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Data as of October 6, 2026 · How the score is built

CurrentProprietaryReasoning

Released Sep 8, 2026260K context

Mercury 2.5 model card

Decision readingMercury 2.5 is Inception’s September 8, 2026 diffusion reasoning release. It has 260K context and launch rates of $0.04 per million input tokens and $0.15 per million output tokens. Inception reports 79% on GPQA Diamond and 77% on IFBench. These are provider-reported results, with the source linked beside each row.

Released Sep 8, 2026 — see all recent releases

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Decision snapshot

Each value carries a field reference instead of floating alone. Markers compare this model with the current ranked and priced catalog; they are not absolute quality thresholds.

Capability

35.8/100

field median 52#149 of 214 ranked models

Public

#149of 214

Verified —

Price

$0.040input / $0.15 output

input median $0.95cached $0.004 · blended $0.095

Speed

691tok/s

field median 98 tok/sFirst token 3.46 s

Context

260Ktokens

field median 256,000Maximum output length is tracked separately

Strongest published evidence

Instruction Following ranks #56. A well-rounded choice across a range of tasks.

Validate before choosing

6 published rows leave some tracked benchmark slots empty. Knowledge is its lowest eligible category at #125.

Source-linked · 6 displayable benchmark rows

Follow model changes

Category score record

Scores and ranks appear only where published evidence can be displayed. The table keeps the score, weight, cohort, and evidence state together.

Category scores, ranks, weighting, benchmark coverage, and evidence status
CategoryScore
Agentic3.8 points below Mercury 2Rank #110 of 120Percentile 8thWeight 22%3 benchmarksVerified
11.5
CodingRank #121 of 144Percentile 16thWeight 20%1 benchmarkVerified
18.6
ReasoningWeight 17%0 benchmarksNot measured
Not measured
MultimodalWeight 12%0 benchmarksNot measured
Not measured
KnowledgeRank #125 of 173Percentile 28thWeight 12%1 benchmarkVerified
33.3
MultilingualWeight 7%0 benchmarksNot measured
Not measured
Inst. FollowingRank #56 of 125Percentile 56thWeight 5%1 benchmarkVerified
77.0
MathWeight 5%0 benchmarksNot measured
Not measured

An earlier release can outscore a newer one in a single category. The note under that category names the release and the gap.

6 of 655 tracked benchmark slots have displayable evidence · bars run 0–100

Coverage details

How much of this is verified

Coverage is split by category so a strong number never hides a thin evidence base. Verified means the row is tied to a published source; provisional rows remain visible but separate.

  1. Agentic3/3 verified
  2. Coding1/1 verified
  3. ReasoningNot measured
  4. MultimodalNot measured
  5. Knowledge1/1 verified
  6. MultilingualNot measured
  7. Inst. Following1/1 verified
  8. MathNot measured
Verified sourceProvisionalNot measured

Capability shape

Each axis shows percentile within that category’s eligible cohort. The comparison outline is the median of the six nearest public-score peers; a collapsed vertex means the category is not rank-eligible.

Mercury 2.5 category percentile values

  • Agentic8th percentile
  • Coding16th percentile
  • ReasoningNot eligible
  • MultimodalNot eligible
  • Knowledge28th percentile
  • MultilingualNot eligible
  • Instruction following56th percentile
  • MathNot eligible

The dashed outline is median of 6 nearest peers.

Eligible category ranks

  1. Agentic#110/120
  2. Coding#121/144
  3. ReasoningNot ranked
  4. MultimodalNot ranked
  5. Knowledge#125/173
  6. MultilingualNot ranked
  7. Inst. Following#56/125
  8. MathNot ranked
Top decileTop quartileMid-fieldNot eligible

Benchmark ledger

Coding opens by default. The marker compares each value with the best source-verified result in the catalog; provisional leaders do not set the reference. Expand the remaining categories for every published row.

Coding1 row
Coding benchmark values, best verified comparison, weight, and source status
SciCodeScientific Code BenchmarkScore38%Versus best verified row

Best verified: Sakana Fugu · 60.1%

Gap22.1 behindWeight10% ref. weight
Provider exact
Inception: Mercury 2.5 launch chart
Agentic3 rows
Agentic benchmark values, best verified comparison, weight, and source status
Terminal-Bench 2.1 (Vals)Terminal-Bench 2.1, Vals AI runScore34.5%Versus best verified row

Best verified: GPT-6 Astra · 87.3%

Gap52.8 behindWeight3% ref. weight
Verified
Vals AI: Terminal-Bench 2.1 leaderboard
τ³-bench resultsτ³-Bench Tool-Agent-User EvaluationScore96.0%Versus best verified row

Best verified: Mercury 2.5 · 96.0%

GapBest verifiedWeight2% ref. weight
Provider exact
Inception: Mercury 2.5 launch chart
DeepSearchQAScore34.0%Versus best verified row

Best verified: Atria Dawn Preview · 96.0%

Gap62 behindWeight2% ref. weight
Provider exact
Inception: Mercury 2.5 launch chart
Knowledge1 row
Knowledge benchmark values, best verified comparison, weight, and source status
GPQA-DGPQA DiamondScore79.0%Versus best verified row

Best verified: GPT-6 Astra · 96.0%

Gap17 behindWeightDisplay only
Provider exact
Inception: Mercury 2.5 launch chart
Inst. Following1 row
Inst. Following benchmark values, best verified comparison, weight, and source status
IFBenchInstruction Following BenchmarkScore77%Versus best verified row

Best verified: MAI-Thinking-1 · 85%

Gap8 behindWeightWeighted 70%
Provider exact
Inception: Mercury 2.5 launch chart

Bars run 0–100; the dark tick marks the best source-verified value

All 6 rows

What it costs to get this score

Published API price against the public score. The x-axis uses a log scale; the dashed path marks models that are not beaten by a cheaper, higher-scoring option. Price uses average of published input and output rates.

