Solar Mini 4 vs Mercury Edit 2
Solar Mini 4 comes out ahead, 64 to 34 on our weighted score, and it is the cheaper option too.
- Our pick
UpstageSolar Mini 4
64/100- ECI—
- Price$0.10 / $0.40
- Context524K
InceptionMercury Edit 2
34/100- ECI—
- Price$0.25 / $0.75
- Context32K
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Make it a three-way comparison.
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 inputsSolar Mini 4: Text · Mercury Edit 2: Text
- Self-hostingNo open weightsBoth are available only through APIs
| Measure | Weight | Solar Mini 4 | Mercury Edit 2 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price | 50% | 82 | 67 |
| Inputs & features | 30% | 45 | 0 |
| Context window | 20% | 49 | 0 |
| Overall | 100% | 64/100 | 34/100 |
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 | Solar Mini 4Upstage | Mercury Edit 2Inception |
|---|---|---|
| Capability | ||
| Capabilities Index (ECI) | — | — |
| ECI rank | — | — |
| Price per million tokens | ||
| Input | $0.10 (best) | $0.25 |
| Output | $0.40 (best) | $0.75 |
| Cached input | $0.01 (best) | $0.025 |
| Blended (3:1) | $0.175 (best) | $0.375 |
| Long-context rate | Same rate | Same rate |
| Price source | Official Upstage API | Official Inception API |
| Limits | ||
| Context window | 524,288 tokens (best) | 32,000 tokens |
| Max output | 131,072 tokens (best) | 8,192 tokens |
| Inputs and features | ||
| Text | Yes | Yes |
| Images | No | No |
| PDFs | No | No |
| Audio | No | No |
| Video | No | No |
| Reasoning | Yesminimal · low · medium · high · xhigh · max | No |
| Tool calling | Yes | No |
| Structured output | Yes | No |
| Availability | ||
| Weights | Proprietary | Proprietary |
| API model ID | solar-mini4 | mercury-edit-2 |
| API providers | 4 (best) | 1 |
| Released | Sep 22, 2026 | Mar 30, 2026 |
| Knowledge cutoff | Feb 2026 | — |
What would a month cost?
Enter your expected volume in millions of tokens. List prices only; caching and batch discounts would lower these.
- Solar Mini 4$1.80
- Mercury Edit 2$4.00
Which should you choose?
Which is better: Solar Mini 4 or Mercury Edit 2?
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, Solar Mini 4 or Mercury Edit 2?
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. Solar Mini 4 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 Solar Mini 4 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?
Solar Mini 4 has the largest context window at 524,288 tokens, against 32,000 for Mercury Edit 2. Maximum output per response: Solar Mini 4 up to 131,072, Mercury Edit 2 up to 8,192 tokens.
Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?
Solar Mini 4 accepts text; Mercury Edit 2 accepts text. They handle the same number of input types.
Are any of these open source?
No. Solar Mini 4 and Mercury Edit 2 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.
