Mercury 2.5 vs North Mini Code vs Laguna XS 2.1
Too close to call on our weighted score (Mercury 2.5 71, North Mini Code 71, Laguna XS 2.1 68). The right pick depends on what you value most.
InceptionMercury 2.5
71/100- ECI—
- Price$0.04 / $0.15
- Context260K
CohereNorth Mini Code
71/100- ECI—
- PriceFree / Free
- Context256K
PoolsideLaguna XS 2.1
68/100- ECI—
- Price$0.06 / $0.12
- Context262K
Too close to call
It is close. Our weighted score puts them within a point (Mercury 2.5 71/100, North Mini Code 71/100, Laguna XS 2.1 68/100), so choose by what matters most for your work: North Mini Code 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 priceNorth Mini CodeNorth Mini Code Free · Mercury 2.5 $0.068 · 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 · North Mini Code 256,000 tokens
- Widest inputsSame inputsMercury 2.5: Text · North Mini Code: Text · Laguna XS 2.1: Text
- Self-hostingNorth Mini Code and Laguna XS 2.1Publishes downloadable weights
| Measure | Weight | Mercury 2.5 | North Mini Code | Laguna XS 2.1 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price | 50% | 100 | 100 | 100 |
| Inputs & features | 30% | 45 | 45 | 35 |
| Context window | 20% | 36 | 36 | 37 |
| Overall | 100% | 71/100 | 71/100 | 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 | North Mini CodeCohere | Laguna XS 2.1Poolside |
|---|---|---|---|
| Capability | |||
| Capabilities Index (ECI) | — | — | — |
| ECI rank | — | — | — |
| Price per million tokens | |||
| Input | $0.04 | Free (best) | $0.06 |
| Output | $0.15 | Free (best) | $0.12 |
| Cached input | $0.004 | — | — |
| Blended (3:1) | $0.068 | Free (best) | $0.075 |
| Long-context rate | Same rate | Same rate | Same rate |
| Price source | Official Inception API | Official Cohere API | Median of 1 providers |
| Limits | |||
| Context window | 260,000 tokens | 256,000 tokens | 262,144 tokens (best) |
| Max output | 65,536 tokens (best) | 64,000 tokens | 32,768 tokens |
| Inputs and features | |||
| Text | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Images | No | No | No |
| PDFs | No | No | No |
| Audio | No | No | No |
| Video | No | No | No |
| Reasoning | Yeslow · medium · high | Yeshigh | Yes |
| Tool calling | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Structured output | Yes | Yes | No |
| Availability | |||
| Weights | Proprietary | Open | Open |
| API model ID | mercury-2.5 | north-mini-code-1-0 | poolside/laguna-xs-2.1 |
| API providers | 1 | 2 | 4 (best) |
| Released | Sep 8, 2026 | Jun 9, 2026 | Jul 2, 2026 |
| Knowledge cutoff | Nov 1, 2025 | Sep 23, 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
- North Mini CodeFree
- Laguna XS 2.1$0.84
Which should you choose?
Which is better: Mercury 2.5, North Mini Code or Laguna XS 2.1?
It is close. Our weighted score puts them within a point (Mercury 2.5 71/100, North Mini Code 71/100, Laguna XS 2.1 68/100), so choose by what matters most for your work: North Mini Code 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, Mercury 2.5, North Mini Code or Laguna XS 2.1?
North Mini Code is cheaper at Free input / Free output per million tokens (official Cohere 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). North Mini Code is listed as free.
Which scores higher on benchmarks?
There is no independent benchmark that covers all three models yet. Mercury 2.5 has not been scored yet, North Mini Code 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, North Mini Code 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 256,000 for North Mini Code. Maximum output per response: Mercury 2.5 up to 65,536, North Mini Code up to 64,000, Laguna XS 2.1 up to 32,768 tokens.
Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?
Mercury 2.5 accepts text; North Mini Code accepts text; Laguna XS 2.1 accepts text. They handle the same number of input types.
Are any of these open source?
North Mini Code 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; North Mini Code came out Jun 9, 2026. Knowledge cutoff: Mercury 2.5 Nov 1, 2025, North Mini Code Sep 23, 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.
