Mercury 3 vs Hy3
Mercury 3 costs 1.5x less per output token than Hy3 ($0.35 vs $0.528 per million). Updated October 22, 2026; 5 benchmarks have a result for both.
Mercury 3 or Hy3: which to pick
Neither model has a coding score yet, so the two cannot be ranked on coding.
Pick Mercury 3 for output tokens 1.5x cheaper ($0.35 vs $0.528 per million) and a larger context window (1M against 262K tokens).
- Shared results
- 5
- Mercury 3 only
- 0
- Hy3 only
- 39
- 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, 1242 against 1230.
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, Hy3 $0.0004 per turn.
List prices
At a glance
- Coding index
- Mercury 3 not benchmarked, Hy3 not benchmarked.
- Widest category
- Web design, 3.0 points apart on average over 5 shared benchmarks.
- Widest single gap
- Design Arena: UI components: Mercury 3 1255 against Hy3 1204, 6.4 points apart on a 0 to 100 scale.
- Output price
- Mercury 3 $0.35 against Hy3 $0.528 per million output tokens, 1.5x apart.
- Context window
- Mercury 3 takes 1M tokens, Hy3 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 | Hy3 | Ties |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Web design | 5 | 0 | ||
| All shared boards | 5 | 0 |
CodingDirectional onlySix of these boards feed the Vibe Coding Index7 boards, none shared
| Benchmark | Mercury 3 | Hy3 | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| LMArena WebDev | Not measured | 1507 | Only Hy3 measured |
| SciCode | Not measured | 48.6% | Only Hy3 measured |
| ALE-Bench | Not measured | 838.6 | Only Hy3 measured |
| LMArena Text: coding | Not measured | 1466 | Only Hy3 measured |
| LMArena Text: software and IT | Not measured | 1463 | Only Hy3 measured |
| LMArena WebDev: React | Not measured | 1511 | Only Hy3 measured |
| LMArena WebDev: HTML | Not measured | 1487 | Only Hy3 measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 32 boards here | |||
IntelligenceNot comparablePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index0 boards, none shared
| Benchmark | Mercury 3 | Hy3 | 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 | Hy3 | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| Neither model has a result on 41 boards here | |||
ReasoningDirectional onlyPublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index5 boards, none shared
| Benchmark | Mercury 3 | Hy3 | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| GPQA Diamond (Artificial Analysis run) | Not measured | 89.7% | Only Hy3 measured |
| Humanity's Last Exam (Artificial Analysis run) | Not measured | 33.5% | Only Hy3 measured |
| LMArena Text: hard prompts | Not measured | 1447 | Only Hy3 measured |
| LMArena Text: expert | Not measured | 1461 | Only Hy3 measured |
| LMArena Text: hard prompts in English | Not measured | 1455 | Only Hy3 measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 17 boards here | |||
MathDirectional onlyPublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index2 boards, none shared
| Benchmark | Mercury 3 | Hy3 | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| LMArena Text: math | Not measured | 1473 | Only Hy3 measured |
| LMArena Text: mathematical work | Not measured | 1482 | Only Hy3 measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 11 boards here | |||
KnowledgeDirectional onlyPublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index4 boards, none shared
| Benchmark | Mercury 3 | Hy3 | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| LMArena Text: science | Not measured | 1457 | Only Hy3 measured |
| LMArena Text: medicine and healthcare | Not measured | 1452 | Only Hy3 measured |
| LMArena Text: legal and government | Not measured | 1422 | Only Hy3 measured |
| LMArena Text: business and finance | Not measured | 1424 | Only Hy3 measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 14 boards here | |||
Web designLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index50
| Benchmark | Mercury 3 | Hy3 | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| Design Arena: websites | 1242 | 1230 | Mercury 3 |
| Design Arena: UI components | 1255 | 1204 | Mercury 3 |
| Design Arena: game dev | 1225 | 1208 | Mercury 3 |
| Design Arena: data viz | 1192 | 1164 | Mercury 3 |
| Design Arena: 3D | Not measured | 1232 | Only Hy3 measured |
| Design Arena: all code categories | 1237 | 1227 | Mercury 3 |
| Design Arena: SVG | Not measured | 1200 | Only Hy3 measured |
| Design Arena: ASCII art | Not measured | 1152 | Only Hy3 measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 1 board here | |||
GeneralDirectional onlyPublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index18 boards, none shared
| Benchmark | Mercury 3 | Hy3 | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| Long context reasoning (AA-LCR) | Not measured | 79.0% | Only Hy3 measured |
| LMArena Text | Not measured | 1438 | Only Hy3 measured |
| LMArena Text: instruction following | Not measured | 1426 | Only Hy3 measured |
| LMArena Text: creative writing | Not measured | 1403 | Only Hy3 measured |
| LMArena Text: English | Not measured | 1448 | Only Hy3 measured |
| LMArena Text: non-English | Not measured | 1426 | Only Hy3 measured |
| LMArena Text: Chinese | Not measured | 1485 | Only Hy3 measured |
| LMArena Text: German | Not measured | 1449 | Only Hy3 measured |
| LMArena Text: Japanese | Not measured | 1397 | Only Hy3 measured |
| LMArena Text: Korean | Not measured | 1396 | Only Hy3 measured |
| LMArena Text: French | Not measured | 1456 | Only Hy3 measured |
| LMArena Text: Spanish | Not measured | 1457 | Only Hy3 measured |
| LMArena Text: Russian | Not measured | 1432 | Only Hy3 measured |
| LMArena Text: Polish | Not measured | 1447 | Only Hy3 measured |
| LMArena Text: multi-turn | Not measured | 1436 | Only Hy3 measured |
| LMArena Text: longer queries | Not measured | 1442 | Only Hy3 measured |
| LMArena Text: writing and language | Not measured | 1414 | Only Hy3 measured |
| LMArena Text: entertainment and media | Not measured | 1400 | Only Hy3 measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 28 boards here | |||
Image generationNot comparablePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index0 boards, none shared
| Benchmark | Mercury 3 | Hy3 | 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 | Tencent Hy3 |
|---|---|---|
| Maker | Inception | Tencent |
| Weights | No public weights listed | Open weights |
| Released | October 16, 2026 | July 6, 2026 |
| Context window | 1M | 262K |
| Input $/Mtok | $0.10 | $0.132 |
| Output $/Mtok | $0.35 | $0.528 |
| Coding index | Not benchmarked | Not benchmarked |
| Independent measurements behind it | 0 | 1 |
| Cost per solved task | Not computable | Not computable |
| Source | OpenRouter listing | OpenRouter listing |
Questions
Is Mercury 3 better than Hy3 for coding?
Neither model has a coding score yet, so the two cannot be ranked on coding. Pick Mercury 3 for output tokens 1.5x cheaper ($0.35 vs $0.528 per million) and a larger context window (1M against 262K tokens).
Which is cheaper, Mercury 3 or Hy3?
Mercury 3 costs $0.10 per million input tokens and $0.35 per million output tokens; Hy3 costs $0.132 and $0.528. Cost per solved task is known for neither of them.
Which has the bigger context window, Mercury 3 or Hy3?
Mercury 3, with 1M tokens against 262K.
How many benchmarks is the Mercury 3 vs Hy3 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 Hy3's on 1. Where only one model has a result, the page says so instead of naming a winner.