GPT-5.6 Terra (Non-reasoning) vs Mercury 2.5
Which is better for the money: GPT-5.6 Terra (Non-reasoning) by OpenAI or Mercury 2.5 by Inception? Intelligence, total benchmark cost, and end-to-end time from Artificial Analysis & other sources, snapshot 2026-10-26.
Trade-off
Verdict
Depends on your budget
GPT-5.6 Terra (Non-reasoning) scores 8.5 points higher (20.8 vs 12.3) but costs 1.2× as much to run the benchmark ($256 vs $218; both mid-range class). Pick GPT-5.6 Terra (Non-reasoning) when the extra intelligence is worth the premium, otherwise Mercury 2.5.
| Metric | GPT-5.6 Terra (Non-reasoning) | Mercury 2.5 | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Intelligence (higher is better) | 20.8 | 12.3 | −40.9% Mercury 2.5 is 40.9% less intelligent |
| Total AA cost (lower is better) | $255.77 | $218.11 | −14.7% Mercury 2.5 is 14.7% cheaper |
| End-to-end time (lower is better) | 5.10s | 4.18s | −18.0% Mercury 2.5 is 18.0% faster |
| Price per 1M tokens (in / out) | $2.00 / $12.0 | $0.25 / $0.75 | |
| Input modalities | Text, Image | Text |
Mercury 2.5 vs GPT-5.6 Terra (Non-reasoning): 40.9% less intelligence, 14.7% less cost to run the AA benchmark, and 18.0% faster end-to-end.
Today's Pareto frontier
Against the frontier
- GPT-5.6 Terra (Non-reasoning) is off the frontier: at the same or lower cost, MiMo-V2.6-Pro scores 46.30 for $207.
- Mercury 2.5 is off the frontier: at the same or lower cost, MiMo-V2.6-Pro scores 46.30 for $207.
GPT-5.6 Terra (Non-reasoning)Mercury 2.5Today's Pareto frontierEvery other model
Matchup
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