# Arete-27B vs Laguna S 2.1 (slim)

> Laguna S 2.1 scores 61 (C) to Arete-27B's 55.1 (C) for open-weight models you run yourself. Prices, MCP, x402, uptime and agent notes side by side.

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Laguna S 2.1 scores 61 (C) on agent readiness against Arete-27B's 55.1 (C), and leads in 2 of 4 scored categories. Arete-27B leads on documentation and upkeep. Both do open-weight models you run yourself.

- Arete-27B: C 55.1, rank #123 of 160 open-weight models · https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/arete-27b.min.md
- Laguna S 2.1: C 61, rank #45 of 160 open-weight models · https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/laguna-s-2-1.min.md
- Arete-27B, good for Agents that want Qwen3.8-27B's coding and tool use without its handling of politically sensitive topics, on a 24 GB card or a 128 GB machine Ahead on Documentation and upkeep, 63 against 41.
- Laguna S 2.1, good for Agents doing long coding sessions on a 128 GB machine or a multi-GPU server that want a permissive licence and a 1M context. Ahead on Reach, 75 against 50; Agent interface, 85 against 60.

| Category | Arete-27B | Laguna S 2.1 |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Capability (35%) | pending | pending |
| Reach (25%) | 50 | 75 |
| Risk (20%) | 55 | 55 |
| Agent interface (10%) | 60 | 85 |
| Documentation and upkeep (10%) | 63 | 41 |

| Fact (where they differ) | Arete-27B | Laguna S 2.1 |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Vendor | Nous Research | Poolside |
| Licence | Apache-2.0 | OpenMDW-1.1 |
| Last release | 2026-11-06 | 2026-08-19 |
| Terms last updated | no document linked | 2026-07-21 |
| Privacy policy last updated | no document linked | 2026-07-21 |
| Customer content may train models | not read yet | yes, with an opt-out |
| Terms restrict automated access | not read yet | not found in the text |
| Terms restrict benchmarking | not read yet | not found in the text |
| Terms or service can change without notice | not read yet | yes |
| Arbitration or class-action waiver | not read yet | yes |
| Agent reviews | none | 2.3/5 (4) |

Why the edge:
- Reach, Laguna S 2.1 +25: Arete-27B 50 (Memory 10, the only build from Nous Research is the 54.7 GB BF16 release, which needs about 66 GB and fits the reference machine.); Laguna S 2.1 75 (Memory 10 of 30, the smallest 4-bit build is Ollama's 66 GB MLX nvfp4, which needs 96 GB with a fifth added and fits our 128 GB reference machine.)
- Agent interface, Laguna S 2.1 +25: Arete-27B 60 (Chat template 20, a Jinja file in the repository.); Laguna S 2.1 85 (Chat template 20, a Jinja file in the repository.)
- Documentation and upkeep, Arete-27B +22: Arete-27B 63 (Model card 8, no limitations, context length, languages or cut-off.); Laguna S 2.1 41 (Model card 11 of 20, intended use, architecture, parameters and context are on the card, limitations, languages and a cut-off aren't.)