ZMIME
Comparison · 2 models · Updated Oct 4, 2026

Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite vs Mercury Edit 2

Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite comes out ahead, 73 to 35 on our weighted score, though Mercury Edit 2 is 33% cheaper per token.

  1. Our pick

    Google

    Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite

    Released May 7, 2026

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

  2. Inception

    Mercury Edit 2

    Released Mar 30, 2026

    35/100
    • ECI—
    • Price$0.25 / $0.75
    • Context32K
    Full specs Remove Mercury Edit 2

  3. Add a model

    Make it a three-way comparison.

01 — Verdict

Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite is our pick

Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite is the better all-round choice, scoring 73/100 against Mercury Edit 2 (35). It leads on inputs & features and context window. Mercury Edit 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 Edit 2Mercury Edit 2 $0.375 · Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite $0.563 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
  • Longest contextGemini 3.1 Flash LiteGemini 3.1 Flash Lite 1,048,576 · Mercury Edit 2 32,000 tokens
  • Widest inputsGemini 3.1 Flash LiteGemini 3.1 Flash Lite: Text, Images, PDFs, Audio, Video · Mercury Edit 2: Text
  • Self-hostingNo open weightsBoth are available only through APIs
How the score is built
MeasureWeightGemini 3.1 Flash LiteMercury Edit 2
Price50%6270
Inputs & features30%1000
Context window20%610
Overall100%73/10035/100

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 vs Mercury Edit 2 specifications side by side
SpecificationGemini 3.1 Flash LiteGoogleMercury Edit 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)32,000 tokens
Max output65,536 tokens (best)8,192 tokens
Inputs and features
TextYesYes
ImagesYesNo
PDFsYesNo
AudioYesNo
VideoYesNo
ReasoningYesminimal · low · medium · highNo
Tool callingYesNo
Structured outputYesNo
Availability
WeightsProprietaryProprietary
API model IDgemini-3.1-flash-litemercury-edit-2
API providers23 (best)1
ReleasedMay 7, 2026Mar 30, 2026
Knowledge cutoffJan 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$5.50
  • Mercury Edit 2$4.00
04 — Questions

Which should you choose?

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

Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite is the better all-round choice, scoring 73/100 against Mercury Edit 2 (35). It leads on inputs & features and context window. Mercury Edit 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 or Mercury Edit 2?

Mercury Edit 2 is cheaper at $0.25 input / $0.75 output per million tokens (official Inception API price). Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite 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 Edit 2 versus $0.563 for Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite (1.5× as much).

Which scores higher on benchmarks?

There is no independent benchmark that covers both models yet. Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite has not been scored yet and Mercury Edit 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 and Mercury Edit 2 yet, so there is no like-for-like coding score. Test both on a sample of your own tasks. Note that Mercury Edit 2 does not support tool calling, which most coding agents need.

Which has the bigger context window?

Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite has the largest context window at 1,048,576 tokens, against 32,000 for Mercury Edit 2. Maximum output per response: Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite up to 65,536, Mercury Edit 2 up to 8,192 tokens.

Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?

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

Are any of these open source?

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

Which is newer?

Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite is the newest, released May 7, 2026. Mercury Edit 2 came out Mar 30, 2026. Knowledge cutoff: Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite Jan 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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