Laguna XS 2.1 vs Muse Spark Open
Poolside · US | Meta · US · Updated June 2026
Quick verdict
Pick Laguna XS 2.1 for remarkable efficiency — 70.9% on swe-bench verified from only 3b active parameters or open weights under openmdw-1.1, shipped day one in bf16, fp8, nvfp4 and int4 across every major runtime. Pick Muse Spark Open for meta's first open-weight muse model - 816b-parameter moe with 42b active, accepting text, image, video and audio input or artificial analysis intelligence index of 39, first among us open-weight models. On a tight budget at scale, Muse Spark Open is the value pick.
Laguna XS 2.1 (Poolside) and Muse Spark Open (Meta) are two of the models people most often weigh against each other in 2026. Laguna XS 2.1 is a 33B open-weight coding MoE running on 3B active parameters — 70.9% SWE-Bench Verified and very cheap, but unproven. Muse Spark Open is meta's October 15, 2026 open-weight Muse Spark - an 816B/42B-active multimodal MoE with a 1M context under a gated Muse Model License. They diverge most on price and context window — each quantified below from the models' real specs.
Key differences at a glance
- ▸Context window: Muse Spark Open holds 3.8× more — 1M tokens (~1,500 pages) vs 256K (~393 pages). But effective recall usually fades long before the advertised ceiling, so the bigger number only helps if the model reasons over it.
- ▸Recency: Muse Spark Open is the newer model by about 4 months (released October 15, 2026), usually meaning fresher training data and capabilities.
Side-by-side specs
| Spec | Laguna XS 2.1 | Muse Spark Open |
|---|---|---|
| Provider | Poolside (US) | Meta (US) |
| Released | July 2, 2026 | October 15, 2026 |
| Context window | 256K (~393 pages) | 1M tokens (~1,500 pages) |
| Price (in/out) | $0.1/$0.2 per 1M tokens | Open weight (self-host / free) |
| Open weight? | Yes — self-hostable | Yes — self-hostable |
| Modalities | text, code | text, image, video, audio, code |
| SWE-Bench Verified | 70.9% | Not published |
| MRCR v2 @ 1M | Not published | Not published |
Who wins what
Remarkable efficiency — 70.9% on SWE-Bench Verified from only 3B active parameters
Laguna XS 2.1
Laguna XS 2.1 lists remarkable efficiency — 70.9% on SWE-Bench Verified from only 3B active parameters among its strengths; Muse Spark Open does not.
Open weights under OpenMDW-1.1, shipped day one in BF16, FP8, NVFP4 and INT4 across every major runtime
Laguna XS 2.1
Laguna XS 2.1 lists open weights under OpenMDW-1.1, shipped day one in BF16, FP8, NVFP4 and INT4 across every major runtime among its strengths; Muse Spark Open does not.
Cheap even on the paid tier, at roughly a sixth of GLM 4.7's input price
Laguna XS 2.1
Muse Spark Open is comparatively weak here — needs about 1 TB of memory at 4-bit; no first-party per-token price confirmed
Meta's first open-weight Muse model - 816B-parameter MoE with 42B active, accepting text, image, video and audio input
Muse Spark Open
Laguna XS 2.1 is comparatively weak here — the free endpoint trains on your inputs and outputs — disqualifying for proprietary code, which is its main use case
Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index of 39, first among US open-weight models
Muse Spark Open
Meta's October 15, 2026 open-weight Muse Spark - an 816B/42B-active multimodal MoE with a 1M context under a gated Muse Model License — and it carries the larger 1M tokens context.
About 143 output tokens/sec; up to 128K output tokens
Muse Spark Open
Its 1M tokens window holds about 3.8× more than Laguna XS 2.1's 256K in a single prompt.
Lowest cost at scale
Muse Spark Open
Its weights are open, so at volume you pay for your own hardware instead of Laguna XS 2.1's $0.1/$0.2 per 1M tokens.
Largest single-prompt input
Muse Spark Open
Its 1M tokens window is about 3.8× larger than Laguna XS 2.1's 256K, fitting roughly 1,500 pages in one prompt.
Which should you pick?
A cost-sensitive startup shipping high volume
→ Muse Spark Open
At Open weight (self-host / free) it undercuts Laguna XS 2.1, and on millions of tokens that margin decides the monthly bill.
