North Small Translate vs Step 5 Preview vs Laguna M.1
Laguna M.1 comes out ahead, 68 to 57 and 50 on our weighted score.
CohereNorth Small Translate
50/100- ECI—
- PriceFree / Free
- Context16K
StepFunStep 5 Preview
57/100- ECI—
- Price$1.00 / $2.70
- Context1M
- Our pick
PoolsideLaguna M.1
68/100- ECI—
- PriceFree / Free
- Context262K
Laguna M.1 is our pick
Laguna M.1 is the better all-round choice, scoring 68/100 against Step 5 Preview (57) and North Small Translate (50). Step 5 Preview wins on inputs & features and context window. 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 Small Translate and Laguna M.1North Small Translate Free · Laguna M.1 Free · Step 5 Preview $1.43 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
- Longest contextStep 5 PreviewStep 5 Preview 1,000,000 · Laguna M.1 262,144 · North Small Translate 16,000 tokens
- Widest inputsStep 5 PreviewNorth Small Translate: Text · Step 5 Preview: Text, Images, Video · Laguna M.1: Text
- Self-hostingNorth Small Translate and Laguna M.1Publishes downloadable weights (CC-BY-NC-4.0)
| Measure | Weight | North Small Translate | Step 5 Preview | Laguna M.1 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price | 50% | 100 | 43 | 100 |
| Inputs & features | 30% | 0 | 80 | 35 |
| Context window | 20% | 0 | 60 | 37 |
| Overall | 100% | 50/100 | 57/100 | 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 Small TranslateCohere | Step 5 PreviewStepFun | Laguna M.1Poolside |
|---|---|---|---|
| Capability | |||
| Capabilities Index (ECI) | — | — | — |
| ECI rank | — | — | — |
| Price per million tokens | |||
| Input | Free (best) | $1.00 | Free (best) |
| Output | Free (best) | $2.70 | Free (best) |
| Cached input | — | $0.05 | — |
| Blended (3:1) | Free (best) | $1.43 | Free (best) |
| Long-context rate | Same rate | Same rate | Same rate |
| Price source | Official Cohere API | Official StepFun (Global) API | Official Poolside API |
| Limits | |||
| Context window | 16,000 tokens | 1,000,000 tokens (best) | 262,144 tokens |
| Max output | 16,000 tokens | 1,000,000 tokens (best) | 32,768 tokens |
| Inputs and features | |||
| Text | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Images | No | Yes | No |
| PDFs | No | No | No |
| Audio | No | No | No |
| Video | No | Yes | No |
| Reasoning | No | Yeslow · medium · high | Yes |
| Tool calling | No | Yes | Yes |
| Structured output | No | Yes | No |
| Availability | |||
| Weights | OpenCC-BY-NC-4.0 | Proprietary | Open |
| API model ID | north-small-translate-09-2026 | step-5-preview | poolside/laguna-m.1 |
| API providers | 1 | 7 (best) | 2 |
| Released | Sep 9, 2026 | Sep 16, 2026 | Apr 28, 2026 |
| 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.
- North Small TranslateFree
- Step 5 Preview$15.40
- Laguna M.1Free
Which should you choose?
Which is better: North Small Translate, Step 5 Preview or Laguna M.1?
Laguna M.1 is the better all-round choice, scoring 68/100 against Step 5 Preview (57) and North Small Translate (50). Step 5 Preview wins on inputs & features and context window. 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 Small Translate, Step 5 Preview or Laguna M.1?
North Small Translate is cheaper at Free input / Free output per million tokens (official Cohere API price). Laguna M.1 costs Free input / Free output per million tokens (official Poolside API price); Step 5 Preview costs $1.00 input / $2.70 output per million tokens (official StepFun (Global) API price). North Small Translate is listed as free.
Which scores higher on benchmarks?
There is no independent benchmark that covers all three models yet. North Small Translate has not been scored yet, Step 5 Preview 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 Small Translate, Step 5 Preview and Laguna M.1 yet, so there is no like-for-like coding score. Test both on a sample of your own tasks. Note that North Small Translate does not support tool calling, which most coding agents need.
Which has the bigger context window?
Step 5 Preview has the largest context window at 1,000,000 tokens, against 262,144 for Laguna M.1 and 16,000 for North Small Translate. Maximum output per response: North Small Translate up to 16,000, Step 5 Preview up to 1,000,000, Laguna M.1 up to 32,768 tokens.
Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?
North Small Translate accepts text; Step 5 Preview accepts text, images and video; Laguna M.1 accepts text. Step 5 Preview handles the widest range of inputs.
Are any of these open source?
North Small Translate and Laguna M.1 publishes its weights (CC-BY-NC-4.0) and can be self-hosted; Step 5 Preview is proprietary.
Which is newer?
Step 5 Preview is the newest, released Sep 16, 2026. North Small Translate came out Sep 9, 2026; Laguna M.1 came out Apr 28, 2026.
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.
