PaddleOCR VL vs Laguna M.1
Laguna M.1 comes out ahead, 68 to 62 on our weighted score, and it is the cheaper option too.
PaddlePaddle
PaddleOCR VL
62/100- ECI—
- Price$0.02 / $0.02
- Context131K
- Our pick
PoolsideLaguna M.1
68/100- ECI—
- PriceFree / Free
- Context262K
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Make it a three-way comparison.
Laguna M.1 is our pick
Laguna M.1 is the better all-round choice, scoring 68/100 against PaddleOCR VL (62). It leads 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 priceLaguna M.1Laguna M.1 Free · PaddleOCR VL $0.02 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
- Longest contextLaguna M.1Laguna M.1 262,144 · PaddleOCR VL 131,072 tokens
- Widest inputsPaddleOCR VLPaddleOCR VL: Text, Images · Laguna M.1: Text
- Self-hostingAll open weightsEvery model here can be downloaded and run on your own hardware
| Measure | Weight | PaddleOCR VL | Laguna M.1 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price | 50% | 100 | 100 |
| Inputs & features | 30% | 25 | 35 |
| Context window | 20% | 25 | 37 |
| Overall | 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 | PaddleOCR VLPaddlePaddle | Laguna M.1Poolside |
|---|---|---|
| Capability | ||
| Capabilities Index (ECI) | — | — |
| ECI rank | — | — |
| Price per million tokens | ||
| Input | $0.02 | Free (best) |
| Output | $0.02 | Free (best) |
| Cached input | — | — |
| Blended (3:1) | $0.02 | Free (best) |
| Long-context rate | Same rate | Same rate |
| Price source | Median of 1 providers | Official Poolside API |
| Limits | ||
| Context window | 131,072 tokens | 262,144 tokens (best) |
| Max output | 16,384 tokens | 32,768 tokens (best) |
| Inputs and features | ||
| Text | Yes | Yes |
| Images | Yes | No |
| PDFs | No | No |
| Audio | No | No |
| Video | No | No |
| Reasoning | No | Yes |
| Tool calling | No | Yes |
| Structured output | No | No |
| Availability | ||
| Weights | OpenApache-2.0 | Open |
| API model ID | — | poolside/laguna-m.1 |
| API providers | 1 | 2 (best) |
| Released | Oct 16, 2025 | 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.
- PaddleOCR VL$0.24
- Laguna M.1Free
Which should you choose?
Which is better: PaddleOCR VL or Laguna M.1?
Laguna M.1 is the better all-round choice, scoring 68/100 against PaddleOCR VL (62). It leads 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, PaddleOCR VL or Laguna M.1?
Laguna M.1 is cheaper at 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). Laguna M.1 is listed as free.
Which scores higher on benchmarks?
There is no independent benchmark that covers both models yet. PaddleOCR VL 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 PaddleOCR VL 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 PaddleOCR VL does not support tool calling, which most coding agents need.
Which has the bigger context window?
Laguna M.1 has the largest context window at 262,144 tokens, against 131,072 for PaddleOCR VL. Maximum output per response: PaddleOCR VL up to 16,384, Laguna M.1 up to 32,768 tokens.
Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?
PaddleOCR VL accepts text and images; Laguna M.1 accepts text. PaddleOCR VL handles the widest range of inputs.
Are any of these open source?
Yes, both publish their weights (Apache-2.0), so you can self-host them.
Which is newer?
Laguna M.1 is the newest, released Apr 28, 2026. PaddleOCR VL came out Oct 16, 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.
