Grok Build 0.1 vs Mercury 2
Too close to call on our weighted score (Grok Build 0.1 53, Mercury 2 52). The right pick depends on what you value most.
xAIGrok Build 0.1
53/100- ECI—
- Price$1.00 / $2.00
- Context256K
InceptionMercury 2
52/100- ECI—
- Price$0.25 / $0.75
- Context128K
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Make it a three-way comparison.
Too close to call
It is close. Our weighted score puts them within 1 points (Grok Build 0.1 53/100, Mercury 2 52/100), so choose by what matters most for your work: Mercury 2 on price and Grok Build 0.1 for long inputs. 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 · Grok Build 0.1 $1.25 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
- Longest contextGrok Build 0.1Grok Build 0.1 256,000 · Mercury 2 128,000 tokens
- Widest inputsGrok Build 0.1Grok Build 0.1: Text, Images, PDFs · Mercury 2: Text
- Self-hostingNo open weightsBoth are available only through APIs
| Measure | Weight | Grok Build 0.1 | Mercury 2 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price | 50% | 43 | 67 |
| Inputs & features | 30% | 80 | 45 |
| Context window | 20% | 36 | 24 |
| Overall | 100% | 53/100 | 52/100 |
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 | Grok Build 0.1xAI | Mercury 2Inception |
|---|---|---|
| Capability | ||
| Capabilities Index (ECI) | — | — |
| ECI rank | — | — |
| Price per million tokens | ||
| Input | $1.00 | $0.25 (best) |
| Output | $2.00 | $0.75 (best) |
| Cached input | $0.20 | $0.025 (best) |
| Blended (3:1) | $1.25 | $0.375 (best) |
| Long-context rate | Over 200K: $2.00 / $4.00 | Same rate |
| Price source | Official xAI API | Official Inception API |
| Limits | ||
| Context window | 256,000 tokens (best) | 128,000 tokens |
| Max output | 256,000 tokens (best) | 50,000 tokens |
| Inputs and features | ||
| Text | Yes | Yes |
| Images | Yes | No |
| PDFs | Yes | No |
| Audio | No | No |
| Video | No | No |
| Reasoning | Yes | Yeslow · medium · high |
| Tool calling | Yes | Yes |
| Structured output | Yes | Yes |
| Availability | ||
| Weights | Proprietary | Proprietary |
| API model ID | grok-build-0.1 | mercury-2 |
| API providers | 20 (best) | 7 |
| Released | Apr 16, 2026 | Feb 24, 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.
- Grok Build 0.1$14.00
- Mercury 2$4.00
Which should you choose?
Which is better: Grok Build 0.1 or Mercury 2?
It is close. Our weighted score puts them within 1 points (Grok Build 0.1 53/100, Mercury 2 52/100), so choose by what matters most for your work: Mercury 2 on price and Grok Build 0.1 for long inputs. 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, Grok Build 0.1 or Mercury 2?
Mercury 2 is cheaper at $0.25 input / $0.75 output per million tokens (official Inception API price). Grok Build 0.1 costs $1.00 input / $2.00 output per million tokens (official xAI 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 $1.25 for Grok Build 0.1 (3.3× as much).
Which scores higher on benchmarks?
There is no independent benchmark that covers both models yet. Grok Build 0.1 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 Grok Build 0.1 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?
Grok Build 0.1 has the largest context window at 256,000 tokens, against 128,000 for Mercury 2. Maximum output per response: Grok Build 0.1 up to 256,000, Mercury 2 up to 50,000 tokens.
Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?
Grok Build 0.1 accepts text, images and PDFs; Mercury 2 accepts text. Grok Build 0.1 handles the widest range of inputs.
Are any of these open source?
No. Grok Build 0.1 and Mercury 2 are proprietary and only available through APIs and apps.
Which is newer?
Grok Build 0.1 is the newest, released Apr 16, 2026. Mercury 2 came out Feb 24, 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.
