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Mercury 3 vs Sonar Deep Research

Updated October 21, 2026. 0 benchmarks have a result for both. Coding is ranked on the Vibe Coding Index; every other board is shown as published.

Replace Mercury 3 Replace Sonar Deep Research
Mercury 3Inception
Coding
No data
Overall
No data
Output $/M
$0.35
Sonar Deep ResearchPerplexity
Coding
No data
Overall
No data
Output $/M
$8.00
vs $0.35 vs $8.00 per 1M output tokens. Mercury 3 is 22.9x cheaper.

Decision reading

Neither model has a coding score yet, so the two cannot be ranked on coding.

Mercury 3 has the edge where output tokens cost 22.9x less, and where the context window is larger, 1M against 128K tokens.

Model AMercury 3InceptionNot benchmarkedNo coding benchmarkNo cost per solved taskModel BSonar Deep ResearchPerplexityNot benchmarkedNo coding benchmarkNo cost per solved task
Shared results
0
Mercury 3 only
4
Sonar Deep Research only
0
Like-for-like categories
0 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.

At a glance

Coding index
Mercury 3 not benchmarked, Sonar Deep Research not benchmarked.
Widest category
No category has a result for both models.
Widest single gap
No benchmark has a result for both models.
Output price
Mercury 3 $0.35 against Sonar Deep Research $8.00 per million output tokens, 22.9x apart.
Context window
Mercury 3 takes 1M tokens, Sonar Deep Research 128K.

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.

CodingNot comparableSix of these boards feed the Vibe Coding Index0 boards, none shared
Coding benchmarks for Mercury 3 and Sonar Deep Research
BenchmarkMercury 3Sonar Deep ResearchLeader
Neither model has a result on 38 boards here
IntelligenceNot comparablePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index0 boards, none shared
Intelligence benchmarks for Mercury 3 and Sonar Deep Research
BenchmarkMercury 3Sonar Deep ResearchLeader
Neither model has a result on 2 boards here
Agentic workNot comparablePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index0 boards, none shared
Agentic work benchmarks for Mercury 3 and Sonar Deep Research
BenchmarkMercury 3Sonar Deep ResearchLeader
Neither model has a result on 39 boards here
ReasoningNot comparablePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index0 boards, none shared
Reasoning benchmarks for Mercury 3 and Sonar Deep Research
BenchmarkMercury 3Sonar Deep ResearchLeader
Neither model has a result on 21 boards here
MathNot comparablePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index0 boards, none shared
Math benchmarks for Mercury 3 and Sonar Deep Research
BenchmarkMercury 3Sonar Deep ResearchLeader
Neither model has a result on 13 boards here
KnowledgeNot comparablePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index0 boards, none shared
Knowledge benchmarks for Mercury 3 and Sonar Deep Research
BenchmarkMercury 3Sonar Deep ResearchLeader
Neither model has a result on 17 boards here
Web designDirectional onlyPublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index4 boards, none shared
Web design benchmarks for Mercury 3 and Sonar Deep Research
BenchmarkMercury 3Sonar Deep ResearchLeader
Design Arena: websites1241Not measuredOnly Mercury 3 measured
Design Arena: UI components1268Not measuredOnly Mercury 3 measured
Design Arena: game dev1215Not measuredOnly Mercury 3 measured
Design Arena: all code categories1236Not measuredOnly Mercury 3 measured
Neither model has a result on the other 5 boards here
GeneralNot comparablePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index0 boards, none shared
General benchmarks for Mercury 3 and Sonar Deep Research
BenchmarkMercury 3Sonar Deep ResearchLeader
Neither model has a result on 46 boards here
Image generationNot comparablePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index0 boards, none shared
Image generation benchmarks for Mercury 3 and Sonar Deep Research
BenchmarkMercury 3Sonar Deep ResearchLeader
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$0.0003Fits in one request
Sonar Deep Research$0.0060Fits in one request

Mercury 3 costs less

Repository review

50K input + 3K output tokens

Mercury 3$0.0060Fits in one request
Sonar Deep Research$0.124Fits in one request

Mercury 3 costs less

Agent loop

200K input + 10K output tokens

Mercury 3$0.024Fits in one request
Sonar Deep Research$0.480Exceeds the context window

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.

Specifications of Mercury 3 and Sonar Deep Research
SpecificationInception Mercury 3Perplexity Sonar Deep Research
MakerInceptionPerplexity
WeightsNo public weights listedNo public weights listed
ReleasedOctober 16, 2026March 7, 2025
Context window1M128K
Input $/Mtok$0.10$2.00
Output $/Mtok$0.35$8.00
Coding indexNot benchmarkedNot benchmarked
Independent measurements behind it00
Cost per solved taskNot computableNot computable
SourceOpenRouter listingOpenRouter listing

Questions

Is Mercury 3 better than Sonar Deep Research for coding?

Neither model has a coding score yet, so the two cannot be ranked on coding. Mercury 3 has the edge where output tokens cost 22.9x less, and where the context window is larger, 1M against 128K tokens.

Which is cheaper, Mercury 3 or Sonar Deep Research?

Mercury 3 costs $0.10 per million input tokens and $0.35 per million output tokens; Sonar Deep Research costs $2.00 and $8.00. Cost per solved task is known for neither of them.

Which has the bigger context window, Mercury 3 or Sonar Deep Research?

Mercury 3, with 1M tokens against 128K.

How many benchmarks is the Mercury 3 vs Sonar Deep Research comparison based on?

0 benchmarks have a result for both models as of October 21, 2026. Mercury 3's coding index rests on 0 independent benchmarks and Sonar Deep Research's on 0. Where only one model has a result, the page says so instead of naming a winner.

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