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Head-to-head comparison

Mercury 2 vs GLM 4.6V

Mercury 2 (Inception Labs) and GLM 4.6V (Z.ai) compared on the ModelCap Index, API price, context window, provider availability, weight access and every public benchmark board they share. Figures are the same ones shown on the live rankings; nothing here is a hidden score.

Snapshot as of 17 August 2026

As of 17 August 2026, GLM 4.6V holds the stronger ModelCap Index position (#77 vs #80); Mercury 2 is 1.2× cheaper per output token ($0.75/1M vs $0.90/1M); GLM 4.6V offers the longer context window (131K vs 128K tokens); and GLM 4.6V ships open weights.

Which should you choose?

Choose Mercury 2 if…

  • API cost matters — $0.75/1M output tokens against $0.90/1M, about 1.2× cheaper.
  • your workload is prompt-heavy — input tokens cost $0.25/1M against $0.30/1M.
  • Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index is your yardstick — 21.9 against 10.9.
  • you want the more recently listed model — Mercury 2 was listed 4 March 2026, GLM 4.6V 8 December 2025.

Choose GLM 4.6V if…

  • you want the stronger overall ModelCap Index position — #77 against #80 (33.3 vs 31.2 points).
  • you need the longer context window — 131K tokens against 128K.
  • you want to self-host: GLM 4.6V ships open weights while Mercury 2 is api only.
  • you want provider choice — 2 listed API providers against 1.
  • Arena coding is your yardstick — 1417 against 1394.

Mercury 2 vs GLM 4.6V: specs, pricing and context

Specification comparison of Mercury 2 and GLM 4.6V
FieldMercury 2Inception LabsGLM 4.6VZ.ai
ModelCap Index position#80#77
Index score31.233.3
EvidenceMeasuredMeasured
Input price / 1M tokens$0.25$0.30
Output price / 1M tokens$0.75$0.90
Context window128K tokens131K tokens
Max output tokens50K33K
API providers listed12
Weight accessAPI onlyOpen weights
Input modalitiesTextImage, Text, Video
First listed4 March 20268 December 2025
PublisherInception LabsZ.ai

Evidence: 3 public benchmark observations across 3 boards · 3 public benchmark observations across 3 boards. Prices are the lowest listed API offer per million tokens observed on the OpenRouter catalogue.

Benchmark scores: Mercury 2 vs GLM 4.6V

Public benchmark boards where Mercury 2 or GLM 4.6V has a published result
BoardMercury 2GLM 4.6VLeads
Arena codingArena (LMArena)13941373–141514171392–1442GLM 4.6V
Artificial Analysis Intelligence IndexArtificial Analysis21.9intelligence-index10.9intelligence-indexMercury 2

Scores are the sources' own published figures for each model's best evaluated configuration; ModelCap never re-runs a benchmark.

Want a different pairing? Open the interactive comparison tool to swap either model for any current ranked language model.

Mercury 2 vs GLM 4.6V: common questions

Is Mercury 2 better than GLM 4.6V?

GLM 4.6V ranks higher on the ModelCap Index as of 17 August 2026: #77 against #80. That is a capability ranking built from public benchmark evidence with published uncertainty; whether it is "better" for you also depends on price, context and where you can run it.

Is Mercury 2 cheaper than GLM 4.6V?

Mercury 2 is cheaper on output tokens: $0.75/1M against $0.90/1M. Input tokens are $0.25/1M for Mercury 2 and $0.30/1M for GLM 4.6V. Prices are the lowest listed API offer ModelCap observed, in USD per million tokens.

Which has the bigger context window, Mercury 2 or GLM 4.6V?

GLM 4.6V has the larger context window: 131K tokens against 128K.

Which is better for coding, Mercury 2 or GLM 4.6V?

Arena coding: Mercury 2 1394, GLM 4.6V 1417 — GLM 4.6V leads.

Are Mercury 2 and GLM 4.6V open-weight models?

Mercury 2: API only. GLM 4.6V: Open weights. Open weights mean the checkpoint can be downloaded and self-hosted under its licence; API-only models are available solely through hosted endpoints.

Where can I run Mercury 2 and GLM 4.6V?

ModelCap currently lists 1 API provider for Mercury 2 and 2 for GLM 4.6V, from the OpenRouter catalogue snapshot the site serves; each model page lists the providers and their prices.

How current is this Mercury 2 vs GLM 4.6V comparison?

Every figure comes from the sealed ModelCap dataset published 17 August 2026; the page re-renders within a minute of each data refresh, and the ModelCap Index positions are the same ones shown on the live rankings.

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