API cost decision in 10 seconds

Aion-3.0-Mini vs Laguna M.1 (free)

Pick Laguna M.1 (free) when budget and context both matter.

Page updated: 2026-07-28T14:07:22Z Data confirmed: 2026-08-23T14:07:50Z Prices normalized to USD per 1M tokens Sample workload: 1M input + 500K output

Budget verdict

Pick Laguna M.1 (free) when budget and context both matter.

On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, Laguna M.1 (free) is estimated at $0 vs $1.4 for Aion-3.0-Mini, saving $1.4 (100% lower).

Cost-first pickLaguna M.1 (free)

Context-first pickLaguna M.1 (free)

Sample savings$1.4100%

10x traffic gap$14

Laguna M.1 (free) is cheaper on the standard workload and also has the larger context window. At 10x that traffic, the same price gap is about $14. Use the calculator below to replace the sample workload with your own token volume.

Cost sensitivity

Workload Sensitivity

Same prices, different token mixes.

Laguna M.1 (free) stays cheaper across input-heavy, balanced, and output-heavy sample workloads.

Workload shape	Token mix	Better pick	Aion-3.0-Mini	Laguna M.1 (free)
Input-heavy / RAG	5M input + 500K output	Laguna M.1 (free)	$4.2	$0
Balanced workload	1M input + 1M output	Laguna M.1 (free)	$2.1	$0
Output-heavy chatbot	1M input + 5M output	Laguna M.1 (free)	$7.7	$0

Cheaper input Laguna M.1 (free) $0.7 vs $0 / 1M

Laguna M.1 (free) is free for input tokens while Aion-3.0-Mini costs $0.7 per 1M tokens.

Cheaper output Laguna M.1 (free) $1.4 vs $0 / 1M

Laguna M.1 (free) is free for output tokens while Aion-3.0-Mini costs $1.4 per 1M tokens.

Larger context Laguna M.1 (free) 131.07K vs 262.14K

Laguna M.1 (free) has 131.07K more context (2x larger).

Sample workload Laguna M.1 (free) $1.4 vs $0

Laguna M.1 (free) is free for the standard workload while the other model is estimated at $1.4.

Estimate your workload cost

Your Workload Cost

Prices are normalized to USD per 1M tokens.

Monthly input tokens Monthly output tokens

Aion-3.0-Mini Calculating… Estimated API cost

Laguna M.1 (free) Calculating… Estimated API cost

Cheaper for this workload Calculating… Difference: calculating…

This estimate uses normalized public API pricing per 1M tokens. It is a planning aid, not a billing quote. Verify provider pricing, limits, and terms before production use.

Quick Decision

Verdict

Laguna M.1 (free) has the lower input price; Laguna M.1 (free) has the lower output price; Laguna M.1 (free) offers the larger context window. For the 1M input plus 500K output sample, Laguna M.1 (free) is cheaper for the standard workload.

For a 1M input token plus 500K output token workload, the estimated API cost is $1.4 for Aion-3.0-Mini and $0 for Laguna M.1 (free).

Best Fit

Choose Aion-3.0-Mini when its provider, model quality, latency, or availability is more important than the numeric price/context winner.

Choose Laguna M.1 (free) when you care most about lower input-token price, lower output-token price, and larger context window.

Decision Notes

On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, Laguna M.1 (free) is estimated at $0 vs $1.4 for Aion-3.0-Mini, saving $1.4 (100% lower).
Laguna M.1 (free) is free for the standard workload while the other model is estimated at $1.4.
Laguna M.1 (free) is free for input tokens while Aion-3.0-Mini costs $0.7 per 1M tokens.
Laguna M.1 (free) is free for output tokens while Aion-3.0-Mini costs $1.4 per 1M tokens.
Laguna M.1 (free) has 131.07K more context (2x larger).

Head-to-Head Specs

Feature	Aion-3.0-Mini (AionLabs)	Laguna M.1 (free) (Poolside)
Input Price prompt tokens per 1M	$0.7	$0
Completion Price per 1M tokens	$1.4	$0
Sample Workload Cost 1M input + 500K output	$1.4	$0
Context Window	131.07K	262.14K
Release Date	2026-07-07	2026-04-28

Use-Case Decision Matrix

Use case	Better pick	Why
Budget-constrained production	Laguna M.1 (free)	On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, Laguna M.1 (free) is estimated at $0 vs $1.4 for Aion-3.0-Mini, saving $1.4 (100% lower).
High-volume input processing	Laguna M.1 (free)	Lower prompt-token price matters most when prompts, retrieved passages, or documents dominate the bill.
Long responses and chatbots	Laguna M.1 (free)	Lower output-token price matters most when assistants generate many completion tokens.
RAG or long-document work	Laguna M.1 (free)	A larger context window leaves more room for retrieved passages, conversation history, or source files.

Related Alternatives

Same-provider lower-cost swaps

No lower-cost same-provider swap is currently tracked for this pair.

Larger context near this budget

DeepSeek V4 Flash 0731 offers 1.31M context with $0.17 sample workload cost.
DeepSeek V4 Flash Latest offers 1.31M context with $0.11 sample workload cost.
Llama 4 Scout offers 1.31M context with $0.25 sample workload cost.
MiMo-V2.5 offers 1.05M context with $0.28 sample workload cost.

Popular competitors

DeepSeek V4 Flash 0731 · DeepSeek · #1
MiMo-V2.5 · Xiaomi · #2
Hy3 · Tencent · #3
Ox Alpha · stealth · #4

Cheaper alternatives

Review low-cost models sorted by a standard 1M input plus 500K output workload.

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Larger context alternatives

Find models with larger context windows for RAG, long documents, and codebase review.

Open largest context models

Provider catalogs

Compare models within provider hubs before choosing a final API vendor.

Open provider hubs

AionLabs catalog

Review all tracked AionLabs models before deciding whether this matchup is the right shortlist.

Open AionLabs models

Poolside catalog

Check other Poolside models with comparable pricing, context, or release timing.

Open Poolside models

Aion-3.0-Mini

Aion-3.0 Mini is a multi-model roleplaying and storytelling system from AionLabs, built on the DeepSeek family of models. It uses a collaborative generation process in which multiple specialized models each...

Laguna M.1 (free)

Laguna M.1 is the flagship coding agent model from [Poolside](https://poolside.ai/), optimized for complex software engineering tasks. Designed for agentic coding workflows, it supports tool calling and reasoning, with a 256K...