Laguna XS 2.1 vs Ministral 3 3B
Ministral 3 3B comes out ahead, 74 to 68 on our weighted score, though Laguna XS 2.1 is 25% cheaper per token.
PoolsideLaguna XS 2.1
68/100- ECI—
- Price$0.06 / $0.12
- Context262K
- Our pick
Mistral AIMinistral 3 3B
74/100- ECI—
- Price$0.10 / $0.10
- Context262K
Add a model
Make it a three-way comparison.
Ministral 3 3B is our pick
Ministral 3 3B is the better all-round choice, scoring 74/100 against Laguna XS 2.1 (68). It leads on inputs & features. Laguna XS 2.1 wins 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 · Ministral 3 3B $0.10 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
- Longest contextAbout the sameLaguna XS 2.1 262,144 · Ministral 3 3B 262,144 tokens
- Widest inputsMinistral 3 3BLaguna XS 2.1: Text · Ministral 3 3B: Text, Images
- Self-hostingAll open weightsEvery model here can be downloaded and run on your own hardware
| Measure | Weight | Laguna XS 2.1 | Ministral 3 3B |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price | 50% | 100 | 97 |
| Inputs & features | 30% | 35 | 60 |
| Context window | 20% | 37 | 37 |
| Overall | 100% | 68/100 | 74/100 |
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 | Ministral 3 3BMistral AI |
|---|---|---|
| Capability | ||
| Capabilities Index (ECI) | — | — |
| ECI rank | — | — |
| Price per million tokens | ||
| Input | $0.06 (best) | $0.10 |
| Output | $0.12 | $0.10 (best) |
| Cached input | — | — |
| Blended (3:1) | $0.075 (best) | $0.10 |
| Long-context rate | Same rate | Same rate |
| Price source | Median of 1 providers | Median of 1 providers |
| Limits | ||
| Context window | 262,144 tokens | 262,144 tokens |
| Max output | 32,768 tokens | 262,144 tokens (best) |
| Inputs and features | ||
| Text | Yes | Yes |
| Images | No | Yes |
| PDFs | No | No |
| Audio | No | No |
| Video | No | No |
| Reasoning | Yes | No |
| Tool calling | Yes | Yes |
| Structured output | No | Yes |
| Availability | ||
| Weights | Open | OpenApache 2.0 |
| API model ID | poolside/laguna-xs-2.1 | — |
| API providers | 4 (best) | 1 |
| Released | Jul 2, 2026 | Dec 2, 2025 |
| 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
- Ministral 3 3B$1.20
Which should you choose?
Which is better: Laguna XS 2.1 or Ministral 3 3B?
Ministral 3 3B is the better all-round choice, scoring 74/100 against Laguna XS 2.1 (68). It leads on inputs & features. Laguna XS 2.1 wins 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 or Ministral 3 3B?
Laguna XS 2.1 is cheaper at $0.06 input / $0.12 output per million tokens (median across 1 API provider; free on Poolside). Ministral 3 3B costs $0.10 input / $0.10 output per million tokens (median across 1 API provider). 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 $0.10 for Ministral 3 3B (1.3× as much).
Which scores higher on benchmarks?
There is no independent benchmark that covers both models yet. Laguna XS 2.1 has not been scored yet and Ministral 3 3B has not been scored yet.
Which is better for coding?
There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for Laguna XS 2.1 and Ministral 3 3B yet, so there is no like-for-like coding score. Test both on a sample of your own tasks. Both support tool calling for agent workflows.
Which has the bigger context window?
Laguna XS 2.1 and Ministral 3 3B share the same 262,144-token context window. Maximum output per response: Laguna XS 2.1 up to 32,768, Ministral 3 3B up to 262,144 tokens.
Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?
Laguna XS 2.1 accepts text; Ministral 3 3B accepts text and images. Ministral 3 3B handles the widest range of inputs.
Are any of these open source?
Yes, both publish their weights (Apache 2.0), so you can self-host them.
Which is newer?
Laguna XS 2.1 is the newest, released Jul 2, 2026. Ministral 3 3B came out Dec 2, 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.
Related comparisons
- Add Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3BThree-way comparison
- Laguna XS 2.1 vs Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3BNVIDIA
- Laguna XS 2.1 vs Gemma 4 E2B ITGoogle
- Laguna XS 2.1 vs Mercury 2.5Inception
- Laguna XS 2.1 vs Ling 3.0 Flash FininclusionAI
- Ministral 3 3B vs Seed 2.0 MiniByteDance Seed
- Ministral 3 3B vs Granite-4.0-H-SmallIBM
