Pick Amazon Nova Pro for multimodal input across text, image and video at $0.80/$3.20 or deep aws and bedrock integration for enterprise pipelines. Pick Mercury 2.5 Preview for very high inference throughput (1,107 tok/s) via diffusion-based parallel token generation or coding accuracy (95.7%, 91st percentile among cost-optimized models). On a tight budget at scale, Mercury 2.5 Preview is the value pick.
Amazon Nova Pro (Amazon) and Mercury 2.5 Preview (Inception Labs) are two of the models people most often weigh against each other in 2026. Amazon Nova Pro is amazon's multimodal Bedrock model at $0.80/$3.20 with a 300K window — an enterprise-integrated generalist, not a frontier model. Mercury 2.5 Preview is inception Labs' August 31, 2026 diffusion-based language model preview, refining tokens in parallel for roughly 10x the throughput of comparable autoregressive models at cost-optimized-tier quality. They diverge most on price and context window — each quantified below from the models' real specs.
Key differences
Price: Mercury 2.5 Preview is about 20× cheaper on input ($0.04/$0.15 per 1M tokens vs $0.8/$3.2 per 1M tokens) — a large enough gap that at scale it can be the single biggest line item in the decision.
Context window: Amazon Nova Pro holds 1.2× more — 300K (~450 pages) vs 260K tokens (~390 pages). But effective recall usually fades long before the advertised ceiling, so the bigger number only helps if the model reasons over it.
Recency: Mercury 2.5 Preview is the newer model by about 21 months (released August 31, 2026), usually meaning fresher training data and capabilities.
Specifications
Spec
Amazon Nova Pro
Mercury 2.5 Preview
Provider
Amazon (US)
Inception Labs (US)
Released
December 5, 2024
August 31, 2026
Context window
300K (~450 pages)
260K tokens (~390 pages)
Price (in/out)
$0.8/$3.2 per 1M tokens
$0.04/$0.15 per 1M tokens
Open weight?
No — API only
No — API only
Modalities
text, image, video, code
text
SWE-Bench Verified
Not published
Not published
MRCR v2 @ 1M
Not published
Not published
Who wins what
Multimodal input across text, image and video at $0.80/$3.20: Amazon Nova Pro — Amazon's multimodal Bedrock model at $0.80/$3.20 with a 300K window — an enterprise-integrated generalist, not a frontier model — and it carries the larger 300K context.
Deep AWS and Bedrock integration for enterprise pipelines: Amazon Nova Pro — Amazon Nova Pro lists deep AWS and Bedrock integration for enterprise pipelines among its strengths; Mercury 2.5 Preview does not.
Balanced cost-to-capability for general business tasks: Amazon Nova Pro — Amazon Nova Pro lists balanced cost-to-capability for general business tasks among its strengths; Mercury 2.5 Preview does not.
Very high inference throughput (1,107 tok/s) via diffusion-based parallel token generation: Mercury 2.5 Preview — Inception Labs' August 31, 2026 diffusion-based language model preview, refining tokens in parallel for roughly 10x the throughput of comparable autoregressive models at cost-optimized-tier quality — and it runs cheaper at $0.04/$0.15 per 1M tokens.
Coding accuracy (95.7%, 91st percentile among cost-optimized models): Mercury 2.5 Preview — At $0.04/$0.15 per 1M tokens it undercuts Amazon Nova Pro ($0.8/$3.2 per 1M tokens), and that gap compounds at volume.
Mathematics accuracy (97.0%, 97th percentile): Mercury 2.5 Preview — Inception Labs' August 31, 2026 diffusion-based language model preview, refining tokens in parallel for roughly 10x the throughput of comparable autoregressive models at cost-optimized-tier quality — and it is the newer of the two.
Lowest cost at scale: Mercury 2.5 Preview — At $0.04/$0.15 per 1M tokens, it is the cheaper of the two — the gap dominates the bill on high-volume workloads.
Largest single-prompt input: Amazon Nova Pro — Its 300K window is about 1.2× larger than Mercury 2.5 Preview's 260K tokens, fitting roughly 450 pages in one prompt.
Which should you pick?
A cost-sensitive startup shipping high volume: Mercury 2.5 Preview — At $0.04/$0.15 per 1M tokens it undercuts Amazon Nova Pro, and on millions of tokens that margin decides the monthly bill.
