Side-by-side comparison of pricing, 12 benchmarks, and generation speed.
| Metric | Mercury 2 | Llama 3.3 Instruct 70B |
|---|---|---|
| Input ($/M tokens) | $0.25 | $0.58 |
| Output ($/M tokens) | $0.75 | $0.71 |
Data from Artificial Analysis API — 12 benchmarks
Mercury 2 is cheaper overall. Its blended price (3:1 input/output ratio) is $0.38/M tokens vs $0.61/M for Llama 3.3 Instruct 70B.
It's a tie — both models win 6 benchmarks each across 12 evaluated categories. See the detailed benchmark chart above for per-category results.
Mercury 2 generates tokens faster at 1108 tok/s vs 88 tok/s. However, Llama 3.3 Instruct 70B has lower time-to-first-token (0.65s vs 3.08s).
Choose based on your priorities: Mercury 2 for lower cost, both perform similarly on benchmarks, and Mercury 2 for faster generation. For latency-sensitive apps, check the TTFT comparison above.