ZMIME
Comparison · 2 models · Updated Oct 4, 2026

North Mini Code vs Mercury Edit 2

North Mini Code comes out ahead, 71 to 35 on our weighted score, and it is the cheaper option too.

  1. Our pick

    Cohere

    North Mini Code

    Released Jun 9, 2026

    71/100
    • ECI—
    • PriceFree / Free
    • Context256K
  2. Inception

    Mercury Edit 2

    Released Mar 30, 2026

    35/100
    • ECI—
    • Price$0.25 / $0.75
    • Context32K
  3. Add a model

    Make it a three-way comparison.

01 — Verdict

North Mini Code is our pick

North Mini Code is the better all-round choice, scoring 71/100 against Mercury Edit 2 (35). 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 priceNorth Mini CodeNorth Mini Code Free · Mercury Edit 2 $0.375 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
  • Longest contextNorth Mini CodeNorth Mini Code 256,000 · Mercury Edit 2 32,000 tokens
  • Widest inputsSame inputsNorth Mini Code: Text · Mercury Edit 2: Text
  • Self-hostingNorth Mini CodePublishes downloadable weights
How the score is built
MeasureWeightNorth Mini CodeMercury Edit 2
Price50%10070
Inputs & features30%450
Context window20%360
Overall100%71/10035/100

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.

North Mini Code vs Mercury Edit 2 specifications side by side
SpecificationNorth Mini CodeCohereMercury Edit 2Inception
Capability
Capabilities Index (ECI)——
ECI rank——
Price per million tokens
InputFree (best)$0.25
OutputFree (best)$0.75
Cached input—$0.025
Blended (3:1)Free (best)$0.375
Long-context rateSame rateSame rate
Price sourceOfficial Cohere APIOfficial Inception API
Limits
Context window256,000 tokens (best)32,000 tokens
Max output64,000 tokens (best)8,192 tokens
Inputs and features
TextYesYes
ImagesNoNo
PDFsNoNo
AudioNoNo
VideoNoNo
ReasoningYeshighNo
Tool callingYesNo
Structured outputYesNo
Availability
WeightsOpenProprietary
API model IDnorth-mini-code-1-0mercury-edit-2
API providers2 (best)1
ReleasedJun 9, 2026Mar 30, 2026
Knowledge cutoffSep 23, 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.

  • North Mini CodeFree
  • Mercury Edit 2$4.00
04 — Questions

Which should you choose?

Which is better: North Mini Code or Mercury Edit 2?

North Mini Code is the better all-round choice, scoring 71/100 against Mercury Edit 2 (35). 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, North Mini Code or Mercury Edit 2?

North Mini Code is cheaper at Free input / Free output per million tokens (official Cohere API price). Mercury Edit 2 costs $0.25 input / $0.75 output per million tokens (official Inception API price). North Mini Code is listed as free.

Which scores higher on benchmarks?

There is no independent benchmark that covers both models yet. North Mini Code 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 North Mini Code 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?

North Mini Code has the largest context window at 256,000 tokens, against 32,000 for Mercury Edit 2. Maximum output per response: North Mini Code up to 64,000, Mercury Edit 2 up to 8,192 tokens.

Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?

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

Are any of these open source?

North Mini Code publishes its weights and can be self-hosted; Mercury Edit 2 is proprietary.

Which is newer?

North Mini Code is the newest, released Jun 9, 2026. Mercury Edit 2 came out Mar 30, 2026. Knowledge cutoff: North Mini Code Sep 23, 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.