Someone analysing very long documents or codebases: Amazon Nova Pro — Larger 300K window fits more in one prompt.
Anyone whose priority is multimodal input across text, image and video at $0.80/$3.20: Amazon Nova Pro — It is specifically built for that.
Anyone whose priority is very high inference throughput (1,107 tok/s) via diffusion-based parallel token generation: Mercury 2.5 Preview — That is its strongest area.
Amazon Nova Pro: where it fits
Amazon's multimodal Bedrock model at $0.80/$3.20 with a 300K window — an enterprise-integrated generalist, not a frontier model. Released December 5, 2024 by Amazon, it is built for multimodal input across text, image and video at $0.80/$3.20, deep AWS and Bedrock integration for enterprise pipelines, balanced cost-to-capability for general business tasks, and a 300K context for long documents and mixed media.
Its trade-offs are real: not a frontier reasoning or coding model against 2026 flagships, no published SWE-Bench Verified score, best value is realised inside the AWS ecosystem, and late-2024 model — older than most of the field here. At $0.8 in / $3.2 out per million tokens, it sits in the budget price band.
Mercury 2.5 Preview: where it fits
Inception Labs' August 31, 2026 diffusion-based language model preview, refining tokens in parallel for roughly 10x the throughput of comparable autoregressive models at cost-optimized-tier quality. Released August 31, 2026 by Inception Labs, it is built for very high inference throughput (1,107 tok/s) via diffusion-based parallel token generation, coding accuracy (95.7%, 91st percentile among cost-optimized models), mathematics accuracy (97.0%, 97th percentile), and tunable reasoning levels with parallel tool calls and schema-aligned JSON output.
Its trade-offs: 260K context window is far shorter than frontier 1M-token models, no vision or audio modalities, positioned only against cost-optimized models (GPT-5.6 Luna Low, Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite), not frontier-class, and current $0.04/$0.15 pricing includes a limited-time launch promotion on OpenRouter (list price is $0.20/$0.75, may rise after Sept 8, 2026). At $0.04 in / $0.15 out per million tokens, it sits in the budget price band.
The bottom line for this matchup
Amazon Nova Pro and Mercury 2.5 Preview overlap enough that the right pick depends on your specific job. Mercury 2.5 Preview costs less per token; Amazon Nova Pro holds the larger context; and each leads in its own area — Amazon Nova Pro for multimodal input across text, image and video at $0.80/$3.20, Mercury 2.5 Preview for very high inference throughput (1,107 tok/s) via diffusion-based parallel token generation. Rather than crowning one, run the same hard task through both once and let the results decide.
Frequently asked questions
Is Amazon Nova Pro or Mercury 2.5 Preview better for coding?
Public SWE-Bench figures are not available for either model, so the honest test is your own repository — run an identical real bug through both. By design, Amazon Nova Pro leans toward multimodal input across text, image and video at $0.80/$3.20 while Mercury 2.5 Preview leans toward very high inference throughput (1,107 tok/s) via diffusion-based parallel token generation, and that positioning usually predicts which feels better on your codebase.
Which is cheaper, Amazon Nova Pro or Mercury 2.5 Preview?
Mercury 2.5 Preview is cheaper — $0.8/$3.2 per 1M tokens vs $0.04/$0.15 per 1M tokens, roughly 20× apart on input.
Which has the bigger context window?
Amazon Nova Pro — 300K vs 260K tokens, about 1.2× larger. Useful only if the model actually reasons over the full window, which not all do.
Can I use both Amazon Nova Pro and Mercury 2.5 Preview together?
Yes — a multi-model platform like LumiChats gives you Amazon Nova Pro, Mercury 2.5 Preview and 40+ others under one ₹69/day pass (about $1/day), so you can draft with one and cross-check with the other instead of buying two subscriptions.
Which is newer, Amazon Nova Pro or Mercury 2.5 Preview?
Mercury 2.5 Preview — released August 31, 2026, about 21 months after Amazon Nova Pro.