Current modelExplore all models

Mercury 2.5 · 35.8 score · $0.095 blended per million tokens

The chart opens on the current model. Scroll horizontally to inspect the full price axis.

30405060708090100$0.10$0.50$1$5$10$25$50$100↘ frontierMercury 2.5

Horizontal: blended price per million tokens, log scale · Vertical: public score

Price vs performance

Lineage

The sequence follows explicit supersedes links. Each score is estimated for that model; a relative can inform a sparse estimate but never sets a floor, so a newer release can score below an earlier one. Scores and prices remain blank when the corresponding public row or first-party rate is unavailable.

  1. Feb 24, 2026

    Mercury 2

    Score 35.5 · $0.25 / $0.75

  2. Sep 8, 2026 · you are here

    Mercury 2.5

    Score 35.8 · $0.04 / $0.15

Base entry

Mercury 2.5 Preview
Radar

Mercury 2.5 release history

Full release history

Radar confirmed these at the source. Use Mercury 2.5 in your work? Explore Radar to follow supported changes and choose your alerts.

Radar

Spec sheet

Each documented value carries its source. Missing fields stay visible as not sourced or not published, rather than disappearing from the page.

API model ID
mercury-2.5Inception models and Mercury 2.5 launch pricing
Context window
260KInception models and Mercury 2.5 launch pricing
Maximum output
Not sourced yet
Knowledge cutoff
Not sourced yet
Input modalities
Not sourced yet
Output modalities
Not sourced yet
Parameters
Not disclosed by the provider
Availability
Available through the Inception API as `mercury-2.5`, with 260K context, tunable reasoning, parallel tool calls, and schema-aligned JSON. The launch also lists Baseten and OpenRouter access.
Cloud regions
Not tracked yet
Lifecycle
Current
API capabilities
Tool calling, structured outputs, and batch support are not tracked yet
Prompt caching
Published at $0.004 per million cached input tokensInception models and Mercury 2.5 launch pricing
Self-host
Weights are not published
Rate limits
Not tracked yet

How to read this profile

The visual layer above carries the decisions. These notes preserve the model, ranking, coverage, and family context behind the numbers.

Mercury 2.5 ranks #149 of 214 on the public leaderboard with a score of 35.79/100. It does not yet have enough sourced coverage for a verified position.

Mercury 2.5 is a proprietary model with a 260K context window. It uses an explicit reasoning mode, which can improve complex problem solving while adding latency and token use.

Available through the Inception API as `mercury-2.5`, with 260K context, tunable reasoning, parallel tool calls, and schema-aligned JSON. The launch also lists Baseten and OpenRouter access.

Inception released Mercury 2.5 on September 8, 2026. The launch chart supplies provider-reported GPQA Diamond, IFBench, long-context reasoning, SciCode, DeepSearchQA at ten tool calls, Omniscience accuracy and non-hallucination, and Tau3Bench Telecom results. TerminalBench lacks a version; the GDPval bar uses an unexplained percentage scale. Neither is mapped. Benchmark values are separate from Mercury 2 and Mercury 2.5 Preview.

Mercury 2.5 sits in the Mercury 2.5 family with Mercury 2.5 Preview. Its explicit predecessor is Mercury 2. 6 of 655 tracked benchmark slots currently have displayable evidence. Missing categories stay blank.

Its strongest eligible category is Instruction Following at #56, while its lowest eligible position is Knowledge at #125. a well-rounded choice across a range of tasks.

Model research

The launch rates are temporary

The models page lists standard rates of $0.20 per million input tokens, $0.02 per million cached input tokens, and $0.75 per million output tokens. The 80% launch discount reduces them to $0.04, $0.004, and $0.15. Inception does not state an end date on that page.

The first-party quick start uses the API model ID mercury-2.5. Mercury 2.5 supports adjustable reasoning, parallel tool calls, and JSON constrained to a schema. Mercury 2 remains supported for existing customers.

What the launch chart establishes

Inception reports 79% on GPQA Diamond, 77% on IFBench, and 38% on SciCode. The chart also reports 34% on DeepSearchQA with a ten-tool-call budget. These values belong to Mercury 2.5 and are not copied to Mercury 2 or the earlier Preview record.

The chart’s 96% Tau3Bench result is labeled Telecom in its source note. It should not be compared directly with the older Mercury 2 Banking result. Its TerminalBench bar does not identify a benchmark version, so we leave that result outside the versioned ledger until the setup is documented.

Measure the complete request

Inception reports 1,107 output tokens per second on NVIDIA GPUs. That is a provider throughput claim, separate from the hosted runtime measurements. It does not establish time to first token or the full response latency of a voice application.

Mercury Voice and Mercury Router were announced as separate previews. Their latency and routing claims do not become Mercury 2.5 specifications.

Primary sources

Last updated October 6, 2026. Runtime fields remain blank until a sourced snapshot exists.

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