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Head-to-head comparison

Laguna XS 2.1 vs Inkling Small

Laguna XS 2.1 (Poolside) and Inkling Small (Thinking Machines) 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 9 September 2026

As of 9 September 2026, Laguna XS 2.1 holds the stronger ModelCap Index position (#61 vs #64); Laguna XS 2.1 is 10× cheaper per output token ($0.12/1M vs $1.20/1M); Inkling Small offers the longer context window (1M vs 262K tokens); and Inkling Small ships open weights.

Which should you choose?

Choose Laguna XS 2.1 if…

  • you want the stronger overall ModelCap Index position — #61 against #64 (54.1 vs 53.3 points).
  • API cost matters — $0.12/1M output tokens against $1.20/1M, about 10× cheaper.
  • your workload is prompt-heavy — input tokens cost $0.06/1M against $0.45/1M.

Choose Inkling Small if…

  • you need the longer context window — 1M tokens against 262K.
  • you want to self-host: Inkling Small ships open weights while Laguna XS 2.1 is restricted license.
  • you want provider choice — 3 listed API providers against 1.
  • you want the more recently listed model — Inkling Small was listed 30 July 2026, Laguna XS 2.1 2 July 2026.

Laguna XS 2.1 vs Inkling Small: specs, pricing and context

Specification comparison of Laguna XS 2.1 and Inkling Small
FieldLaguna XS 2.1PoolsideInkling SmallThinking Machines
ModelCap Index position#61#64
Index score54.153.3
EvidenceEstimatedMeasured
Input price / 1M tokens$0.06$0.45
Output price / 1M tokens$0.12$1.20
Context window262K tokens1M tokens
Max output tokens33K262K
API providers listed13
Weight accessRestricted licenseOpen weights
Input modalitiesTextText, Image, Audio
First listed2 July 202630 July 2026
PublisherPoolsideThinking Machines

Evidence: 3 reported rows against measured corpus ladders (30%); global-corpus-prior over 182 held-out anchors (70%); shrunk 1.4 toward the measured corpus · 5 public benchmark observations across 5 boards. Prices are the lowest listed API offer per million tokens observed on the OpenRouter catalogue.

Benchmark scores: Laguna XS 2.1 vs Inkling Small

Public benchmark boards where Laguna XS 2.1 or Inkling Small has a published result
BoardLaguna XS 2.1Inkling SmallLeads
Arena codingArena (LMArena)—14771467–1486Only one result
LMArena AgentLMArena—-6.9%-8.5%–-5.3%Only one result
ARC-AGI-2ARC Prize Foundation—40.1%X-HighOnly one result
AA Intelligence IndexArtificial Analysis—26.1intelligence-index:v4.3:reasoning-unspecifiedOnly one result
AA Terminal-Bench 2.1Artificial Analysis—55.1%terminal-bench:2.1:terminus-2:e2b:pass-at-1:3-repeats:source-model="Inkling Small":reasoning=trueOnly one result
AA Humanity's Last ExamArtificial Analysis—33.3%hle:may-2025:text-only-2158:no-tools:pass-at-1:source-model="Inkling Small":reasoning=trueOnly 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 Inkling Small: common questions

Is Laguna XS 2.1 better than Inkling Small?

Laguna XS 2.1 ranks higher on the ModelCap Index as of 9 September 2026: #61 against #64. 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 Inkling Small?

Laguna XS 2.1 is cheaper on output tokens: $0.12/1M against $1.20/1M. Input tokens are $0.06/1M for Laguna XS 2.1 and $0.45/1M for Inkling Small. 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 $1.50 for Inkling Small. Laguna XS 2.1 costs 88.0% 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 Inkling Small?

Inkling Small has the larger context window: 1M tokens against 262K.

Which is better for coding, Laguna XS 2.1 or Inkling Small?

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 Inkling Small open-weight models?

Laguna XS 2.1: Restricted license. Inkling Small: 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 Inkling Small?

ModelCap currently lists 1 API provider for Laguna XS 2.1 and 3 for Inkling Small, 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 Inkling Small comparison?

Every figure comes from the sealed ModelCap dataset published 9 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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