Amazon Nova Pro vs Mercury 2.5 Preview
Amazon · US | Inception Labs · US · Updated June 2026
Quick verdict
Pick Amazon Nova Pro for multimodal input across text, image and video at $0.80/$3.20 or deep aws and bedrock integration for enterprise pipelines. Pick Mercury 2.5 Preview for very high inference throughput (1,107 tok/s) via diffusion-based parallel token generation or coding accuracy (95.7%, 91st percentile among cost-optimized models). On a tight budget at scale, Mercury 2.5 Preview is the value pick.
Amazon Nova Pro (Amazon) and Mercury 2.5 Preview (Inception Labs) are two of the models people most often weigh against each other in 2026. Amazon Nova Pro is amazon's multimodal Bedrock model at $0.80/$3.20 with a 300K window — an enterprise-integrated generalist, not a frontier model. Mercury 2.5 Preview is inception Labs' August 31, 2026 diffusion-based language model preview, refining tokens in parallel for roughly 10x the throughput of comparable autoregressive models at cost-optimized-tier quality. They diverge most on price and context window — each quantified below from the models' real specs.
Key differences at a glance
▸Price: Mercury 2.5 Preview is about 20× cheaper on input ($0.04/$0.15 per 1M tokens vs $0.8/$3.2 per 1M tokens) — a large enough gap that at scale it can be the single biggest line item in the decision.
▸Context window: Amazon Nova Pro holds 1.2× more — 300K (~450 pages) vs 260K tokens (~390 pages). But effective recall usually fades long before the advertised ceiling, so the bigger number only helps if the model reasons over it.
▸Recency: Mercury 2.5 Preview is the newer model by about 21 months (released August 31, 2026), usually meaning fresher training data and capabilities.
Side-by-side specs
Spec
Amazon Nova Pro
Mercury 2.5 Preview
Provider
Amazon (US)
Inception Labs (US)
Released
December 5, 2024
August 31, 2026
Context window
300K (~450 pages)
260K tokens (~390 pages)
Price (in/out)
$0.8/$3.2 per 1M tokens
$0.04/$0.15 per 1M tokens
Open weight?
No — API only
No — API only
Modalities
text, image, video, code
text
SWE-Bench Verified
Not published
Not published
MRCR v2 @ 1M
Not published
Not published
Who wins what
Multimodal input across text, image and video at $0.80/$3.20
Amazon Nova Pro
Amazon's multimodal Bedrock model at $0.80/$3.20 with a 300K window — an enterprise-integrated generalist, not a frontier model — and it carries the larger 300K context.
Deep AWS and Bedrock integration for enterprise pipelines
Amazon Nova Pro
Amazon Nova Pro lists deep AWS and Bedrock integration for enterprise pipelines among its strengths; Mercury 2.5 Preview does not.
Balanced cost-to-capability for general business tasks
Amazon Nova Pro
Amazon Nova Pro lists balanced cost-to-capability for general business tasks among its strengths; Mercury 2.5 Preview does not.
Very high inference throughput (1,107 tok/s) via diffusion-based parallel token generation
Mercury 2.5 Preview
Inception Labs' August 31, 2026 diffusion-based language model preview, refining tokens in parallel for roughly 10x the throughput of comparable autoregressive models at cost-optimized-tier quality — and it runs cheaper at $0.04/$0.15 per 1M tokens.
Coding accuracy (95.7%, 91st percentile among cost-optimized models)
Mercury 2.5 Preview
At $0.04/$0.15 per 1M tokens it undercuts Amazon Nova Pro ($0.8/$3.2 per 1M tokens), and that gap compounds at volume.
Mathematics accuracy (97.0%, 97th percentile)
Mercury 2.5 Preview
Inception Labs' August 31, 2026 diffusion-based language model preview, refining tokens in parallel for roughly 10x the throughput of comparable autoregressive models at cost-optimized-tier quality — and it is the newer of the two.
Lowest cost at scale
Mercury 2.5 Preview
At $0.04/$0.15 per 1M tokens, it is the cheaper of the two — the gap dominates the bill on high-volume workloads.
Largest single-prompt input
Amazon Nova Pro
Its 300K window is about 1.2× larger than Mercury 2.5 Preview's 260K tokens, fitting roughly 450 pages in one prompt.
Which should you pick?
A cost-sensitive startup shipping high volume
→ Mercury 2.5 Preview
At $0.04/$0.15 per 1M tokens it undercuts Amazon Nova Pro, and on millions of tokens that margin decides the monthly bill.
