Mercury 3 vs o3 Mini High
Mercury 3 costs 12.6x less per output token than o3 Mini High ($0.35 vs $4.40 per million). Updated October 21, 2026; no benchmark has tested both models yet.
- Coding
- No data
- Overall
- No data
- Output $/M
- $0.35
- Coding
- No data
- Overall
- 11.0
- Output $/M
- $4.40
Mercury 3 or o3 Mini High: which to pick
Neither model has a coding score yet, so the two cannot be ranked on coding.
Pick Mercury 3 for output tokens 12.6x cheaper ($0.35 vs $4.40 per million) and a larger context window (1M against 200K tokens).
No benchmark has tested both yet. Mercury 3 has results on Design Arena: websites, Design Arena: UI components and Design Arena: game dev; o3 Mini High on AA Coding Index, AA Intelligence Index and AA Agentic 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 o3 Mini High has a AA Intelligence Index result, 11.0.
Directional only
Agentic work
AA Agentic Index
No call
Only o3 Mini High has a AA Agentic Index result, 0.9.
Directional only
Web design
Design Arena: websites
No call
Only Mercury 3 has a Design Arena: websites result, 1244.
Directional only
Long documents
Listed context window
Mercury 3
Mercury 3 takes 1M tokens against 200K.
Listed by OpenRouter
Everyday cost
1K input + 500 output tokens
Mercury 3
Mercury 3 $0.0003, o3 Mini High $0.0033 per turn.
List prices
At a glance
- Coding index
- Mercury 3 not benchmarked, o3 Mini High 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 o3 Mini High $4.40 per million output tokens, 12.6x apart.
- Context window
- Mercury 3 takes 1M tokens, o3 Mini High 200K.
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 Index1 board measured
| Benchmark | Mercury 3 | o3 Mini High | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| AA Coding Index | Not measured | 16.3 | Only o3 Mini High measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 37 boards here | |||
IntelligenceDirectional onlyPublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index1 board measured
| Benchmark | Mercury 3 | o3 Mini High | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| AA Intelligence Index | Not measured | 11.0 | Only o3 Mini High 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 measured
| Benchmark | Mercury 3 | o3 Mini High | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| AA Agentic Index | Not measured | 0.9 | Only o3 Mini High measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 38 boards here | |||
Web designDirectional onlyPublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index5 boards measured
| Benchmark | Mercury 3 | o3 Mini High | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| Design Arena: websites | 1244 | Not measured | Only Mercury 3 measured |
| Design Arena: UI components | 1270 | Not measured | Only Mercury 3 measured |
| Design Arena: game dev | 1227 | Not measured | Only Mercury 3 measured |
| Design Arena: data viz | 1207 | Not measured | Only Mercury 3 measured |
| Design Arena: all code categories | 1240 | Not measured | Only Mercury 3 measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 4 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 | OpenAI o3 Mini High |
|---|---|---|
| Maker | Inception | OpenAI |
| Weights | No public weights listed | No public weights listed |
| Released | October 16, 2026 | February 12, 2025 |
| Context window | 1M | 200K |
| Input $/Mtok | $0.10 | $1.10 |
| Output $/Mtok | $0.35 | $4.40 |
| 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 o3 Mini High for coding?
Neither model has a coding score yet, so the two cannot be ranked on coding. Pick Mercury 3 for output tokens 12.6x cheaper ($0.35 vs $4.40 per million) and a larger context window (1M against 200K tokens).
Which is cheaper, Mercury 3 or o3 Mini High?
Mercury 3 costs $0.10 per million input tokens and $0.35 per million output tokens; o3 Mini High costs $1.10 and $4.40. Cost per solved task is known for neither of them.
Which has the bigger context window, Mercury 3 or o3 Mini High?
Mercury 3, with 1M tokens against 200K.
Has any benchmark tested both Mercury 3 and o3 Mini High?
No benchmark has tested both yet. Mercury 3 has results on Design Arena: websites, Design Arena: UI components and Design Arena: game dev; o3 Mini High on AA Coding Index, AA Intelligence Index and AA Agentic Index. Compare them on price and context instead. Data as of October 21, 2026.