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Business banking · November 2026 Edition

Mercury vs Brex

One of fourteen models named Mercury first on the direct prompt; two named Brex. Mercury was named by fourteen of the fourteen models and Brex by eleven and Mercury carries 45 labels and Brex 24, so the shares are not directly comparable.

Mercury

accepted challenger

Named in four categories this edition.

Brex

accepted challenger

Named in twelve categories this edition.

First-choice share17%8%Of first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts, 0 to 100.
Negative rate16%17%Negative labels as a share of the product's labels, 0 to 100.
Rank in category#1#3A position in a field of 16; printed, not drawn.
Labels4524A count; the two differ.
The two percentage rows are drawn on one 0 to 100 track, Mercury reading right to left. Rank and label count are printed, not drawn.Mercury vs Bluevine · Mercury vs Rho · Mercury vs PNC Bank

Share is the count of first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts over all fourteen models, for a mid-market B2B company; rank is within the category; every quote names the model and the prompt it came from. Both figures come from the business banking page.

By framing

How many of the fourteen models made each the first choice, per way of asking, and how many argued against it.
MercuryFirst choices, of fourteen modelsBrex
Direct12
Paraphrase62
Comparative10
Budget-constrained20
Scale-constrained00
Negative007 against Mercury · 4 against Brex
Bars are first choices, 0 to 14 each sideModels that argued againstA model can name both, so the two sides of a row do not sum to fourteen.

Across every category in the November 2026 Edition, Mercury and Brex were named in the same answer 104 times, of the 201 answers naming Mercury and the 605 naming Brex. In those answers Brex took the first choice fourteen times and Mercury twenty.

Every model, every framing

The eighty-four answers behind the chart above, one cell each: where Mercury and Brex stood in it.
ModelDirectParaphraseComparativeBudget-constrainedScale-constrainedNegative
Claude Haiku 4.5
GPT-5.4 mini
Gemini 3.5 Flash
Perplexity Sonar
Grok 4.20
Mistral Small
DeepSeek V4 Flash
Llama 4 Maverick
Qwen 3.7 Flash
Kimi K2
GLM 4.7 FlashX
MiniMax M2.5
GPT-6 Luna
Muse Glimmer 30B
Mercury Brex first choice named as an alternative argued againstblank: not namedEach cell is one answer, Mercury on the left and Brex on the right.

The direct prompt

The plain question, one answer per model, grouped by where Mercury and Brex stood in it.

Mercury first, Brex not the choice

1 of 14 modelsBrex was named in the answer but not as the choice, or not at all.
Qwen 3.7 FlashCamber, Mercury alternatives: Bank of America Business Advantage Fundamentals, Signature Bank, TD Bank Business Checking, Umpqua Bank

Brex first, Mercury an alternative

2 of 14 modelsMercury was named in the answer but not as the choice, or not at all.
Claude Haiku 4.5Brex alternatives: Chase Business Banking, Mercury, Relay
Kimi K2Brex alternatives: Bank of America, First Internet Bank, Mercury

Neither was the first choice, one was named

6 of 14 modelsThe answer put something else first and named one of the two as an alternative.
Gemini 3.5 FlashJPMorgan Chase – Middle Market Banking & Specialized Industries alternatives: Bank of America Global Commercial Banking, Brex, PNC Bank – Treasury Management, Ramp, Silicon Valley Bank, Wells Fargo – Commercial Banking
Perplexity SonarChase Commercial Banking alternatives: Airwallex, Bank of America, Brex, Mercury, Ramp, Rho, U.S. Bank
Grok 4.20Bank of America alternatives: Bluevine, Brex, Chase Business Banking, Citibank, Mercury, PNC Bank, Texas Capital Bank
DeepSeek V4 FlashChase Performance Business Checking alternatives: Capital One Enhanced Checking, KeyBank Business Reward Checking, Mercury, PNC Bank, Rho
MiniMax M2.5Chase Performance Business Checking alternatives: American Express Business Checking, Mercury, PNC Bank, TD Business Premier Checking
Muse Glimmer 30BPNC Bank alternatives: Bank of America, Brex, First Internet Bank

Neither was named

5 of 14 modelsThe answer made no first choice from these two in this category.
GPT-5.4 miniJ.P. Morgan Commercial Banking alternatives: Bank of America
Mistral SmallPNC Bank, TD Business Premier Checking alternatives: Axos Bank Basic Business Checking, Capital One Business Savings & Checking, Chase Business Banking
Llama 4 Maverickno first choice
GLM 4.7 FlashXBank of America - Business Advantage 360, PNC Bank - Treasury Enterprise Plan alternatives: Chase - Performance Business Checking, First Internet Bank - Commercial Analyzed Checking, Frost Business Checking Plus
GPT-6 LunaJ.P. Morgan Commercial Banking alternatives: Bank of America, Citibank

Bold names in an answer are the products the judge labeled a first choice; a model naming several gives each of them that label. The full answer text for every row is in the record.

By buyer segment

The same question asked on behalf of a different buyer. Each standing is computed within its segment and they are never added together. The figures above are the mid-market standing, which is the one the category orders by.
Small business
Mercury leads by thirty-nine points.
Mercury41%#1 of 14
Brex2%#8 of 14
The full small business standing →
Mid-marketThe figures above
Mercury leads by nine points.
Mercury17%#1 of 16
Brex8%#3 of 16
The full mid-market standing →
Enterprise
The order flips: Brex leads at enterprise.
Brex27%#1 of 13
Mercury6%#6 of 13
The full enterprise standing →

What the models said about Mercury

Every negative label with a quote, up to three, then the highest-weighted positives, up to three. Five of six in this category shown.

“Be cautious with online-focused or fintech business banking providers like Mercury, Bluevine, and Relay.” Grok 4.20 · negative prompt · hard negative
“For Mercury, Bluevine, Novo, Relay, and similar app-first providers, I wouldn't say "avoid" across the board. I would treat them as products to vet carefully” GPT-6 Luna · negative prompt · soft negative
“they carry significant structural risks for small-to-mid-sized businesses... they can terminate your business relationship at any time” Qwen 3.7 Flash · negative prompt · soft negative
“Start with Mercury (treasury + invoicing + payroll) or Bluevine (low fees + high yields). Both have strong track records” GLM 4.7 FlashX · paraphrase prompt · first choice
“Choose a Tech-First Neobank (e.g., Mercury) if: You are a VC-backed startup, tech company, or SaaS business.” Gemini 3.5 Flash · comparative prompt · first choice

What the models said about Brex

Every negative label with a quote, up to three, then the highest-weighted positives, up to three. Two of two in this category shown.

“Primary recommendation: Brex – if you want an all-in-one financial platform with modern tools, high yields, and integrated spend management” Kimi K2 · direct prompt · first choice
“Best if you run a venture-backed startup or mid-market company and want a corporate card plus treasury and vault services in one platform.” Claude Haiku 4.5 · direct prompt · first choice
Also compared

Comparisons are drawn for the top eight products in each category, each against each. The output is the models' output; nothing here is a recommendation by the index.