Someone analysing very long documents or codebases
→ Amazon Nova Pro
Larger 300K window fits more in one prompt.
Anyone whose priority is multimodal input across text, image and video at $0.80/$3.20
→ Amazon Nova Pro
It is specifically built for that.
Anyone whose priority is very high inference throughput (1,107 tok/s) via diffusion-based parallel token generation
→ Mercury 2.5 Preview
That is its strongest area.
Amazon Nova Pro: where it fits
Amazon's multimodal Bedrock model at $0.80/$3.20 with a 300K window — an enterprise-integrated generalist, not a frontier model. Released December 5, 2024 by Amazon, it is built for multimodal input across text, image and video at $0.80/$3.20, deep AWS and Bedrock integration for enterprise pipelines, balanced cost-to-capability for general business tasks, and a 300K context for long documents and mixed media.
Its trade-offs are real: not a frontier reasoning or coding model against 2026 flagships, no published SWE-Bench Verified score, best value is realised inside the AWS ecosystem, and late-2024 model — older than most of the field here. At $0.8 in / $3.2 out per million tokens, it sits in the budget price band.
Mercury 2.5 Preview: where it fits
Inception Labs' August 31, 2026 diffusion-based language model preview, refining tokens in parallel for roughly 10x the throughput of comparable autoregressive models at cost-optimized-tier quality. Released August 31, 2026 by Inception Labs, it is built for very high inference throughput (1,107 tok/s) via diffusion-based parallel token generation, coding accuracy (95.7%, 91st percentile among cost-optimized models), mathematics accuracy (97.0%, 97th percentile), and tunable reasoning levels with parallel tool calls and schema-aligned JSON output.
Its trade-offs: 260K context window is far shorter than frontier 1M-token models, no vision or audio modalities, positioned only against cost-optimized models (GPT-5.6 Luna Low, Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite), not frontier-class, and current $0.04/$0.15 pricing includes a limited-time launch promotion on OpenRouter (list price is $0.20/$0.75, may rise after Sept 8, 2026). At $0.04 in / $0.15 out per million tokens, it sits in the budget price band.
The bottom line for this matchup
Amazon Nova Pro and Mercury 2.5 Preview overlap enough that the right pick depends on your specific job. Mercury 2.5 Preview costs less per token; Amazon Nova Pro holds the larger context; and each leads in its own area — Amazon Nova Pro for multimodal input across text, image and video at $0.80/$3.20, Mercury 2.5 Preview for very high inference throughput (1,107 tok/s) via diffusion-based parallel token generation. Rather than crowning one, run the same hard task through both once and let the results decide.
Want both Amazon Nova Pro and Mercury 2.5 Preview without two subscriptions? LumiChats gives you these plus 40+ models under one ₹69/day pass (about $1/day) — draft with one, cross-check with the other.
Is Amazon Nova Pro or Mercury 2.5 Preview better for coding?
Public SWE-Bench figures are not available for either model, so the honest test is your own repository — run an identical real bug through both. By design, Amazon Nova Pro leans toward multimodal input across text, image and video at $0.80/$3.20 while Mercury 2.5 Preview leans toward very high inference throughput (1,107 tok/s) via diffusion-based parallel token generation, and that positioning usually predicts which feels better on your codebase.
Which is cheaper, Amazon Nova Pro or Mercury 2.5 Preview?
Mercury 2.5 Preview is cheaper — $0.8/$3.2 per 1M tokens vs $0.04/$0.15 per 1M tokens, roughly 20× apart on input.
Which has the bigger context window?
Amazon Nova Pro — 300K vs 260K tokens, about 1.2× larger. Useful only if the model actually reasons over the full window, which not all do.
Can I use both Amazon Nova Pro and Mercury 2.5 Preview together?
Yes — a multi-model platform like LumiChats gives you Amazon Nova Pro, Mercury 2.5 Preview and 40+ others under one ₹69/day pass (about $1/day), so you can draft with one and cross-check with the other instead of buying two subscriptions.
Which is newer, Amazon Nova Pro or Mercury 2.5 Preview?
Mercury 2.5 Preview — released August 31, 2026, about 21 months after Amazon Nova Pro.
Specifications and benchmarks reflect publicly reported figures as of June 2026 and may change as providers release updates. Always verify on your own workload.