GPT-5.4 mini (Xhigh) vs Mercury 2.5
Which is better for the money: GPT-5.4 mini (Xhigh) by OpenAI or Mercury 2.5 by Inception? Intelligence, total benchmark cost, and end-to-end time from Artificial Analysis & other sources, snapshot 2026-10-25.
Trade-off
Verdict
Depends on your budget
GPT-5.4 mini (Xhigh) scores 11.8 points higher (24.1 vs 12.3) but costs 7.0× as much to run the benchmark ($1524 vs $218; premium vs mid-range cost classes). They are not alternatives at one budget: pick GPT-5.4 mini (Xhigh) when you need intelligence above 12.3, and Mercury 2.5 when 12.3 is enough.
| Metric | GPT-5.4 mini (Xhigh) | Mercury 2.5 | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Intelligence (higher is better) | 24.1 | 12.3 | −49.0% Mercury 2.5 is 49.0% less intelligent |
| Total AA cost (lower is better) | $1,524.02 | $218.11 | −85.7% Mercury 2.5 is 85.7% cheaper |
| End-to-end time (lower is better) | 109.06s | 4.24s | −96.1% Mercury 2.5 is 96.1% faster |
| Price per 1M tokens (in / out) | $0.75 / $4.50 | $0.25 / $0.75 | |
| Input modalities | Text, Image | Text |
Mercury 2.5 vs GPT-5.4 mini (Xhigh): 49.0% less intelligence, 85.7% less cost to run the AA benchmark, and 96.1% faster end-to-end.
Today's Pareto frontier
Against the frontier
- GPT-5.4 mini (Xhigh) is off the frontier: at the same or lower cost, GPT-6.1 Sol (Max) scores 51.80 for $1082.
- Mercury 2.5 is off the frontier: at the same or lower cost, MiMo-V2.6-Pro scores 46.30 for $207.
GPT-5.4 mini (Xhigh)Mercury 2.5Today's Pareto frontierEvery other model
Matchup
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Accept: text/markdown or ?format=md returns this page as Markdown. JSON: /api/v1/compare/gpt-5-4-mini/mercury-2-5 · Markdown: /api/v1/compare/gpt-5-4-mini/mercury-2-5?format=md · llms.txt · agent skill