DeepSeek: DeepSeek V4 Flash 0731 vs Poolside: Laguna XS 2.1 (free)
Based on weekly OpenRouter usage tracked by AI Tier List, DeepSeek: DeepSeek V4 Flash 0731 ranks #1 overall — ahead of Poolside: Laguna XS 2.1 (free) at #47. Poolside: Laguna XS 2.1 (free) is cheaper on input tokens at Free/1M vs $0.14/1M for DeepSeek: DeepSeek V4 Flash 0731. DeepSeek: DeepSeek V4 Flash 0731 offers the larger context window at 1M tokens.
DeepSeek: DeepSeek V4 Flash 0731 vs Poolside: Laguna XS 2.1 (free): which should you use?
Choose DeepSeek: DeepSeek V4 Flash 0731 if…
- It sees more real traffic — #1 overall on OpenRouter's weekly ranking, against #47 for Poolside: Laguna XS 2.1 (free).
- Bigger context window — 1M vs 262K tokens.
- It is the newer model — released Jul 2026 against Jul 2026.
Choose Poolside: Laguna XS 2.1 (free) if…
- Cheaper to read — Free vs $0.14 per 1M input tokens, which is what dominates long-prompt and RAG workloads.
- Cheaper to write — Free vs $0.28 per 1M output tokens, the line item that decides generation-heavy costs.
Spec Comparison
| DeepSeek: DeepSeek V4 Flash 0731 | Poolside: Laguna XS 2.1 (free) | |
|---|---|---|
| Author | deepseek | poolside |
| Input price (per 1M tokens) | $0.14 | Free |
| Output price (per 1M tokens) | $0.28 | Free |
| Context window | 1M | 262K |
| Input modalities | text | text |
| Output modalities | text | text |
| AA Intelligence | 51.8 | — |
| AA Coding | 69.1 | — |
| AA Agentic | 48.4 | — |
| Released | Jul 2026 | Jul 2026 |
What DeepSeek: DeepSeek V4 Flash 0731 and Poolside: Laguna XS 2.1 (free) actually cost to run
On a read-heavy job — 1M tokens in, 100K out — DeepSeek: DeepSeek V4 Flash 0731 costs $0.17 and Poolside: Laguna XS 2.1 (free) costs $0.00.
Flip the shape — 100K in, 1M out — and it becomes $0.29 for DeepSeek: DeepSeek V4 Flash 0731 versus $0.00 for Poolside: Laguna XS 2.1 (free).
Both figures are the published per-token rates multiplied out; caching and batch discounts are not included.
Usage Rank by Task
| Task | DeepSeek: DeepSeek V4 Flash 0731 | Poolside: Laguna XS 2.1 (free) |
|---|---|---|
| Overall | #1 | #47 |
| Memory Extraction | #6 | — |
| Multi-step Planning | #2 | — |
| Tool Dispatch | #2 | — |
| Web Search | #4 | — |
| Agent Workflows | #5 | — |
| Classification & Tagging | #9 | — |
| Debugging | #3 | — |
| DevOps Config | #2 | — |
| File Read/Write | #3 | — |
| Frontend UI | #2 | — |
| Code Implementation | #3 | — |
| Repo Analysis | #3 | — |
| Code Review & Security | #3 | — |
| Shell Execution | #6 | — |
About DeepSeek: DeepSeek V4 Flash 0731 and Poolside: Laguna XS 2.1 (free)
DeepSeek: DeepSeek V4 Flash 0731
Built by deepseek · released Jul 2026 · 1M-token context
DeepSeek V4 Flash 0731 is a sparse mixture-of-experts model from DeepSeek, with 13B active parameters out of 284B total. This re-post-trained revision is suited for coding, reasoning, and agent workflows....
Poolside: Laguna XS 2.1 (free)
Built by poolside · released Jul 2026 · 262K-token context
Laguna XS 2.1 is the latest coding agent model in the 33B-A3B category from Poolside and a step forward from their Laguna XS.2 model (released in April 2026). It combines...
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FAQ
Which is better, DeepSeek: DeepSeek V4 Flash 0731 or Poolside: Laguna XS 2.1 (free)?
Based on weekly OpenRouter usage tracked by AI Tier List, DeepSeek: DeepSeek V4 Flash 0731 ranks #1 overall — ahead of Poolside: Laguna XS 2.1 (free) at #47. Poolside: Laguna XS 2.1 (free) is cheaper on input tokens at Free/1M vs $0.14/1M for DeepSeek: DeepSeek V4 Flash 0731. DeepSeek: DeepSeek V4 Flash 0731 offers the larger context window at 1M tokens.
Which is cheaper, DeepSeek: DeepSeek V4 Flash 0731 or Poolside: Laguna XS 2.1 (free)?
Poolside: Laguna XS 2.1 (free) is cheaper at Free per 1M input tokens. Output pricing: DeepSeek: DeepSeek V4 Flash 0731 $0.28, Poolside: Laguna XS 2.1 (free) Free.
Usage ranks are weekly data aggregated by OpenRouter. Prices are USD per 1M tokens.