Laguna S 2.1 vs Nemotron 3.5 Lightning (30B A3B): Specs & Benchmark Comparison
Laguna S 2.1 is developed by Poolside, while Nemotron 3.5 Lightning (30B A3B) comes from NVIDIA. Laguna S 2.1 was released in July 2026, and Nemotron 3.5 Lightning (30B A3B) followed a month later in August 2026. Laguna S 2.1 is the larger model at roughly 118 billion parameters, against 30 billion for Nemotron 3.5 Lightning (30B A3B).
The two models share 2 published benchmarks. Laguna S 2.1 leads on 2 of them. The widest gaps are on Terminal-Bench 2.1, where Laguna S 2.1 scores 70.2% against 24.6%; SWE-bench Multilingual, where Laguna S 2.1 scores 78.5% against 39.3%. Averaged across everything we track, Laguna S 2.1 sits at 57.4% and Nemotron 3.5 Lightning (30B A3B) at 45.3%.
Nemotron 3.5 Lightning (30B A3B) is the cheaper API at $0.05 per million input tokens and $0.20 per million output tokens, roughly 2 times cheaper than Laguna S 2.1 at $0.10 and $0.20. Laguna S 2.1 takes the larger context window at 1M tokens, compared with 262K for Nemotron 3.5 Lightning (30B A3B). On tooling, only Nemotron 3.5 Lightning (30B A3B) supports function calling and only Nemotron 3.5 Lightning (30B A3B) offers structured output.
| Characteristic | Laguna S 2.1 | Nemotron 3.5 Lightning (30B A3B) |
|---|---|---|
| Company | Poolside | NVIDIA |
| Release Date | July 21, 2026 | August 11, 2026 |
| Parameters | 118B | 30B |
| Multimodal | No | No |
| Context (input) | 1.0M | 262K |
| Context (output) | — | 262K |
| Input Price / 1M | $0.10 | $0.05 |
| Output Price / 1M | $0.20 | $0.20 |
| Average Score | 57.4% | 45.3% |
| Benchmarks | ||
| Terminal-Bench 2.1 | 70.2% | 24.6% |
| SWE-bench Multilingual | 78.5% | 39.3% |
Visual Benchmark Comparison
Verdict
Nemotron 3.5 Lightning (30B A3B) leads in 2 out of 4 comparison categories.
Both models show comparable average scores: Laguna S 2.1 — 0.6, Nemotron 3.5 Lightning (30B A3B) — 0.5.
Nemotron 3.5 Lightning (30B A3B) is 1.2x cheaper: input $0.05/1M vs $0.10/1M tokens.
Laguna S 2.1 supports a larger context: 1M vs 262K tokens.
Nemotron 3.5 Lightning (30B A3B) is newer: released 8/11/2026 vs 7/21/2026.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Which is better for coding — Laguna S 2.1 or Nemotron 3.5 Lightning (30B A3B)?
Which model is cheaper — Laguna S 2.1 or Nemotron 3.5 Lightning (30B A3B)?
Which has a larger context window — Laguna S 2.1 or Nemotron 3.5 Lightning (30B A3B)?
The Laguna S 2.1 and Nemotron 3.5 Lightning (30B A3B) comparison is updated for 2026. Data includes benchmark results, API pricing, context window size and other specifications. For more detailed information, visit the Laguna S 2.1 or Nemotron 3.5 Lightning (30B A3B) page. See also the complete list of AI model comparisons.