Skip to content
ModelCap

Head-to-head comparison

Gemma 4 26B A4B vs Laguna S 2.1

Gemma 4 26B A4B (Google) and Laguna S 2.1 (Poolside) compared on the ModelCap Index, API price, context window, provider availability, weight access and every public benchmark board they share. Figures are the same ones shown on the live rankings; nothing here is a hidden score.

Snapshot as of 10 September 2026

As of 10 September 2026, Gemma 4 26B A4B holds the stronger ModelCap Index position (#38 vs #39); Laguna S 2.1 is 1.9× cheaper per output token ($0.18/1M vs $0.34/1M); Laguna S 2.1 offers the longer context window (1M vs 262K tokens); and Gemma 4 26B A4B ships open weights.

Which should you choose?

Choose Gemma 4 26B A4B if…

  • you want the stronger overall ModelCap Index position — #38 against #39 (65.0 vs 64.4 points).
  • your workload is prompt-heavy — input tokens cost $0.07/1M against $0.09/1M.
  • you want to self-host: Gemma 4 26B A4B ships open weights while Laguna S 2.1 is restricted license.
  • you want provider choice — 9 listed API providers against 1.

Choose Laguna S 2.1 if…

  • API cost matters — $0.18/1M output tokens against $0.34/1M, about 1.9× cheaper.
  • you need the longer context window — 1M tokens against 262K.
  • you want the more recently listed model — Laguna S 2.1 was listed 21 July 2026, Gemma 4 26B A4B 3 April 2026.

Gemma 4 26B A4B vs Laguna S 2.1: specs, pricing and context

Specification comparison of Gemma 4 26B A4B and Laguna S 2.1
FieldGemma 4 26B A4BGoogleLaguna S 2.1Poolside
ModelCap Index position#38#39
Index score65.064.4
EvidenceMeasuredEstimated
Input price / 1M tokens$0.07$0.09
Output price / 1M tokens$0.34$0.18
Context window262K tokens1M tokens
Max output tokens16K131K
API providers listed91
Weight accessOpen weightsRestricted license
Input modalitiesImage, Text, VideoText
First listed3 April 202621 July 2026
PublisherGooglePoolside

Evidence: 2 public benchmark observations across 2 boards · 5 reported rows against measured corpus ladders (70%); global-corpus-prior over 183 held-out anchors (30%); shrunk 4.6 toward the measured corpus. Prices are the lowest listed API offer per million tokens observed on the OpenRouter catalogue.

Benchmark scores: Gemma 4 26B A4B vs Laguna S 2.1

Public benchmark boards where Gemma 4 26B A4B or Laguna S 2.1 has a published result
BoardGemma 4 26B A4BLaguna S 2.1Leads
Arena codingArena (LMArena)14811466–1496—Only one result
AA τ²-Bench TelecomArtificial Analysis40.4%tau2:telecom:dual-control:pass-at-1:3-repeats:source-model="Gemma 4 26B A4B (Non-reasoning)":reasoning=false—Only one result
AA Humanity's Last ExamArtificial Analysis11.5%hle:may-2025:text-only-2158:no-tools:pass-at-1:source-model="Gemma 4 26B A4B (Non-reasoning)":reasoning=false—Only one result

Scores are the sources' own published figures for each model's best evaluated configuration; ModelCap never re-runs a benchmark.

Want a different pairing? Open the interactive comparison tool to swap either model for any current ranked language model.

Gemma 4 26B A4B vs Laguna S 2.1: common questions

Is Gemma 4 26B A4B better than Laguna S 2.1?

Gemma 4 26B A4B ranks higher on the ModelCap Index as of 10 September 2026: #38 against #39. That is a capability ranking built from public benchmark evidence with published uncertainty; whether it is "better" for you also depends on price, context and where you can run it. Their published uncertainty intervals overlap, so the rank difference alone does not establish a reliable capability advantage for your workload.

Is Gemma 4 26B A4B cheaper than Laguna S 2.1?

Laguna S 2.1 is cheaper on output tokens: $0.18/1M against $0.34/1M. Input tokens are $0.07/1M for Gemma 4 26B A4B and $0.09/1M for Laguna S 2.1. Prices are the lowest listed API offer ModelCap observed, in USD per million tokens. For 1,000 requests with 2,000 input and 500 output tokens each (2M input + 0.5M output), the listed-rate estimate is $0.31 for Gemma 4 26B A4B versus $0.27 for Laguna S 2.1. Laguna S 2.1 costs 12.9% less in this scenario. This excludes caching, batch discounts, prompt-length tiers, tool charges and retries; verify the selected endpoint before budgeting.

Which has the bigger context window, Gemma 4 26B A4B or Laguna S 2.1?

Laguna S 2.1 has the larger context window: 1M tokens against 262K.

Which is better for coding, Gemma 4 26B A4B or Laguna S 2.1?

The two models do not share a coding benchmark board on ModelCap yet, so no head-to-head coding score is published; the ModelCap Index position is the closest overall signal.

Are Gemma 4 26B A4B and Laguna S 2.1 open-weight models?

Gemma 4 26B A4B: Open weights. Laguna S 2.1: Restricted license. Open weights mean the checkpoint can be downloaded and self-hosted under its licence; API-only models are available solely through hosted endpoints.

Where can I run Gemma 4 26B A4B and Laguna S 2.1?

ModelCap currently lists 9 API providers for Gemma 4 26B A4B and 1 for Laguna S 2.1, from the OpenRouter catalogue snapshot the site serves; each model page lists the providers and their prices.

How current is this Gemma 4 26B A4B vs Laguna S 2.1 comparison?

Every figure comes from the sealed ModelCap dataset published 10 September 2026; the page re-renders within a minute of each data refresh, and the ModelCap Index positions are the same ones shown on the live rankings.

Explore further