North Mini Code vs Llama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253B vs Laguna M.1
Too close to call on our weighted score (North Mini Code 71, Laguna M.1 68, Llama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253B 65). The right pick depends on what you value most.
CohereNorth Mini Code
71/100- ECI—
- PriceFree / Free
- Context256K
NVIDIALlama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253B
65/100- ECI—
- PriceFree / Free
- Context128K
PoolsideLaguna M.1
68/100- ECI—
- PriceFree / Free
- Context262K
Too close to call
It is close. Our weighted score puts them within 3 points (North Mini Code 71/100, Laguna M.1 68/100, Llama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253B 65/100), so choose by what matters most for your work: North Mini Code on price and Laguna M.1 for long inputs. 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 priceSame priceNorth Mini Code Free · Llama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253B Free · Laguna M.1 Free per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
- Longest contextLaguna M.1Laguna M.1 262,144 · North Mini Code 256,000 · Llama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253B 128,000 tokens
- Widest inputsSame inputsNorth Mini Code: Text · Llama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253B: Text · Laguna M.1: Text
- Self-hostingAll open weightsEvery model here can be downloaded and run on your own hardware
| Measure | Weight | North Mini Code | Llama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253B | Laguna M.1 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price | 50% | 100 | 100 | 100 |
| Inputs & features | 30% | 45 | 35 | 35 |
| Context window | 20% | 36 | 24 | 37 |
| Overall | 100% | 71/100 | 65/100 | 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 | North Mini CodeCohere | Llama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253BNVIDIA | Laguna M.1Poolside |
|---|---|---|---|
| Capability | |||
| Capabilities Index (ECI) | — | — | — |
| ECI rank | — | — | — |
| Price per million tokens | |||
| Input | Free | Free | Free |
| Output | Free | Free | Free |
| Cached input | — | — | — |
| Blended (3:1) | Free | Free | Free |
| Long-context rate | Same rate | Same rate | Same rate |
| Price source | Official Cohere API | Official Nvidia API | Official Poolside API |
| Limits | |||
| Context window | 256,000 tokens | 128,000 tokens | 262,144 tokens (best) |
| Max output | 64,000 tokens (best) | 8,192 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 | Yeshigh | Yes | Yes |
| Tool calling | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Structured output | Yes | No | No |
| Availability | |||
| Weights | Open | Open | Open |
| API model ID | north-mini-code-1-0 | nvidia/llama-3.1-nemotron-ultra-253b-v1 | poolside/laguna-m.1 |
| API providers | 2 (best) | 1 | 2 (best) |
| Released | Jun 9, 2026 | Apr 7, 2025 | Apr 28, 2026 |
| Knowledge cutoff | 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.
- North Mini CodeFree
- Llama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253BFree
- Laguna M.1Free
Which should you choose?
Which is better: North Mini Code, Llama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253B or Laguna M.1?
It is close. Our weighted score puts them within 3 points (North Mini Code 71/100, Laguna M.1 68/100, Llama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253B 65/100), so choose by what matters most for your work: North Mini Code on price and Laguna M.1 for long inputs. 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, North Mini Code, Llama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253B or Laguna M.1?
North Mini Code, Llama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253B and Laguna M.1 cost the same: Free input / Free output per million tokens.
Which scores higher on benchmarks?
There is no independent benchmark that covers all three models yet. North Mini Code has not been scored yet, Llama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253B has not been scored yet and Laguna M.1 has not been scored yet.
Which is better for coding?
There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for North Mini Code, Llama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253B and Laguna M.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 M.1 has the largest context window at 262,144 tokens, against 256,000 for North Mini Code and 128,000 for Llama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253B. Maximum output per response: North Mini Code up to 64,000, Llama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253B up to 8,192, Laguna M.1 up to 32,768 tokens.
Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?
North Mini Code accepts text; Llama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253B accepts text; Laguna M.1 accepts text. They handle the same number of input types.
Are any of these open source?
Yes, all three publish their weights, so you can self-host them.
Which is newer?
North Mini Code is the newest, released Jun 9, 2026. Laguna M.1 came out Apr 28, 2026; Llama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253B came out Apr 7, 2025. Knowledge cutoff: 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.
