• Updated 1 Nov, 11:50 UTC
  • Next run 2 Nov, 05:17 UTCNext 2 Nov 05:17
  • Last 7 days: 4 new models · 99 runs7 d: 4 models · 99 runs
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Beam 1.0 vs Mercury 3

6 prompts both ran·Specs and numbers·Change models

Beam 1.0 took 2 min 35 s and $0.063 at list price, Mercury 3 took 7 min 31 s and $0.065 at list price. Mercury 3 took 2.9× as long, and both cost about the same.

Beam 1.0

Reflection AI · $1.00/M out

Mercury 3

Inception · $0.35/M out · 258 HN pts

Pelican

Generate an SVG of a pelican riding a bicycle

Beam 1.0's SVG for the "Pelican riding a bicycle" prompt

Beam 1.0

16 s$0.0076.7k tokensAPI
Mercury 3's SVG for the "Pelican riding a bicycle" prompt

Mercury 3

1 min 30 s$0.01028k tokensAPI

Watch

Draw a mechanical wristwatch that shows the current local time, with a sweeping seconds hand and a date window. Make it look expensive.

Still of Beam 1.0's page for the "Wristwatch that shows the current time" prompt

Beam 1.0

30 s$0.01111k tokensAPI
Still of Mercury 3's page for the "Wristwatch that shows the current time" prompt

Mercury 3

70 s$0.01233k tokensAPI

Landing

Build the landing page for Lumen Cycles, a Copenhagen workshop that builds custom cargo bikes to order. Make it look like a real brand you would trust with 4,000 euros.

Still of Beam 1.0's page for the "Landing page for a cargo bike workshop" prompt

Beam 1.0

39 s$0.01818k tokensAPI
Still of Mercury 3's page for the "Landing page for a cargo bike workshop" prompt

Mercury 3

42 s$0.00720k tokensAPI

Breakout

Make a Breakout game I can play right now with the keyboard or the mouse. Give it several levels, a score and some juice.

Still of Beam 1.0's page for the "Playable Breakout" prompt

Beam 1.0

51 s$0.02020k tokensAPI
Still of Mercury 3's page for the "Playable Breakout" prompt

Mercury 3

29 s$0.00719k tokensAPI

Design a logo for Night Heron, an independent bookshop that only opens after dark.

Beam 1.0's SVG for the "Bookshop logo" prompt

Beam 1.0

16 s$0.0065.7k tokensAPI
Mercury 3's SVG for the "Bookshop logo" prompt

Mercury 3

3 min 38 s$0.02983k tokensAPI

About

Write the opening of the About us page for Patchbay, a three-person studio in Rotterdam that repairs vintage synthesizers. About 150 words.

Patchbay is a three-person studio in Rotterdam devoted to repairing vintage synthesizers and keeping electronic instruments alive. We work with analog and digital keyboards, drum machines, and modular systems, restoring worn circuits, replacing fragile components, and returning each machine to reliable musical use. Our small team combines careful technical work with genuine respect for the instruments that shaped decades of music. Whether an instrument needs a routine service, a difficult diagnosis, or a full restoration, we approach it with patience, clear communication, and attention to detail. We believe these machines are not just equipment; they are tools with history, character, and sound worth preserving. Based in Rotterdam, we serve musicians, collectors, and studios who want their gear maintained properly and played again. At Patchbay, every repair is treated as a collaboration between craft and music, ensuring that classic synthesizers continue to inspire new sounds for years to come.

Beam 1.0

4 s$0.0011.3k tokensAPI

Patchbay is a three-person repair studio in Rotterdam, tucked between a bike shop and a coffee roastery, where vintage synthesizers come to live another life. We are not a factory and we are not a museum; we are technicians who love the smell of warm solder and the patience that old circuits demand. Between us we have restored everything from early Moog modulars to battered Junos, and we treat each instrument as if it were the first one we ever opened. There is no assembly line here. Every capacitor is tested, every busbar tracked by hand, and every voice board is listened to twice—once on the bench, once through the speakers of the synth that will use it. Patchbay exists because these machines deserve more than a quick fix. They deserve someone who knows their quirks, their failures, and the strange, beautiful sounds that made us fall in love with them in the first place.

Mercury 3

3 s<$0.0011.2k tokensAPI

Specs and numbers

Beam 1.0Mercury 3
MakerReflection AIInception
Made inUSUS
Released16 Oct 202616 Oct 2026
Price in, per M tokens$0.25$0.10
Price out, per M tokens$1.00$0.35
Context1,048,576 tokens1,000,000 tokens
Weightsopenclosed
Hacker News points—258
Time for the six prompts2 min 35 s7 min 31 s
List price of the six prompts$0.063$0.065

Both cost about the same at list price: $0.063 and $0.065. Beam 1.0 was faster: 4 min 55 s less in total, and faster on 4 of the 6 prompts.

In the recording, Beam 1.0's Breakout game plays; Mercury 3's stopped painting.

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