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Comparison · 2 models · Updated Oct 4, 2026

Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite Preview vs Mercury 2

Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite Preview comes out ahead, 73 to 53 on our weighted score, though Mercury 2 is 33% cheaper per token.

  1. Our pick

    Google

    Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite Preview

    Released Mar 3, 2026Deprecated

    73/100
    • ECI—
    • Price$0.25 / $1.50
    • Context1.05M
    Full specs Remove Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite Preview

  2. Inception

    Mercury 2

    Released Feb 24, 2026

    53/100
    • ECI—
    • Price$0.25 / $0.75
    • Context128K
    Full specs Remove Mercury 2

  3. Add a model

    Make it a three-way comparison.

01 — Verdict

Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite Preview is our pick

Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite Preview is the better all-round choice, scoring 73/100 against Mercury 2 (53). It leads on inputs & features and context window. Mercury 2 wins 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 2Mercury 2 $0.375 · Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite Preview $0.563 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
  • Longest contextGemini 3.1 Flash Lite PreviewGemini 3.1 Flash Lite Preview 1,048,576 · Mercury 2 128,000 tokens
  • Widest inputsGemini 3.1 Flash Lite PreviewGemini 3.1 Flash Lite Preview: Text, Images, PDFs, Audio, Video · Mercury 2: Text
  • Self-hostingNo open weightsBoth are available only through APIs
How the score is built
MeasureWeightGemini 3.1 Flash Lite PreviewMercury 2
Price50%6270
Inputs & features30%10045
Context window20%6124
Overall100%73/10053/100

Left out because at least one model lacks the data: capability. The remaining weights were rescaled.

02 — Side by side

Every spec in one table

Highlighted cells lead their row. Dashes mean the data is not published.

Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite Preview vs Mercury 2 specifications side by side
SpecificationGemini 3.1 Flash Lite PreviewGoogleMercury 2Inception
Capability
Capabilities Index (ECI)——
ECI rank——
Price per million tokens
Input$0.25$0.25
Output$1.50$0.75 (best)
Cached input$0.025$0.025
Blended (3:1)$0.563$0.375 (best)
Long-context rateSame rateSame rate
Price sourceOfficial Google APIOfficial Inception API
Limits
Context window1,048,576 tokens (best)128,000 tokens
Max output65,536 tokens (best)50,000 tokens
Inputs and features
TextYesYes
ImagesYesNo
PDFsYesNo
AudioYesNo
VideoYesNo
ReasoningYesminimal · low · medium · highYeslow · medium · high
Tool callingYesYes
Structured outputYesYes
Availability
WeightsProprietaryProprietary
API model IDgemini-3.1-flash-lite-previewmercury-2
API providers10 (best)1
ReleasedMar 3, 2026Feb 24, 2026
Knowledge cutoffJan 2025Jan 1, 2025
03 — Cost

What would a month cost?

Enter your expected volume in millions of tokens. List prices only; caching and batch discounts would lower these.

  • Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite Preview$5.50
  • Mercury 2$4.00
04 — Questions

Which should you choose?

Which is better: Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite Preview or Mercury 2?

Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite Preview is the better all-round choice, scoring 73/100 against Mercury 2 (53). It leads on inputs & features and context window. Mercury 2 wins 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, Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite Preview or Mercury 2?

Mercury 2 is cheaper at $0.25 input / $0.75 output per million tokens (official Inception API price). Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite Preview costs $0.25 input / $1.50 output per million tokens (official Google API price). At a typical mix of three input tokens to one output token, that is $0.375 per million tokens for Mercury 2 versus $0.563 for Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite Preview (1.5× as much).

Which scores higher on benchmarks?

There is no independent benchmark that covers both models yet. Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite Preview has not been scored yet and Mercury 2 has not been scored yet.

Which is better for coding?

There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite Preview and Mercury 2 yet, so there is no like-for-like coding score. Test both on a sample of your own tasks. Both support tool calling for agent workflows.

Which has the bigger context window?

Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite Preview has the largest context window at 1,048,576 tokens, against 128,000 for Mercury 2. Maximum output per response: Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite Preview up to 65,536, Mercury 2 up to 50,000 tokens.

Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?

Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite Preview accepts text, images, PDFs, audio and video; Mercury 2 accepts text. Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite Preview handles the widest range of inputs.

Are any of these open source?

No. Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite Preview and Mercury 2 are proprietary and only available through APIs and apps.

Which is newer?

Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite Preview is the newest, released Mar 3, 2026. Mercury 2 came out Feb 24, 2026. Knowledge cutoff: Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite Preview Jan 2025, Mercury 2 Jan 1, 2025.

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 Oct 4, 2026.

05 — Keep comparing

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