Mercury 3 vs Qwen3.5 Plus 2026-02-15
Mercury 3 costs 4.5x less per output token than Qwen3.5 Plus 2026-02-15 ($0.35 vs $1.56 per million). Updated October 22, 2026; 5 benchmarks have a result for both.
Mercury 3 or Qwen3.5 Plus 2026-02-15: which to pick
Neither model has a coding score yet, so the two cannot be ranked on coding.
Pick Mercury 3 for output tokens 4.5x cheaper ($0.35 vs $1.56 per million).
- Shared results
- 5
- Mercury 3 only
- 0
- Qwen3.5 Plus 2026-02-15 only
- 3
- 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
Web design
Design Arena: websites
Mercury 3
Mercury 3 leads, 1229 against 1187.
Same board, both measured
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, Qwen3.5 Plus 2026-02-15 $0.0010 per turn.
List prices
At a glance
- Coding index
- Mercury 3 not benchmarked, Qwen3.5 Plus 2026-02-15 not benchmarked.
- Widest category
- Web design, 9.2 points apart on average over 5 shared benchmarks.
- Widest single gap
- Design Arena: game dev: Mercury 3 1225 against Qwen3.5 Plus 2026-02-15 1105, 15.0 points apart on a 0 to 100 scale.
- Output price
- Mercury 3 $0.35 against Qwen3.5 Plus 2026-02-15 $1.56 per million output tokens, 4.5x apart.
- Context window
- Both take 1M tokens.
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 | Qwen3.5 Plus 2026-02-15 | Ties |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Web design | 5 | 0 | ||
| All shared boards | 5 | 0 |
CodingNot comparableSix of these boards feed the Vibe Coding Index0 boards, none shared
| Benchmark | Mercury 3 | Qwen3.5 Plus 2026-02-15 | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| Neither model has a result on 43 boards here | |||
IntelligenceNot comparablePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index0 boards, none shared
| Benchmark | Mercury 3 | Qwen3.5 Plus 2026-02-15 | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| Neither model has a result on 2 boards here | |||
Agentic workNot comparablePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index0 boards, none shared
| Benchmark | Mercury 3 | Qwen3.5 Plus 2026-02-15 | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| Neither model has a result on 42 boards here | |||
ReasoningNot comparablePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index0 boards, none shared
| Benchmark | Mercury 3 | Qwen3.5 Plus 2026-02-15 | 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 | Qwen3.5 Plus 2026-02-15 | 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 | Qwen3.5 Plus 2026-02-15 | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| Neither model has a result on 20 boards here | |||
Web designLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index50
| Benchmark | Mercury 3 | Qwen3.5 Plus 2026-02-15 | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| Design Arena: websites | 1229 | 1187 | Mercury 3 |
| Design Arena: UI components | 1247 | 1175 | Mercury 3 |
| Design Arena: game dev | 1225 | 1105 | Mercury 3 |
| Design Arena: data viz | 1205 | 1135 | Mercury 3 |
| Design Arena: 3D | Not measured | 1118 | Only Qwen3.5 Plus 2026-02-15 measured |
| Design Arena: all code categories | 1231 | 1166 | Mercury 3 |
| Design Arena: SVG | Not measured | 1107 | Only Qwen3.5 Plus 2026-02-15 measured |
| Design Arena: ASCII art | Not measured | 1094 | Only Qwen3.5 Plus 2026-02-15 measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 1 board here | |||
GeneralNot comparablePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index0 boards, none shared
| Benchmark | Mercury 3 | Qwen3.5 Plus 2026-02-15 | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| Neither model has a result on 48 boards here | |||
Image generationNot comparablePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index0 boards, none shared
| Benchmark | Mercury 3 | Qwen3.5 Plus 2026-02-15 | 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 | Qwen3.5 Plus 2026-02-15 |
|---|---|---|
| Maker | Inception | Qwen |
| Weights | No public weights listed | No public weights listed |
| Released | October 16, 2026 | February 16, 2026 |
| Context window | 1M | 1M |
| Input $/Mtok | $0.10 | $0.26 |
| Output $/Mtok | $0.35 | $1.56 |
| 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 Qwen3.5 Plus 2026-02-15 for coding?
Neither model has a coding score yet, so the two cannot be ranked on coding. Pick Mercury 3 for output tokens 4.5x cheaper ($0.35 vs $1.56 per million).
Which is cheaper, Mercury 3 or Qwen3.5 Plus 2026-02-15?
Mercury 3 costs $0.10 per million input tokens and $0.35 per million output tokens; Qwen3.5 Plus 2026-02-15 costs $0.26 and $1.56. Cost per solved task is known for neither of them.
Which has the bigger context window, Mercury 3 or Qwen3.5 Plus 2026-02-15?
Neither: both take 1M tokens.
How many benchmarks is the Mercury 3 vs Qwen3.5 Plus 2026-02-15 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 Qwen3.5 Plus 2026-02-15's on 0. Where only one model has a result, the page says so instead of naming a winner.