DeepSeek V4 Flash Vision Exp vs Mercury 3 vs Mercury 2.5
Too close to call on our weighted score (Mercury 3 67, DeepSeek V4 Flash Vision Exp 65, Mercury 2.5 55). The right pick depends on what you value most.
DeepSeekDeepSeek V4 Flash Vision Exp
65/100- ECI—
- Price$0.216 / $0.647
- Context1M
InceptionMercury 3
67/100- ECI—
- Price$0.10 / $0.35
- Context1M
- Inception
Mercury 2.5
55/100- ECI—
- Price$0.20 / $0.75
- Context260K
Too close to call
It is close. Our weighted score puts them within 2 points (Mercury 3 67/100, DeepSeek V4 Flash Vision Exp 65/100, Mercury 2.5 55/100), so choose by what matters most for your work: Mercury 3 on price. The score weighs price 50%, inputs & features 30%, context window 20%. None of the shared benchmarks cover every model here yet, so capability is left out of this verdict.
- CapabilityNot enough dataNo independent benchmark covers every model here yet
- Lowest priceMercury 3Mercury 3 $0.163 · DeepSeek V4 Flash Vision Exp $0.323 · Mercury 2.5 $0.338 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
- Longest contextDeepSeek V4 Flash Vision Exp and Mercury 3DeepSeek V4 Flash Vision Exp 1,000,000 · Mercury 3 1,000,000 · Mercury 2.5 260,000 tokens
- Widest inputsDeepSeek V4 Flash Vision ExpDeepSeek V4 Flash Vision Exp: Text, Images · Mercury 3: Text · Mercury 2.5: Text
- Self-hostingDeepSeek V4 Flash Vision ExpPublishes downloadable weights (MIT)
| Measure | Weight | DeepSeek V4 Flash Vision Exp | Mercury 3 | Mercury 2.5 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price | 50% | 70 | 84 | 69 |
| Inputs & features | 30% | 60 | 45 | 45 |
| Context window | 20% | 60 | 60 | 36 |
| Overall | 100% | 65/100 | 67/100 | 55/100 |
Left out because at least one model lacks the data: capability. The remaining weights were rescaled.
Every spec in one table
Highlighted cells lead their row. Dashes mean the data is not published.
| Specification | DeepSeek V4 Flash Vision ExpDeepSeek | Mercury 3Inception | Mercury 2.5Inception |
|---|---|---|---|
| Capability | |||
| Capabilities Index (ECI) | — | — | — |
| ECI rank | — | — | — |
| Price per million tokens | |||
| Input | $0.216 | $0.10 (best) | $0.20 |
| Output | $0.647 | $0.35 (best) | $0.75 |
| Cached input | — | $0.01 (best) | $0.02 |
| Blended (3:1) | $0.323 | $0.163 (best) | $0.338 |
| Long-context rate | Same rate | Same rate | Same rate |
| Price source | Median of 14 providers | Official Inception API | Official Inception API |
| Limits | |||
| Context window | 1,000,000 tokens (best) | 1,000,000 tokens (best) | 260,000 tokens |
| Max output | 384,000 tokens (best) | 131,072 tokens | 65,536 tokens |
| Inputs and features | |||
| Text | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Images | Yes | No | No |
| PDFs | No | No | No |
| Audio | No | No | No |
| Video | No | No | No |
| Reasoning | Yes | Yeslow · medium · high | Yeslow · medium · high |
| Tool calling | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Structured output | No | Yes | Yes |
| Availability | |||
| Weights | OpenMIT | Proprietary | Proprietary |
| API model ID | — | mercury-3 | mercury-2.5 |
| API providers | 15 (best) | 3 | 6 |
| Released | Aug 21, 2026 | Oct 16, 2026 | Sep 8, 2026 |
| Knowledge cutoff | — | — | — |
What would a month cost?
Enter your expected volume in millions of tokens. List prices only; caching and batch discounts would lower these.
- DeepSeek V4 Flash Vision Exp$3.45
- Mercury 3$1.70
- Mercury 2.5$3.50
Which should you choose?
Which is better: DeepSeek V4 Flash Vision Exp, Mercury 3 or Mercury 2.5?
It is close. Our weighted score puts them within 2 points (Mercury 3 67/100, DeepSeek V4 Flash Vision Exp 65/100, Mercury 2.5 55/100), so choose by what matters most for your work: Mercury 3 on price. The score weighs price 50%, inputs & features 30%, context window 20%. None of the shared benchmarks cover every model here yet, so capability is left out of this verdict.
Which is cheaper, DeepSeek V4 Flash Vision Exp, Mercury 3 or Mercury 2.5?
Mercury 3 is cheaper at $0.10 input / $0.35 output per million tokens (official Inception API price). DeepSeek V4 Flash Vision Exp costs $0.216 input / $0.647 output per million tokens (median across 14 API providers); Mercury 2.5 costs $0.20 input / $0.75 output per million tokens (official Inception API price). At a typical mix of three input tokens to one output token, that is $0.163 per million tokens for Mercury 3 versus $0.323 for DeepSeek V4 Flash Vision Exp (2× as much) and $0.338 for Mercury 2.5 (2.1× as much).
Which scores higher on benchmarks?
There is no independent benchmark that covers all three models yet. DeepSeek V4 Flash Vision Exp has not been scored yet, Mercury 3 has not been scored yet and Mercury 2.5 has not been scored yet.
Which is better for coding?
There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for DeepSeek V4 Flash Vision Exp, Mercury 3 and Mercury 2.5 yet, so there is no like-for-like coding score. Test both on a sample of your own tasks. All three support tool calling for agent workflows.
Which has the bigger context window?
DeepSeek V4 Flash Vision Exp and Mercury 3 have the largest context windows (1,000,000 and 1,000,000 tokens), against 260,000 for Mercury 2.5. Maximum output per response: DeepSeek V4 Flash Vision Exp up to 384,000, Mercury 3 up to 131,072, Mercury 2.5 up to 65,536 tokens.
Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?
DeepSeek V4 Flash Vision Exp accepts text and images; Mercury 3 accepts text; Mercury 2.5 accepts text. DeepSeek V4 Flash Vision Exp handles the widest range of inputs.
Are any of these open source?
DeepSeek V4 Flash Vision Exp publishes its weights (MIT) and can be self-hosted; Mercury 3 and Mercury 2.5 is proprietary.
Which is newer?
Mercury 3 is the newest, released Oct 16, 2026. Mercury 2.5 came out Sep 8, 2026; DeepSeek V4 Flash Vision Exp came out Aug 21, 2026.
How do you decide the winner?
Each model gets a 0–100 score on capability (50%, independent benchmark results); price (25%, blended price per million tokens (3 input : 1 output), log scale); inputs & features (15%, image, PDF, audio and video input, tool calling, structured output and reasoning); context window (10%, maximum tokens per request, log scale). Dimensions missing for any model are dropped and the remaining weights rescaled, so every model is judged on the same evidence. Specs and prices come from public model listings and the labs’ own API pages; capability scores come from independent benchmark runs. Data updated Nov 2, 2026.