Someone analysing very long documents or codebases
→ Muse Spark Open
Larger 1M tokens window fits more in one prompt.
Anyone whose priority is remarkable efficiency — 70.9% on swe-bench verified from only 3b active parameters
→ Laguna XS 2.1
It is specifically built for that.
Anyone whose priority is meta's first open-weight muse model - 816b-parameter moe with 42b active, accepting text, image, video and audio input
→ Muse Spark Open
That is its strongest area.
Laguna XS 2.1: where it fits
A 33B open-weight coding MoE running on 3B active parameters — 70.9% SWE-Bench Verified and very cheap, but unproven. Released July 2, 2026 by Poolside, it is built for remarkable efficiency — 70.9% on SWE-Bench Verified from only 3B active parameters, open weights under OpenMDW-1.1, shipped day one in BF16, FP8, NVFP4 and INT4 across every major runtime, cheap even on the paid tier, at roughly a sixth of GLM 4.7's input price, and unusually transparent evaluation — it publishes its harness, step limits, and sandbox specs.
Its trade-offs are real: weeks old with no independent replication; every published score traces back to Poolside's own harness, the free endpoint trains on your inputs and outputs — disqualifying for proprietary code, which is its main use case, and weak on harder agentic work (37.5 on Terminal-Bench 2.0), and its gain over XS.2 is barely above noise. At $0.1 in / $0.2 out per million tokens, it sits in the budget price band.
Muse Spark Open: where it fits
Meta's October 15, 2026 open-weight Muse Spark - an 816B/42B-active multimodal MoE with a 1M context under a gated Muse Model License. Released October 15, 2026 by Meta, it is built for meta's first open-weight Muse model - 816B-parameter MoE with 42B active, accepting text, image, video and audio input, artificial Analysis Intelligence Index of 39, first among US open-weight models, and about 143 output tokens/sec; up to 128K output tokens.
Its trade-offs: weakest of the three Muse models (Wonder Full scores 56, Wonder 52), muse Model License: attribution required and a revenue threshold (reported as about $20M; check the license text) before a separate license is needed, and needs about 1 TB of memory at 4-bit; no first-party per-token price confirmed. As an open-weight model, its running cost is your own hardware rather than a per-token fee.
The bottom line for this matchup
Laguna XS 2.1 and Muse Spark Open overlap enough that the right pick depends on your specific job. Muse Spark Open costs less per token; Muse Spark Open holds the larger context; and each leads in its own area — Laguna XS 2.1 for remarkable efficiency — 70.9% on swe-bench verified from only 3b active parameters, Muse Spark Open for meta's first open-weight muse model - 816b-parameter moe with 42b active, accepting text, image, video and audio input. Rather than crowning one, run the same hard task through both once and let the results decide.
Want both Laguna XS 2.1 and Muse Spark Open without two subscriptions? LumiChats gives you these plus 40+ models under one ₹69/day pass (about $1/day) — draft with one, cross-check with the other.
See pricingFrequently asked questions
Is Laguna XS 2.1 or Muse Spark Open better for coding?
Public SWE-Bench figures are not available for Muse Spark Open, so the honest test is your own repository — run an identical real bug through both. By design, Laguna XS 2.1 leans toward remarkable efficiency — 70.9% on swe-bench verified from only 3b active parameters while Muse Spark Open leans toward meta's first open-weight muse model - 816b-parameter moe with 42b active, accepting text, image, video and audio input, and that positioning usually predicts which feels better on your codebase.
Which is cheaper, Laguna XS 2.1 or Muse Spark Open?
Muse Spark Open is cheaper — $0.1/$0.2 per 1M tokens vs Open weight (self-host / free).
Which has the bigger context window?
Muse Spark Open — 1M tokens vs 256K, about 3.8× larger. Useful only if the model actually reasons over the full window, which not all do.
Can I use both Laguna XS 2.1 and Muse Spark Open together?
Yes — a multi-model platform like LumiChats gives you Laguna XS 2.1, Muse Spark Open and 40+ others under one ₹69/day pass (about $1/day), so you can draft with one and cross-check with the other instead of buying two subscriptions.
Which is newer, Laguna XS 2.1 or Muse Spark Open?
Muse Spark Open — released October 15, 2026, about 4 months after Laguna XS 2.1.
Related comparisons
Specifications and benchmarks reflect publicly reported figures as of June 2026 and may change as providers release updates. Always verify on your own workload.