Mercury 3 vs Hy4
Hy4 leads Mercury 3 on coding, 65.2 to 29.3 on the Vibe Coding Index, and Mercury 3 costs 3.6x less per output token ($0.35 vs $1.2505 per million). Updated November 5, 2026; 6 benchmarks have a result for both.
Mercury 3 or Hy4: which to pick
Pick Hy4 for coding: it scores 65.2 on the Vibe Coding Index against 29.3 for Mercury 3.
Pick Mercury 3 for output tokens 3.6x cheaper ($0.35 vs $1.2505 per million).
- Shared results
- 6
- Mercury 3 only
- 8
- Hy4 only
- 0
- Like-for-like categories
- 3 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
Hy4
Hy4 scores 65.2 against 29.3.
2 benchmarks behind each score
Web design
Design Arena: websites
No call
Only Mercury 3 has a Design Arena: websites result, 1234.
Directional only
General
Vals Index
Hy4
Hy4 leads, 59.4% against 43.7%.
Same board, both measured
Long documents
Listed context window
Hy4
Hy4 takes 1.05M tokens against 1M.
Listed by OpenRouter
Everyday cost
1K input + 500 output tokens
Mercury 3
Mercury 3 $0.0003, Hy4 $0.0010 per turn.
List prices
At a glance
- Coding index
- Mercury 3 29.3 from 2 benchmarks, Hy4 65.2 from 2 benchmarks.
- Widest category
- Coding, 34.3 points apart on average over 2 shared benchmarks.
- Widest single gap
- Terminal-Bench 4 (Vals AI): Mercury 3 3.0% against Hy4 39.4%, 48.5 points apart on a 0 to 100 scale.
- Output price
- Mercury 3 $0.35 against Hy4 $1.2505 per million output tokens, 3.6x apart.
- Context window
- Mercury 3 takes 1M tokens, Hy4 1.05M.
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 | Hy4 | Ties |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Coding | 0 | 2 | ||
| Agentic work | 0 | 3 | ||
| General | 0 | 1 | ||
| All shared boards | 0 | 6 |
CodingLike-for-likeSix of these boards feed the Vibe Coding Index02
| Benchmark | Mercury 3 | Hy4 | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| Terminal-Bench 4 (Vals AI) | 3.0% | 39.4% | Hy4 |
| Vibe Code Bench (Vals AI) | 60.9% | 81.0% | Hy4 |
| ALE-Bench | 1208.5 | Not measured | Only Mercury 3 measured |
| GameBench 2 | 37.3 | Not measured | Only Mercury 3 measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 46 boards here | |||
IntelligenceNot comparablePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index0 boards, none shared
| Benchmark | Mercury 3 | Hy4 | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| Neither model has a result on 2 boards here | |||
Agentic workLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index03
| Benchmark | Mercury 3 | Hy4 | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tax Agent Bench (Vals AI) | 18.2% | 34.4% | Hy4 |
| Legal Research Bench (Vals AI) | 28.9% | 41.4% | Hy4 |
| Harvey's Legal Agent Benchmark (Vals AI) | 5.0% | 12.5% | Hy4 |
| Neither model has a result on the other 41 boards here | |||
ReasoningNot comparablePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index0 boards, none shared
| Benchmark | Mercury 3 | Hy4 | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| Neither model has a result on 24 boards here | |||
MathNot comparablePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index0 boards, none shared
| Benchmark | Mercury 3 | Hy4 | 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 | Hy4 | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| Neither model has a result on 20 boards here | |||
Web designDirectional onlyPublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index6 boards, none shared
| Benchmark | Mercury 3 | Hy4 | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| Design Arena: websites | 1234 | Not measured | Only Mercury 3 measured |
| Design Arena: UI components | 1231 | Not measured | Only Mercury 3 measured |
| Design Arena: game dev | 1216 | Not measured | Only Mercury 3 measured |
| Design Arena: data viz | 1206 | Not measured | Only Mercury 3 measured |
| Design Arena: all code categories | 1231 | Not measured | Only Mercury 3 measured |
| Design Arena: SVG | 1175 | Not measured | Only Mercury 3 measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 3 boards here | |||
GeneralLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index01
| Benchmark | Mercury 3 | Hy4 | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| Vals Index | 43.7% | 59.4% | Hy4 |
| Neither model has a result on the other 47 boards here | |||
Image generationNot comparablePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index0 boards, none shared
| Benchmark | Mercury 3 | Hy4 | 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 Hy4 |
|---|---|---|
| Maker | Inception | Tencent |
| Weights | No public weights listed | Open weights |
| Released | October 16, 2026 | November 4, 2026 |
| Context window | 1M | 1.05M |
| Input $/Mtok | $0.10 | $0.417 |
| Output $/Mtok | $0.35 | $1.2505 |
| Coding index | 29.3 | 65.2 |
| Independent measurements behind it | 2 | 2 |
| Cost per solved task | Not computable | Not computable |
| Source | OpenRouter listing | OpenRouter listing |
Questions
Is Mercury 3 better than Hy4 for coding?
Pick Hy4 for coding: it scores 65.2 on the Vibe Coding Index against 29.3 for Mercury 3. Pick Mercury 3 for output tokens 3.6x cheaper ($0.35 vs $1.2505 per million).
Which is cheaper, Mercury 3 or Hy4?
Mercury 3 costs $0.10 per million input tokens and $0.35 per million output tokens; Hy4 costs $0.417 and $1.2505. Cost per solved task is known for neither of them.
Which has the bigger context window, Mercury 3 or Hy4?
Hy4, with 1.05M tokens against 1M.
How many benchmarks is the Mercury 3 vs Hy4 comparison based on?
6 benchmarks have a result for both models as of November 5, 2026. Mercury 3's coding index rests on 2 independent benchmarks and Hy4's on 2. Where only one model has a result, the page says so instead of naming a winner.