 |
| Coding index | Not benchmarked | Not benchmarked |
| Independent measurements behind it | 0 | 1 |
| Cost per solved task | Not computable | $0.77 |
| Source | OpenRouter listing | OpenRouter listing |
Questions
Is Mercury 3 better than Mistral Large 3 2512 for coding?
Neither model has a coding score yet, so the two cannot be ranked on coding. Pick Mercury 3 for output tokens 4.3x cheaper ($0.35 vs $1.50 per million) and a larger context window (1M against 262K tokens).
Which is cheaper, Mercury 3 or Mistral Large 3 2512?
Mercury 3 costs $0.10 per million input tokens and $0.35 per million output tokens; Mistral Large 3 2512 costs $0.50 and $1.50. Cost per solved task is known for Mistral Large 3 2512 only.
Which has the bigger context window, Mercury 3 or Mistral Large 3 2512?
Mercury 3, with 1M tokens against 262K.
How many benchmarks is the Mercury 3 vs Mistral Large 3 2512 comparison based on?
5 benchmarks have a result for both models as of October 22, 2026. Mercury 3's coding index rests on 0 independent benchmarks and Mistral Large 3 2512's on 1. Where only one model has a result, the page says so instead of naming a winner.