Mercury 2.5 vs Gemma 4 E2B IT vs Laguna XS 2.1
Gemma 4 E2B IT comes out ahead, 79 to 71 and 68 on our weighted score, though Mercury 2.5 is 10% cheaper per token.
InceptionMercury 2.5
71/100- ECI—
- Price$0.04 / $0.15
- Context260K
- Our pick
GoogleGemma 4 E2B IT
79/100- ECI—
- Price$0.07 / $0.09
- Context131K
PoolsideLaguna XS 2.1
68/100- ECI—
- Price$0.06 / $0.12
- Context262K
Gemma 4 E2B IT is our pick
Gemma 4 E2B IT is the better all-round choice, scoring 79/100 against Mercury 2.5 (71) and Laguna XS 2.1 (68). It leads on inputs & features. 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 priceMercury 2.5Mercury 2.5 $0.068 · Gemma 4 E2B IT $0.075 · Laguna XS 2.1 $0.075 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
- Longest contextLaguna XS 2.1 and Mercury 2.5Laguna XS 2.1 262,144 · Mercury 2.5 260,000 · Gemma 4 E2B IT 131,072 tokens
- Widest inputsGemma 4 E2B ITMercury 2.5: Text · Gemma 4 E2B IT: Text, Images, Audio · Laguna XS 2.1: Text
- Self-hostingGemma 4 E2B IT and Laguna XS 2.1Publishes downloadable weights
| Measure | Weight | Mercury 2.5 | Gemma 4 E2B IT | Laguna XS 2.1 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price | 50% | 100 | 100 | 100 |
| Inputs & features | 30% | 45 | 80 | 35 |
| Context window | 20% | 36 | 24 | 37 |
| Overall | 100% | 71/100 | 79/100 | 68/100 |
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 | Mercury 2.5Inception | Gemma 4 E2B ITGoogle | Laguna XS 2.1Poolside |
|---|---|---|---|
| Capability | |||
| Capabilities Index (ECI) | — | — | — |
| ECI rank | — | — | — |
| Price per million tokens | |||
| Input | $0.04 (best) | $0.07 | $0.06 |
| Output | $0.15 | $0.09 (best) | $0.12 |
| Cached input | $0.004 | — | — |
| Blended (3:1) | $0.068 (best) | $0.075 | $0.075 |
| Long-context rate | Same rate | Same rate | Same rate |
| Price source | Official Inception API | Median of 2 providers | Median of 1 providers |
| Limits | |||
| Context window | 260,000 tokens | 131,072 tokens | 262,144 tokens (best) |
| Max output | 65,536 tokens (best) | 8,192 tokens | 32,768 tokens |
| Inputs and features | |||
| Text | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Images | No | Yes | No |
| PDFs | No | No | No |
| Audio | No | Yes | No |
| Video | No | No | No |
| Reasoning | Yeslow · medium · high | Yes | Yes |
| Tool calling | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Structured output | Yes | Yes | No |
| Availability | |||
| Weights | Proprietary | Open | Open |
| API model ID | mercury-2.5 | — | poolside/laguna-xs-2.1 |
| API providers | 1 | 2 | 4 (best) |
| Released | Sep 8, 2026 | Apr 2, 2026 | Jul 2, 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.
- Mercury 2.5$0.70
- Gemma 4 E2B IT$0.88
- Laguna XS 2.1$0.84
Which should you choose?
Which is better: Mercury 2.5, Gemma 4 E2B IT or Laguna XS 2.1?
Gemma 4 E2B IT is the better all-round choice, scoring 79/100 against Mercury 2.5 (71) and Laguna XS 2.1 (68). It leads on inputs & features. 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, Mercury 2.5, Gemma 4 E2B IT or Laguna XS 2.1?
Mercury 2.5 is cheaper at $0.04 input / $0.15 output per million tokens (official Inception API price). Gemma 4 E2B IT costs $0.07 input / $0.09 output per million tokens (median across 2 API providers); Laguna XS 2.1 costs $0.06 input / $0.12 output per million tokens (median across 1 API provider; free on Poolside). At a typical mix of three input tokens to one output token, that is $0.068 per million tokens for Mercury 2.5 versus $0.075 for Gemma 4 E2B IT (1.1× as much) and $0.075 for Laguna XS 2.1 (1.1× as much).
Which scores higher on benchmarks?
There is no independent benchmark that covers all three models yet. Mercury 2.5 has not been scored yet, Gemma 4 E2B IT has not been scored yet and Laguna XS 2.1 has not been scored yet.
Which is better for coding?
There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for Mercury 2.5, Gemma 4 E2B IT and Laguna XS 2.1 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 and Mercury 2.5 have the largest context windows (262,144 and 260,000 tokens), against 131,072 for Gemma 4 E2B IT. Maximum output per response: Mercury 2.5 up to 65,536, Gemma 4 E2B IT up to 8,192, Laguna XS 2.1 up to 32,768 tokens.
Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?
Mercury 2.5 accepts text; Gemma 4 E2B IT accepts text, images and audio; Laguna XS 2.1 accepts text. Gemma 4 E2B IT handles the widest range of inputs.
Are any of these open source?
Gemma 4 E2B IT 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; Gemma 4 E2B IT came out Apr 2, 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.
