Data points: 61
Model compare
The readout for Claude Opus 4.6 and Mercury 2, before the detailed comparison sheet.
Weighted outcome: Claude Opus 4.6. Benchmark capability categories carry 80%, while price, API performance, and availability carry 20%.
Decision read
Claude Opus 4.6
Claude Opus 4.6 has the higher weighted result; Model A / B score 90 to 10.
Evidence depth
61 data points
Includes 9 benchmark rows, 0 audit samples, and 5 provider examples.
Selection signal
Start with Claude Opus 4.6
The charts below split 14 high-signal samples across speed, scores, and audit health.
Switch either side of this report to compare another model with the same LMSpeed data pipeline.
Select a different model to open a new comparison URL.
This report only uses LMSpeed data for Claude Opus 4.6 and Mercury 2: pricing, speed aggregates, third-party benchmark scores, and shared provider samples.
| Model compare | Claude Opus 4.6 | Mercury 2 |
|---|---|---|
| Overall leader | Leading | Contender |
| Weighted overall score | 90.0 pts | 10.0 pts |
| Benchmark category leads | 2 categories | 0 categories |
| Operational advantages | Free providers, Provider coverage | Average speed, First-token latency |
| Context window | 1M tokens | 128K tokens |
| Max output | 128K tokens | 50K tokens |
| Modalities | Input TextImageFile Output Text |
The overall result weights benchmark capability categories at 80% and price, API speed/latency, and availability at 20%. Recent test volume does not affect the winner, and missing benchmark categories are excluded.
| Model compare | Claude Opus 4.6 | Mercury 2 |
|---|---|---|
| Developer | Anthropic | Inception |
| Released | Feb 2026 | Mar 2026 |
| Parameters | No data | No data |
| Tokenizer | Claude | Other |
| Knowledge cutoff | No data | No data |
| OpenRouter ID | anthropic/claude-opus-4.6 | inception/mercury-2 |
| References | No data | No data |
This report only uses LMSpeed data for Claude Opus 4.6 and Mercury 2: pricing, speed aggregates, third-party benchmark scores, and shared provider samples.
Claude Opus 4.6
Claude Opus 4.6 is stronger in benchmark categories (Coding, Reasoning) and operational dimensions (Free providers, Provider coverage).
Mercury 2
Mercury 2 has these operational advantages: Average speed, First-token latency.
Third-party benchmark profile synced into LMSpeed; only metrics available for both models are shown.
Compare benchmark category scores on a 0-100 scale. Select a category to inspect the gap.
Avg. score
Claude Opus 4.6
53.4
Avg. score
Mercury 2
52.2
Claude Opus 4.6
Claude Opus 4.6 leads by 7.4
Claude Opus 4.6 leads by 2.0
Claude Opus 4.6
Claude Opus 4.6
Claude Opus 4.6
Claude Opus 4.6
Claude Opus 4.6
Metric-level scores with benchmark source, rank depth, confidence, error, and evaluation date where available.
Claude Opus 4.6
44.7 tok/s
Rank #120/139 · confidence 4
Mercury 2
winner1112.3 tok/s
Rank #1/139 · confidence 4
Claude Opus 4.6
winner2.00 s
Rank #55/139 · confidence 4
Mercury 2
3.58 s
Rank #58/139 · confidence 4
Claude Opus 4.6
winner2.00 s
Rank #99/139 · confidence 4
Mercury 2
3.58 s
Rank #105/139 · confidence 4
Claude Opus 4.6
$25.00/M
Rank #148/163 · confidence 4
Mercury 2
winner$0.750/M
Rank #29/163 · confidence 4
Claude Opus 4.6
$10.00/M
Rank #148/163 · confidence 4
Mercury 2
winner$0.375/M
Rank #33/163 · confidence 4
Claude Opus 4.6
$5.00/M
Rank #147/163 · confidence 4
Mercury 2
winner$0.250/M
Rank #37/163 · confidence 4
Claude Opus 4.6
winner84.0%
Rank #52/187 · confidence 4
Mercury 2
77.0%
Rank #88/187 · confidence 4
Claude Opus 4.6
winner18.6%
Rank #61/186 · confidence 4
Mercury 2
15.5%
Rank #69/186 · confidence 4
Claude Opus 4.6
winner45.7%
Rank #32/184 · confidence 4
Mercury 2
38.7%
Rank #83/184 · confidence 4
Latest completed audits from shared providers, with four safety and integrity score groups plus report links.
| Provider | Claude Opus 4.6 | Mercury 2 |
|---|---|---|
| No completed audits are available from shared providers yet. | ||
Speed aggregates and input/output pricing share each provider row for real API selection and migration cost checks.
| Provider | Claude Opus 4.6 | Mercury 2 |
|---|---|---|
5 tests | Claude Opus 4.6 speed / latency N/A / N/A input / output No data | Mercury 2 speed / latency 618 tok/s / 847ms input / output No data |
0 tests | Claude Opus 4.6 speed / latency N/A / N/A input / output No data | Mercury 2 speed / latency N/A / N/A input / output No data |
0 tests | Claude Opus 4.6 speed / latency N/A / N/A input / output No data | Mercury 2 speed / latency N/A / N/A input / output No data |
0 tests | Claude Opus 4.6 speed / latency N/A / N/A input / output No data | Mercury 2 speed / latency N/A / N/A input / output No data |
0 tests | Claude Opus 4.6 speed / latency N/A / N/A input / output No data | Mercury 2 speed / latency N/A / N/A input / output No data |
Weighted outcome: Claude Opus 4.6. Benchmark capability categories carry 80%, while price, API performance, and availability carry 20%.
Input
Output
| Features | Text inputImage inputFile inputText outputTool callingStructured outputsJSON modeReasoning | Text inputText outputTool callingStructured outputsJSON modeReasoning |
|---|
