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Model comparison

Inkling vs Laguna S 2.1

Data verified

Head-to-head evidence from 3 shared benchmark results across 2 categories. Overall scores shown here use the public BenchAlign v5 ranking lane.

Thinking Machines Lab
67.54/100
No comparison
Poolside
N/A
1 category wins1 category wins

Public leaderboard positions: Inkling #20 (Supported); Laguna S 2.1 unranked (Not scored). Intervals and evidence labels describe ranking uncertainty, not a guarantee for a specific workload.

Evidence parity. Inkling and Laguna S 2.1 share 3 comparable benchmark results. 2 of 8 categories are comparable. 29 results are unique to Inkling; 3 to Laguna S 2.1.

Updated July 21, 2026
Shared results
3
Inkling only
29
Laguna S 2.1 only
3
Comparable categories
2 / 8

Treat this as a split decision. Inkling makes more sense if coding is the priority or you would rather avoid the extra latency and token burn of a reasoning model; Laguna S 2.1 is the better fit if agentic is the priority or you want the cheaper token bill.

Confidence note. This is a partial-evidence comparison with 3 shared benchmark results across 2 evidence categories; 2 of 8 categories currently have scoreable aggregates for both models. Treat the verdict as directional until coverage is more balanced.

Why this result

Inkling and Laguna S 2.1 finish on the same BenchAlign overall score, so this is less about a single winner and more about where the edge shows up. The BenchAlign headline says tie; the benchmark table is where the real choice happens.

Inkling is also the more expensive model on tokens at $1.87 input / $4.68 output per 1M tokens, versus $0.10 input / $0.20 output per 1M tokens for Laguna S 2.1. That is roughly 23.4x on output cost alone. Laguna S 2.1 is the reasoning model in the pair, while Inkling is not. That usually helps on harder chain-of-thought-heavy tests, but it can also mean more latency and more token spend in real use.

Category breakdown

Exact category averages are shown below. Not measured means BenchLM does not have enough sourced public coverage for that model and category.

Category scores and score margins for Inkling and Laguna S 2.1
CategoryInklingΔLaguna S 2.1
CodingInkling68.6Margin 9.2Laguna S 2.159.4
AgenticInkling69.4Margin 0.8Laguna S 2.170.2
KnowledgeInkling51.6MarginNo overlapLaguna S 2.1Not measured
MathInkling97.1MarginNo overlapLaguna S 2.1Not measured
MultimodalInkling76.5MarginNo overlapLaguna S 2.1Not measured
Inst. FollowingInkling79.8MarginNo overlapLaguna S 2.1Not measured

Decisive benchmark drivers

The largest measured benchmark gaps in this matchup, with exact reported values.

More
A · InklingB · Laguna S 2.1
  1. Terminal-Bench 2.0

    Agentic
    Source ↗
    A 63.8%B 70.2%
    Winner: Laguna S 2.1Δ 6.4
    Terminal-Bench 2.0: Inkling scored 63.8%; Laguna S 2.1 scored 70.2%. Laguna S 2.1 wins this benchmark.
  2. SWE-bench Pro

    Coding
    Source ↗
    A 54.3%B 59.4%
    Winner: Laguna S 2.1Δ 5.1
    SWE-bench Pro: Inkling scored 54.3%; Laguna S 2.1 scored 59.4%. Laguna S 2.1 wins this benchmark.

Operational comparison

Runtime and commercial metrics are compared only when both models have a complete sourced value.

MetricInklingLaguna S 2.1Comparison
Input / output priceUSD per 1M tokensInkling$1.87 input / $4.68 outputLaguna S 2.1$0.1 input / $0.2 outputLaguna S 2.1 has the lower combined listed price.
Generation speedtokens per secondInklingNot availableLaguna S 2.1Not availableA complete speed comparison is not available.
First-answer latencyseconds to first tokenInklingNot availableLaguna S 2.1Not availableA complete latency comparison is not available.
Context windowmaximum listed tokensInkling1MLaguna S 2.11MListed context windows are equal.

Benchmark Deep Dive

AgenticLaguna S 2.1 wins
BenchmarkInklingLaguna S 2.1Result
Terminal-Bench 2.0Source 63.8%70.2%Laguna S 2.1 leads
BrowseCompSource 77.1%Not comparable
MCP AtlasSource 74.1%Not comparable
Design Arena Agentic Web DevSource 1257Not comparable
AA Agentic IndexSource 32.3%Not comparable
GDPval-AASource 36.9%Not comparable
GDPval-AASource 1239Not comparable
AA BriefcaseSource 836Not comparable
AA Tau3 BankingSource 23.7%Not comparable
Toolathlon-VerifiedSource 49.7%Not comparable
CodingInkling wins
BenchmarkInklingLaguna S 2.1Result
SWE-bench VerifiedSource 77.6%Not comparable
SWE-bench ProSource 54.3%59.4%Laguna S 2.1 leads
Terminal-Bench 2.0Source 63.8%70.2%Laguna S 2.1 leads
AA Coding IndexSource 52.1%Not comparable
AA-SciCodeSource 46.1%Not comparable
SWE MultilingualSource 78.5%Not comparable
deepSweSource 40.4%Not comparable
Reasoning
BenchmarkInklingLaguna S 2.1Result
AA-LCRSource 63.3%Not comparable
CritPtSource 5.4%Not comparable
Knowledge
BenchmarkInklingLaguna S 2.1Result
GPQASource 87.9%Not comparable
GPQA-DSource 87.9%Not comparable
HLESource 46%Not comparable
HLE w/o toolsSource 30%Not comparable
Artificial Analysis Intelligence IndexSource 40.7%Not comparable
AA-GPQA DiamondSource 87.2%Not comparable
AA-HLESource 29.7%Not comparable
AA-Omniscience IndexSource 2.1%Not comparable
AA-Omniscience AccuracySource 40.0%Not comparable
AA-Omniscience Hallucination RateSource 63.1%Not comparable
Math
BenchmarkInklingLaguna S 2.1Result
AIME26Source 97.1%Not comparable
Multimodal
BenchmarkInklingLaguna S 2.1Result
MMMU-ProSource 73.5%Not comparable
CharXivSource 82%Not comparable
CharXiv w/o toolsSource 78.1%Not comparable
AA-MMMU-ProSource 73.5%Not comparable
Inst. Following
BenchmarkInklingLaguna S 2.1Result
IFBenchSource 79.8%Not comparable
Frequently Asked Questions (3)

Which is better, Inkling or Laguna S 2.1?

Inkling and Laguna S 2.1 are tied on the BenchAlign overall score, so the right pick depends on which category matters most for your use case.

Which is better for coding, Inkling or Laguna S 2.1?

Inkling has the edge for coding in this comparison, averaging 68.6 versus 59.4. Inside this category, Terminal-Bench 2.0 is the benchmark that creates the most daylight between them.

Which is better for agentic tasks, Inkling or Laguna S 2.1?

Laguna S 2.1 has the edge for agentic tasks in this comparison, averaging 70.2 versus 69.4. Inside this category, Terminal-Bench 2.0 is the benchmark that creates the most daylight between them.

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Last updated: July 21, 2026

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