Laguna XS 2.1 vs Gemma 4 31B IT vs Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3B
Too close to call on our weighted score (Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3B 71, Gemma 4 31B IT 70, Laguna XS 2.1 68). The right pick depends on what you value most.
PoolsideLaguna XS 2.1
68/100- ECI—
- Price$0.06 / $0.12
- Context262K
GoogleGemma 4 31B IT
70/100- ECI142.8
- Price$0.14 / $0.40
- Context262K
NVIDIANemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3B
71/100- ECI—
- Price$0.05 / $0.20
- Context262K
Too close to call
It is close. Our weighted score puts them within 1 points (Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3B 71/100, Gemma 4 31B IT 70/100, Laguna XS 2.1 68/100), so choose by what matters most for your work: Laguna XS 2.1 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 XS 2.1Laguna XS 2.1 $0.075 · Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3B $0.087 · Gemma 4 31B IT $0.205 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
- Longest contextAbout the sameLaguna XS 2.1 262,144 · Gemma 4 31B IT 262,144 · Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3B 262,144 tokens
- Widest inputsGemma 4 31B ITLaguna XS 2.1: Text · Gemma 4 31B IT: Text, Images · Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3B: Text
- Self-hostingAll open weightsEvery model here can be downloaded and run on your own hardware
| Measure | Weight | Laguna XS 2.1 | Gemma 4 31B IT | Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3B |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price | 50% | 100 | 83 | 100 |
| Inputs & features | 30% | 35 | 70 | 45 |
| Context window | 20% | 37 | 37 | 37 |
| Overall | 100% | 68/100 | 70/100 | 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 XS 2.1Poolside | Gemma 4 31B ITGoogle | Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3BNVIDIA |
|---|---|---|---|
| Capability | |||
| Capabilities Index (ECI) | — | 142.8 | — |
| ECI rank | — | #86 of 148 | — |
| GPQA DiamondGraduate-level science questions | — | 75.8% | — |
| OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025Competition mathematics | — | 73.3% | — |
| SimpleQA VerifiedShort factual questions | — | 10.4% | — |
| Price per million tokens | |||
| Input | $0.06 | $0.14 | $0.05 (best) |
| Output | $0.12 (best) | $0.40 | $0.20 |
| Cached input | — | — | — |
| Blended (3:1) | $0.075 (best) | $0.205 | $0.087 |
| Long-context rate | Same rate | Same rate | Same rate |
| Price source | Median of 1 providers | Median of 30 providers | Median of 9 providers |
| Limits | |||
| Context window | 262,144 tokens | 262,144 tokens | 262,144 tokens |
| Max output | 32,768 tokens | 32,768 tokens | 262,144 tokens (best) |
| Inputs and features | |||
| Text | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Images | No | Yes | No |
| PDFs | No | No | No |
| Audio | No | No | No |
| Video | No | No | No |
| Reasoning | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Tool calling | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Structured output | No | Yes | Yes |
| Availability | |||
| Weights | Open | Open | Open |
| API model ID | poolside/laguna-xs-2.1 | gemma-4-31b-it | nvidia/nemotron-3.5-lightning-30b-a3b |
| API providers | 4 | 38 (best) | 12 |
| Released | Jul 2, 2026 | Apr 2, 2026 | Aug 11, 2026 |
| Knowledge cutoff | — | — | — |
What would a month cost?
Enter your expected volume in millions of tokens. List prices only; caching and batch discounts would lower these.
- Laguna XS 2.1$0.84
- Gemma 4 31B IT$2.20
- Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3B$0.90
Which should you choose?
Which is better: Laguna XS 2.1, Gemma 4 31B IT or Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3B?
It is close. Our weighted score puts them within 1 points (Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3B 71/100, Gemma 4 31B IT 70/100, Laguna XS 2.1 68/100), so choose by what matters most for your work: Laguna XS 2.1 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 XS 2.1, Gemma 4 31B IT or Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3B?
Laguna XS 2.1 is cheaper at $0.06 input / $0.12 output per million tokens (median across 1 API provider; free on Poolside). Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3B costs $0.05 input / $0.20 output per million tokens (median across 9 API providers; free on Nvidia); Gemma 4 31B IT costs $0.14 input / $0.40 output per million tokens (median across 30 API providers). At a typical mix of three input tokens to one output token, that is $0.075 per million tokens for Laguna XS 2.1 versus $0.087 for Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3B (1.2× as much) and $0.205 for Gemma 4 31B IT (2.7× as much).
Which scores higher on benchmarks?
There is no independent benchmark that covers all three models yet. Laguna XS 2.1 has not been scored yet, Gemma 4 31B IT has an ECI of 142.8 and Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3B has not been scored yet.
Which is better for coding?
There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for Laguna XS 2.1, Gemma 4 31B IT and Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3B 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?
Laguna XS 2.1, Gemma 4 31B IT and Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3B share the same 262,144-token context window. Maximum output per response: Laguna XS 2.1 up to 32,768, Gemma 4 31B IT up to 32,768, Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3B up to 262,144 tokens.
Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?
Laguna XS 2.1 accepts text; Gemma 4 31B IT accepts text and images; Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3B accepts text. Gemma 4 31B IT handles the widest range of inputs.
Are any of these open source?
Yes, all three publish their weights, so you can self-host them.
Which is newer?
Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3B is the newest, released Aug 11, 2026. Laguna XS 2.1 came out Jul 2, 2026; Gemma 4 31B IT came out Apr 2, 2026.
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.
