North Mini Code vs PaddleOCR VL vs Laguna XS 2.1
Too close to call on our weighted score (Laguna XS 2.1 68, North Mini Code 68, PaddleOCR VL 62). The right pick depends on what you value most.
CohereNorth Mini Code
68/100- ECI—
- PriceFree / Free
- Context256K
PaddlePaddle
PaddleOCR VL
62/100- ECI—
- Price$0.02 / $0.02
- Context131K
PoolsideLaguna XS 2.1
68/100- ECI—
- PriceFree / Free
- Context262K
Too close to call
It is close. Our weighted score puts them within a point (Laguna XS 2.1 68/100, North Mini Code 68/100, PaddleOCR VL 62/100), so choose by what matters most for your work: North Mini Code on price and Laguna XS 2.1 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 priceNorth Mini Code and Laguna XS 2.1North Mini Code Free · Laguna XS 2.1 Free · PaddleOCR VL $0.02 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
- Longest contextLaguna XS 2.1Laguna XS 2.1 262,144 · North Mini Code 256,000 · PaddleOCR VL 131,072 tokens
- Widest inputsPaddleOCR VLNorth Mini Code: Text · PaddleOCR VL: Text, Images · Laguna XS 2.1: Text
- Self-hostingAll open weightsEvery model here can be downloaded and run on your own hardware
| Measure | Weight | North Mini Code | PaddleOCR VL | Laguna XS 2.1 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price | 50% | 100 | 100 | 100 |
| Inputs & features | 30% | 35 | 25 | 35 |
| Context window | 20% | 36 | 25 | 37 |
| Overall | 100% | 68/100 | 62/100 | 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 | PaddleOCR VLPaddlePaddle | Laguna XS 2.1Poolside |
|---|---|---|---|
| Capability | |||
| Capabilities Index (ECI) | — | — | — |
| ECI rank | — | — | — |
| Price per million tokens | |||
| Input | Free (best) | $0.02 | Free (best) |
| Output | Free (best) | $0.02 | Free (best) |
| Cached input | — | — | — |
| Blended (3:1) | Free (best) | $0.02 | Free (best) |
| Long-context rate | Same rate | Same rate | Same rate |
| Price source | Official Cohere API | Median of 1 providers | Official Poolside API |
| Limits | |||
| Context window | 256,000 tokens | 131,072 tokens | 262,144 tokens (best) |
| Max output | 64,000 tokens (best) | 16,384 tokens | 32,768 tokens |
| Inputs and features | |||
| Text | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Images | No | Yes | No |
| PDFs | No | No | No |
| Audio | No | No | No |
| Video | No | No | No |
| Reasoning | Yeshigh | No | Yes |
| Tool calling | Yes | No | Yes |
| Structured output | No | No | No |
| Availability | |||
| Weights | Open | OpenApache-2.0 | Open |
| API model ID | north-mini-code-1-0 | — | poolside/laguna-xs-2.1 |
| API providers | 4 (best) | 1 | 3 |
| Released | Jun 9, 2026 | Oct 16, 2025 | Jul 2, 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
- PaddleOCR VL$0.24
- Laguna XS 2.1Free
Which should you choose?
Which is better: North Mini Code, PaddleOCR VL or Laguna XS 2.1?
It is close. Our weighted score puts them within a point (Laguna XS 2.1 68/100, North Mini Code 68/100, PaddleOCR VL 62/100), so choose by what matters most for your work: North Mini Code on price and Laguna XS 2.1 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, PaddleOCR VL or Laguna XS 2.1?
North Mini Code is cheaper at Free input / Free output per million tokens (official Cohere API price). Laguna XS 2.1 costs Free input / Free output per million tokens (official Poolside API price); PaddleOCR VL costs $0.02 input / $0.02 output per million tokens (median across 1 API provider). North Mini Code is listed as free.
Which scores higher on benchmarks?
There is no independent benchmark that covers all three models yet. North Mini Code has not been scored yet, PaddleOCR VL 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 North Mini Code, PaddleOCR VL and Laguna XS 2.1 yet, so there is no like-for-like coding score. Test both on a sample of your own tasks. Note that PaddleOCR VL does not support tool calling, which most coding agents need.
Which has the bigger context window?
Laguna XS 2.1 has the largest context window at 262,144 tokens, against 256,000 for North Mini Code and 131,072 for PaddleOCR VL. Maximum output per response: North Mini Code up to 64,000, PaddleOCR VL up to 16,384, Laguna XS 2.1 up to 32,768 tokens.
Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?
North Mini Code accepts text; PaddleOCR VL accepts text and images; Laguna XS 2.1 accepts text. PaddleOCR VL handles the widest range of inputs.
Are any of these open source?
Yes, all three 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. North Mini Code came out Jun 9, 2026; PaddleOCR VL came out Oct 16, 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 Nov 2, 2026.
