Laguna M.1 vs Laguna XS 2.1 vs Mercury 2.5
Too close to call on our weighted score (Mercury 2.5 71, Laguna M.1 68, Laguna XS 2.1 68). The right pick depends on what you value most.
PoolsideLaguna M.1
68/100- ECI—
- PriceFree / Free
- Context262K
- Poolside
Laguna XS 2.1
68/100- ECI—
- Price$0.06 / $0.12
- Context262K
InceptionMercury 2.5
71/100- ECI—
- Price$0.04 / $0.15
- Context260K
Too close to call
It is close. Our weighted score puts them within 3 points (Mercury 2.5 71/100, Laguna M.1 68/100, Laguna XS 2.1 68/100), so choose by what matters most for your work: Laguna M.1 on price. The score weighs price 50%, inputs & features 30%, context window 20%. None of the shared benchmarks cover every model here yet, so capability is left out of this verdict.
- CapabilityNot enough dataNo independent benchmark covers every model here yet
- Lowest priceLaguna M.1Laguna M.1 Free · Mercury 2.5 $0.068 · Laguna XS 2.1 $0.075 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
- Longest contextAbout the sameLaguna M.1 262,144 · Laguna XS 2.1 262,144 · Mercury 2.5 260,000 tokens
- Widest inputsSame inputsLaguna M.1: Text · Laguna XS 2.1: Text · Mercury 2.5: Text
- Self-hostingLaguna M.1 and Laguna XS 2.1Publishes downloadable weights
| Measure | Weight | Laguna M.1 | Laguna XS 2.1 | Mercury 2.5 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price | 50% | 100 | 100 | 100 |
| Inputs & features | 30% | 35 | 35 | 45 |
| Context window | 20% | 37 | 37 | 36 |
| Overall | 100% | 68/100 | 68/100 | 71/100 |
Left out because at least one model lacks the data: capability. The remaining weights were rescaled.
Every spec in one table
Highlighted cells lead their row. Dashes mean the data is not published.
| Specification | Laguna M.1Poolside | Laguna XS 2.1Poolside | Mercury 2.5Inception |
|---|---|---|---|
| Capability | |||
| Capabilities Index (ECI) | — | — | — |
| ECI rank | — | — | — |
| Price per million tokens | |||
| Input | Free (best) | $0.06 | $0.04 |
| Output | Free (best) | $0.12 | $0.15 |
| Cached input | — | — | $0.004 |
| Blended (3:1) | Free (best) | $0.075 | $0.068 |
| Long-context rate | Same rate | Same rate | Same rate |
| Price source | Official Poolside API | Median of 1 providers | Official Inception API |
| Limits | |||
| Context window | 262,144 tokens (best) | 262,144 tokens (best) | 260,000 tokens |
| Max output | 32,768 tokens | 32,768 tokens | 65,536 tokens (best) |
| Inputs and features | |||
| Text | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Images | No | No | No |
| PDFs | No | No | No |
| Audio | No | No | No |
| Video | No | No | No |
| Reasoning | Yes | Yes | Yeslow · medium · high |
| Tool calling | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Structured output | No | No | Yes |
| Availability | |||
| Weights | Open | Open | Proprietary |
| API model ID | poolside/laguna-m.1 | poolside/laguna-xs-2.1 | mercury-2.5 |
| API providers | 2 | 4 (best) | 1 |
| Released | Apr 28, 2026 | Jul 2, 2026 | Sep 8, 2026 |
| Knowledge cutoff | — | — | Nov 1, 2025 |
What would a month cost?
Enter your expected volume in millions of tokens. List prices only; caching and batch discounts would lower these.
- Laguna M.1Free
- Laguna XS 2.1$0.84
- Mercury 2.5$0.70
Which should you choose?
Which is better: Laguna M.1, Laguna XS 2.1 or Mercury 2.5?
It is close. Our weighted score puts them within 3 points (Mercury 2.5 71/100, Laguna M.1 68/100, Laguna XS 2.1 68/100), so choose by what matters most for your work: Laguna M.1 on price. The score weighs price 50%, inputs & features 30%, context window 20%. None of the shared benchmarks cover every model here yet, so capability is left out of this verdict.
Which is cheaper, Laguna M.1, Laguna XS 2.1 or Mercury 2.5?
Laguna M.1 is cheaper at Free input / Free output per million tokens (official Poolside API price). Mercury 2.5 costs $0.04 input / $0.15 output per million tokens (official Inception API price); Laguna XS 2.1 costs $0.06 input / $0.12 output per million tokens (median across 1 API provider; free on Poolside). Laguna M.1 is listed as free.
Which scores higher on benchmarks?
There is no independent benchmark that covers all three models yet. Laguna M.1 has not been scored yet, Laguna XS 2.1 has not been scored yet and Mercury 2.5 has not been scored yet.
Which is better for coding?
There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for Laguna M.1, Laguna XS 2.1 and Mercury 2.5 yet, so there is no like-for-like coding score. Test both on a sample of your own tasks. All three support tool calling for agent workflows.
Which has the bigger context window?
Their context windows are effectively the same size: Laguna M.1 262,144, Laguna XS 2.1 262,144 and Mercury 2.5 260,000 tokens. Maximum output per response: Laguna M.1 up to 32,768, Laguna XS 2.1 up to 32,768, Mercury 2.5 up to 65,536 tokens.
Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?
Laguna M.1 accepts text; Laguna XS 2.1 accepts text; Mercury 2.5 accepts text. They handle the same number of input types.
Are any of these open source?
Laguna M.1 and Laguna XS 2.1 publishes its weights and can be self-hosted; Mercury 2.5 is proprietary.
Which is newer?
Mercury 2.5 is the newest, released Sep 8, 2026. Laguna XS 2.1 came out Jul 2, 2026; Laguna M.1 came out Apr 28, 2026. Knowledge cutoff: Mercury 2.5 Nov 1, 2025.
How do you decide the winner?
Each model gets a 0–100 score on capability (50%, independent benchmark results); price (25%, blended price per million tokens (3 input : 1 output), log scale); inputs & features (15%, image, PDF, audio and video input, tool calling, structured output and reasoning); context window (10%, maximum tokens per request, log scale). Dimensions missing for any model are dropped and the remaining weights rescaled, so every model is judged on the same evidence. Specs and prices come from public model listings and the labs’ own API pages; capability scores come from independent benchmark runs. Data updated Oct 4, 2026.
