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Comparison · 2 models · Updated Nov 2, 2026

Mercury Edit 2 vs Solar Mini 4

Solar Mini 4 comes out ahead, 64 to 34 on our weighted score, and it is the cheaper option too.

  1. Inception

    Mercury Edit 2

    Released Mar 30, 2026

    34/100
    • ECI—
    • Price$0.25 / $0.75
    • Context32K
    Full specs Remove Mercury Edit 2
  2. Our pick

    Upstage

    Solar Mini 4

    Released Sep 22, 2026New

    64/100
    • ECI—
    • Price$0.10 / $0.40
    • Context524K
    Full specs Remove Solar Mini 4

  3. Add a model

    Make it a three-way comparison.

01 — Verdict

Solar Mini 4 is our pick

Solar Mini 4 is the better all-round choice, scoring 64/100 against Mercury Edit 2 (34). It leads on price, inputs & features and context window. 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 priceSolar Mini 4Solar Mini 4 $0.175 · Mercury Edit 2 $0.375 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
  • Longest contextSolar Mini 4Solar Mini 4 524,288 · Mercury Edit 2 32,000 tokens
  • Widest inputsSame inputsMercury Edit 2: Text · Solar Mini 4: Text
  • Self-hostingNo open weightsBoth are available only through APIs
How the score is built
MeasureWeightMercury Edit 2Solar Mini 4
Price50%6782
Inputs & features30%045
Context window20%049
Overall100%34/10064/100

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.

Mercury Edit 2 vs Solar Mini 4 specifications side by side
SpecificationMercury Edit 2InceptionSolar Mini 4Upstage
Capability
Capabilities Index (ECI)——
ECI rank——
Price per million tokens
Input$0.25$0.10 (best)
Output$0.75$0.40 (best)
Cached input$0.025$0.01 (best)
Blended (3:1)$0.375$0.175 (best)
Long-context rateSame rateSame rate
Price sourceOfficial Inception APIOfficial Upstage API
Limits
Context window32,000 tokens524,288 tokens (best)
Max output8,192 tokens131,072 tokens (best)
Inputs and features
TextYesYes
ImagesNoNo
PDFsNoNo
AudioNoNo
VideoNoNo
ReasoningNoYesminimal · low · medium · high · xhigh · max
Tool callingNoYes
Structured outputNoYes
Availability
WeightsProprietaryProprietary
API model IDmercury-edit-2solar-mini4
API providers14 (best)
ReleasedMar 30, 2026Sep 22, 2026
Knowledge cutoff—Feb 2026
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.

  • Mercury Edit 2$4.00
  • Solar Mini 4$1.80
04 — Questions

Which should you choose?

Which is better: Mercury Edit 2 or Solar Mini 4?

Solar Mini 4 is the better all-round choice, scoring 64/100 against Mercury Edit 2 (34). It leads on price, inputs & features and context window. 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, Mercury Edit 2 or Solar Mini 4?

Solar Mini 4 is cheaper at $0.10 input / $0.40 output per million tokens (official Upstage API price). Mercury Edit 2 costs $0.25 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 $0.175 per million tokens for Solar Mini 4 versus $0.375 for Mercury Edit 2 (2.1× as much).

Which scores higher on benchmarks?

There is no independent benchmark that covers both models yet. Mercury Edit 2 has not been scored yet and Solar Mini 4 has not been scored yet.

Which is better for coding?

There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for Mercury Edit 2 and Solar Mini 4 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?

Solar Mini 4 has the largest context window at 524,288 tokens, against 32,000 for Mercury Edit 2. Maximum output per response: Mercury Edit 2 up to 8,192, Solar Mini 4 up to 131,072 tokens.

Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?

Mercury Edit 2 accepts text; Solar Mini 4 accepts text. They handle the same number of input types.

Are any of these open source?

No. Mercury Edit 2 and Solar Mini 4 are proprietary and only available through APIs and apps.

Which is newer?

Solar Mini 4 is the newest, released Sep 22, 2026. Mercury Edit 2 came out Mar 30, 2026. Knowledge cutoff: Solar Mini 4 Feb 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.

05 — Keep comparing

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