Claude Sonnet 4.5 vs Mercury 2
Side-by-side benchmark comparison across coding, math, reasoning, speed, and pricing.
Claude Sonnet 4.5 by Anthropic wins on 6 of 9 benchmarks against Mercury 2 by Inception, which leads on 3. This head-to-head comparison covers coding, math, reasoning, speed, and pricing metrics from our benchmark data.
Category-by-Category Breakdown
General Intelligence: In general intelligence, Claude Sonnet 4.5 scores 21.2 on AA Intelligence Index compared to Mercury 2's 11.5.
Coding: In coding, Claude Sonnet 4.5 scores 52.1 on AA Coding Index compared to Mercury 2's 31.1, while Claude Sonnet 4.5 scores 1184 on Design Arena ELO compared to Mercury 2's 1014, while Claude Sonnet 4.5 scores 1202 on Website Arena ELO compared to Mercury 2's 1036.
Reasoning: In reasoning, Claude Sonnet 4.5 scores 17.5 on AA Agentic Index compared to Mercury 2's 4.
Context: In context, Claude Sonnet 4.5 scores 1.0M on Context Length compared to Mercury 2's 128K.
Pricing Comparison
Claude Sonnet 4.5 costs $3.0/1M input tokens and $15.0/1M output tokens, while Mercury 2 costs $0.25/1M input and $0.75/1M output. Mercury 2 is the more affordable option for API usage.
Verdict
Mercury 2 leads across the board in affordability, making it the stronger overall choice in this comparison.
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Claude Sonnet 4.5 vs Mercury 2 — FAQ
Which is better, Claude Sonnet 4.5 or Mercury 2?
Claude Sonnet 4.5 wins on more benchmarks overall (6 vs 3). However, the best choice depends on your specific needs — each model excels in different areas.
How does Claude Sonnet 4.5 compare to Mercury 2 for coding?
SWE-bench Verified data is not available for both models. Check the detailed comparison charts above for other coding-related metrics.
Is Claude Sonnet 4.5 cheaper than Mercury 2?
Yes, Mercury 2 is cheaper. Claude Sonnet 4.5 costs $3.0/1M input and $15.0/1M output tokens. Mercury 2 costs $0.25/1M input and $0.75/1M output tokens.
Which is faster, Claude Sonnet 4.5 or Mercury 2?
Output speed data is not available for both models. Check the speed section of the comparison above for available performance data.
What benchmarks does the Claude Sonnet 4.5 vs Mercury 2 comparison cover?
This comparison covers 9 benchmarks including Input Cost, Output Cost, Context Length, AA Intelligence Index, AA Coding Index, AA Agentic Index, Cached Input Cost, Design Arena ELO, and more. Metrics span general intelligence, coding, math, reasoning, speed, and cost categories.