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Head-to-head comparison

Laguna XS 2.1 vs Qwen3 235B A22B

Laguna XS 2.1 (Poolside) and Qwen3 235B A22B (Qwen) 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 15 September 2026

As of 15 September 2026, Laguna XS 2.1 holds the stronger ModelCap Index position (#81 vs #82); Laguna XS 2.1 is 15.2× cheaper per output token ($0.12/1M vs $1.82/1M); Laguna XS 2.1 offers the longer context window (262K vs 131K tokens); and Qwen3 235B A22B ships open weights.

Which should you choose?

Choose Laguna XS 2.1 if…

  • you want the stronger overall ModelCap Index position — #81 against #82 (50.8 vs 50.6 points).
  • API cost matters — $0.12/1M output tokens against $1.82/1M, about 15.2× cheaper.
  • your workload is prompt-heavy — input tokens cost $0.06/1M against $0.455/1M.
  • you need the longer context window — 262K tokens against 131K.
  • you want the more recently listed model — Laguna XS 2.1 was listed 2 July 2026, Qwen3 235B A22B 28 April 2025.

Choose Qwen3 235B A22B if…

  • you want to self-host: Qwen3 235B A22B ships open weights while Laguna XS 2.1 is restricted license.

Laguna XS 2.1 vs Qwen3 235B A22B: specs, pricing and context

Specification comparison of Laguna XS 2.1 and Qwen3 235B A22B
FieldLaguna XS 2.1PoolsideQwen3 235B A22BQwen
ModelCap Index position#81#82
Index score50.850.6
EvidenceEstimatedMeasured
Input price / 1M tokens$0.06$0.455
Output price / 1M tokens$0.12$1.82
Context window262K tokens131K tokens
Max output tokens33K8K
API providers listed11
Weight accessRestricted licenseOpen weights
Input modalitiesTextText
First listed2 July 202628 April 2025
PublisherPoolsideQwen

Evidence: 3 reported rows against measured corpus ladders (27%); global-corpus-prior over 194 held-out anchors (73%); shrunk 3.7 up toward the measured corpus · 2 public benchmark observations across 2 boards. Prices are the lowest listed API offer per million tokens observed on the OpenRouter catalogue.

Benchmark scores: Laguna XS 2.1 vs Qwen3 235B A22B

Public benchmark boards where Laguna XS 2.1 or Qwen3 235B A22B has a published result
BoardLaguna XS 2.1Qwen3 235B A22BLeads
Arena codingArena (LMArena)—14451438–1453No thinkingOnly 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.

Laguna XS 2.1 vs Qwen3 235B A22B: common questions

Is Laguna XS 2.1 better than Qwen3 235B A22B?

Laguna XS 2.1 ranks higher on the ModelCap Index as of 15 September 2026: #81 against #82. 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 Laguna XS 2.1 cheaper than Qwen3 235B A22B?

Laguna XS 2.1 is cheaper on output tokens: $0.12/1M against $1.82/1M. Input tokens are $0.06/1M for Laguna XS 2.1 and $0.455/1M for Qwen3 235B A22B. 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 $0.18 for Laguna XS 2.1 versus $1.82 for Qwen3 235B A22B. Laguna XS 2.1 costs 90.1% 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, Laguna XS 2.1 or Qwen3 235B A22B?

Laguna XS 2.1 has the larger context window: 262K tokens against 131K.

Which is better for coding, Laguna XS 2.1 or Qwen3 235B A22B?

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 Laguna XS 2.1 and Qwen3 235B A22B open-weight models?

Laguna XS 2.1: Restricted license. Qwen3 235B A22B: Open weights. 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 Laguna XS 2.1 and Qwen3 235B A22B?

ModelCap currently lists 1 API provider for Laguna XS 2.1 and 1 for Qwen3 235B A22B, from the OpenRouter catalogue snapshot the site serves; each model page lists the providers and their prices.

How current is this Laguna XS 2.1 vs Qwen3 235B A22B comparison?

Every figure comes from the sealed ModelCap dataset published 15 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.

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