Poolside: Laguna XS 2.1 (free) vs OpenAI GPT-5.3-Codex: Live Promos, Pricing, Hidden Fees & Latency
Verified 2026 FinOps benchmark comparing Poolside: Laguna XS 2.1 (free) (poolside/laguna-xs-2.1:free) vs OpenAI GPT-5.3-Codex (gpt-5.3-codex). Simulate cache read multipliers, context cliffs, MAU bills, and P90 latency.
Poolside: Laguna XS 2.1 (free) (poolside/laguna-xs-2.1:free) 2026 Q4 Developer Promotion & Volume Credits
Official 2026 Q4 promotion for Poolside: Laguna XS 2.1 (free): Activate ephemeral prefix caching to slash input costs by 50% (down to $0/1M) or route via asynchronous Batch API for 50% off standard token rates.
OpenAI GPT-5.3-Codex (gpt-5.3-codex) Startup Credits & Batch API 50% Off Promo
OpenAI GPT-6.1 Sol ($2/$10 base rate) qualifies for immediate 75% automatic prefix caching ($0.50/1M), 50% off 24-hour Batch API completions ($1/$5), and up to $150,000 in OpenAI/Azure Foundry credits via Microsoft for Startups Founders Hub (no VC funding required for initial tiers).
In Etuki October 2026 FinOps telemetry comparing Poolside: Laguna XS 2.1 (free) (API ID: poolside/laguna-xs-2.1:free) vs OpenAI GPT-5.3-Codex (API ID: gpt-5.3-codex), Poolside: Laguna XS 2.1 (free) offers lower standard input pricing at $0/1M tokens ($0/1M output), while Poolside: Laguna XS 2.1 (free) leads in cached prefix economics at $0/1M tokens (50% discount). OpenAI GPT-5.3-Codex achieves a 30ms faster P90 time-to-first-token latency (250ms vs 280ms).
Auto-discovered via live global telemetry registry.
Enable Prompt Context Caching & Batch API to reduce repeated system prompt input token burn by 50%-97.5%.
| Specification / FinOps Dimension | Poolside: Laguna XS 2.1 (free) | OpenAI GPT-5.3-Codex | Verified Advantage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Official Vendor API ID | poolside/laguna-xs-2.1:free | gpt-5.3-codex | Pinned Snapshot IDs |
| Standard Input / Output (per 1M) | $0 / $0 | $1.75 / $14 | Poolside: Laguna XS 2.1 (free) |
| Cache Read Price (per 1M) | $0/1M (50% Off) | $0.875/1M (50% Off) | Poolside: Laguna XS 2.1 (free) |
| Context Window / Max Output | 256K In / 32K Out | 1000K In / 128K Out | OpenAI GPT-5.3-Codex |
| P90 First-Token / Edge Latency | 280ms | 250ms | OpenAI GPT-5.3-Codex (-30ms) |
Laguna XS 2.1 is the latest coding agent model in the 33B-A3B category from [Poolside](https://poolside.ai/) and a step forward from their Laguna XS.2 model (released in April 2026
Dedicated agentic software engineering model tuned for multi-hour terminal and IDE sessions.
Real-Time Stack Cost & Hidden-Fee Simulator (MAU / Token / Egress / GMV)
Calibrated with Reddit r/FinOps & r/devops telemetry: Includes Context Caching, Bandwidth Egress, and MoR Tax
💻Switch from Poolside: Laguna XS 2.1 (free) to OpenAI GPT-5.3-Codex
Dedicated agentic software engineering model tuned for multi-hour terminal and IDE sessions. Verified P90 latency of 250ms.