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AI · head to head

Arize AI vs Poolside

Arize AI logo

Arize AI

AI

AI engineering platform for observability and evaluation of agents and LLM apps

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Poolside logo

Poolside

AI

Open-weight foundation models built for agentic software engineering

From
$0.06/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Arize AI has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: Arize AI the free plan caps trace spans at 25,000 per month with only 15 days of retention.; Poolside no self-serve public application; access is largely through enterprise sales or third-party model gateways
  • They diverge on capability: Arize AI covers End-to-end tracing, Poolside covers Laguna S 2.1.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 29 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Arize AI and Poolside actually diverge.

Attributes where Arize AI and Poolside differ
AttributeArize AIPoolside
Starting priceFree$0.06/month
Pricing modelfreemiumusage-based
Free tierYesNo
Platformsweb, apiweb, api, mac, windows, linux
FoundedUnknown2023

Identical on both: user rating (Not yet rated), category (AI).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Arize AI

  • End-to-end tracing
  • Evaluation framework
  • Prompt testing and improvement
  • Alyx AI engineering agent
  • Custom dashboards
  • Data warehouse integrations

Only in Poolside

  • Laguna S 2.1
  • Laguna XS 2.1
  • Desktop and CLI tools
  • Open-weight models
  • Third-party gateway access

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Arize AI

  • Tracing and debugging production AI agentsnot Poolside
  • Running large-scale evaluations across traces and sessionsnot Poolside
  • Improving prompts before production rolloutnot Poolside
  • Storing and querying GenAI traces alongside a data warehousenot Poolside

Poolside

  • Enterprises deploying AI coding assistance across large developer organizationsnot Arize AI
  • Government and defense agencies needing on-premise or sovereign coding modelsnot Arize AI
  • Teams building custom coding agents on open-weight foundation modelsnot Arize AI
  • Organizations wanting on-device lightweight coding modelsnot Arize AI

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Arize AI

  • The free plan caps trace spans at 25,000 per month with only 15 days of retention.
  • Self-hosted deployment and Data Fabric integration are restricted to the custom-priced Enterprise tier.
  • Pricing beyond the $50/month Pro plan requires a custom quote, making cost planning less transparent at scale.
  • Advanced compliance features like HIPAA are only available on Enterprise.

Poolside

  • No self-serve public application; access is largely through enterprise sales or third-party model gateways
  • Pricing for the flagship enterprise and government offering is not public and requires a sales conversation
  • Targets organizations with large (5,000+) developer headcounts, making it a poor fit for individuals or small teams
  • Documentation and product surface area are thin compared to consumer-facing coding assistants

Pricing, plan by plan

Arize AI

Free
  • AX FreeFree
    • 25k trace spans/month
    • 1 GB storage/month
    • 15-day retention
  • AX Pro$50/month
    • 50k trace spans/month
    • 10 GB storage/month
    • 30-day retention
  • AX Enterprise$undefined/mo
    • Custom trace spans, storage, and retention
    • SaaS or self-hosted deployment
    • Managed agents and Data Fabric

Poolside

$0.06/month
  • Laguna XS 2.1$undefined/month
    • $0.06 per 1M input tokens
    • $0.12 per 1M output tokens
    • Available via OpenRouter and Vercel AI Gateway
  • Laguna S 2.1$undefined/month
    • $0.10 per 1M input tokens
    • $0.20 per 1M output tokens
    • 1M token context window
  • Enterprise / Government$undefined/month
    • Custom contracts for large engineering organizations
    • Sales-quoted pricing
    • On-premise or dedicated deployment options

Which should you pick?

Choose Arize AI if

  • You need end-to-end tracing.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on web, api.
  • You also want evaluation framework.
Arize AI review

Choose Poolside if

  • You need laguna s 2.1.
  • You work on web, api, mac, windows, linux.
  • You also want laguna xs 2.1.
Poolside review

Questions people ask

Is Arize AI or Poolside better?
Neither clearly leads. Arize AI starts at Free and Poolside at $0.06/month, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Arize AI or Poolside?
Arize AI has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Arize AI and $0.06/month for Poolside.
Does Arize AI or Poolside run on more platforms?
Arize AI runs on web, api. Poolside runs on web, api, mac, windows, linux.
Can I use Arize AI for free?
Yes. Arize AI has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Poolside starts at $0.06/month.
What is Arize AI best used for?
Arize AI is most often used for tracing and debugging production ai agents, running large-scale evaluations across traces and sessions, improving prompts before production rollout, storing and querying genai traces alongside a data warehouse. Of those, tracing and debugging production ai agents and running large-scale evaluations across traces and sessions are not what Poolside is typically brought in for.
What can Arize AI do that Poolside cannot?
Arize AI covers End-to-end tracing, Evaluation framework, Prompt testing and improvement, Alyx AI engineering agent. Poolside covers Laguna S 2.1, Laguna XS 2.1, Desktop and CLI tools, Open-weight models.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Arize AI: What does Arize AX cost?

Arize AX offers a free plan, a Pro plan at $50/month, and a custom-priced Enterprise plan, with pricing based on trace spans, storage, and retention needs.

Source
Poolside: How is Poolside's Laguna model usage priced?

Laguna XS 2.1 is priced at $0.06 per 1M input tokens and $0.12 per 1M output tokens; Laguna S 2.1 is $0.10 per 1M input tokens and $0.20 per 1M output tokens.

Source
Arize AI: Is there a free plan, and what are its limits?

The AX Free plan includes 25,000 trace spans and 1 GB of storage per month with 15-day retention, plus unlimited users, evaluations, and experiments.

Source
Poolside: Where can I access Poolside's models?

Laguna models are available through third-party gateways OpenRouter and Vercel AI Gateway, as well as via Poolside's own desktop and CLI tools.

Source
Arize AI: What deployment options are available?

Free and Pro plans are SaaS-only, while Enterprise customers can choose SaaS or self-hosted deployment with custom SLAs.

Source
Poolside: Does Poolside offer enterprise or government pricing?

Yes, Poolside offers custom, sales-quoted contracts for large enterprises and government/defense customers, including on-premise or dedicated deployment options.

Source
Poolside: How do I get started building with Poolside's models?

Poolside's documentation provides a quickstart guide for installing the `pool` CLI and running an agent task, alongside API documentation for custom integrations.

Source
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