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Machine Learning · head to head

Milvus vs Poolside

Milvus logo

Milvus

Machine Learning

Open-source vector database for scalable similarity search

From
Free
Free plan
Yes
Full reviewWebsite
Poolside logo

Poolside

AI

Open-weight foundation models built for agentic software engineering

From
$0.06/month
Free plan
No
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Milvus has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: Milvus vector dimensions are capped at 32,768; Poolside no self-serve public application; access is largely through enterprise sales or third-party model gateways
  • They diverge on capability: Milvus covers Billion-scale vectors, Poolside covers Laguna S 2.1.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 30 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Milvus and Poolside actually diverge.

Attributes where Milvus and Poolside differ
AttributeMilvusPoolside
Starting priceFree$0.06/month
Pricing modelfreemiumusage-based
Free tierYesNo
PlatformsLinux, Mac, Windows, Webweb, api, mac, windows, linux
CategoryMachine LearningAI
Founded20172023

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

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 Milvus

  • Billion-scale vectors
  • Multiple index types
  • GPU acceleration
  • Hybrid search
  • Data partitioning
  • PyTorch
  • TensorFlow
  • Hugging Face

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.

Milvus

  • Self hosting a vector database for semantic searchnot Poolside
  • Storing and querying embeddings for retrieval augmented generationnot Poolside
  • Similarity search over images, audio or text at scalenot Poolside

Poolside

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

Where each one falls short

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

Milvus

  • Vector dimensions are capped at 32,768
  • A collection is limited to 64 fields, 1,024 partitions and 16 shards
  • Only 1 index is allowed per field
  • Search returns at most 16,384 vectors as top-k, and nq is capped at 16,384
  • Input and output per RPC is capped at 64 MB for insert, search and query
  • VARCHAR values are limited to 65,535 characters
  • Data loaded into query nodes cannot exceed 90% of available memory
  • An instance supports at most 65,536 collections

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

Milvus

Free
  • Open SourceFree
    • Full features
    • Self-hosted
    • Community support
  • Zilliz CloudFree
    • Managed service
    • Free tier available

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 Milvus if

  • You need billion-scale vectors.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Linux, Mac, Windows, Web.
  • You also want multiple index types.
Milvus 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 Milvus or Poolside better?
Neither clearly leads. Milvus 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, Milvus or Poolside?
Milvus has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Milvus and $0.06/month for Poolside.
Does Milvus or Poolside run on more platforms?
Milvus runs on Linux, Mac, Windows, Web. Poolside runs on web, api, mac, windows, linux.
Can I use Milvus for free?
Yes. Milvus has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Poolside starts at $0.06/month.
What is Milvus best used for?
Milvus is most often used for self hosting a vector database for semantic search, storing and querying embeddings for retrieval augmented generation, similarity search over images, audio or text at scale. Of those, self hosting a vector database for semantic search and storing and querying embeddings for retrieval augmented generation are not what Poolside is typically brought in for.
What can Milvus do that Poolside cannot?
Milvus covers Billion-scale vectors, Multiple index types, GPU acceleration, Hybrid search. Poolside covers Laguna S 2.1, Laguna XS 2.1, Desktop and CLI tools, Open-weight models.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Milvus: How much does Milvus cost?

Milvus is open-source and free to use and modify. The self-hosted version has no licensing cost. Zilliz Cloud (the managed SaaS version) does not publish pricing on the website.

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
Milvus: Is there a free or open-source version of Milvus?

Yes, Milvus is fully open-source and available for free. Milvus Lite is a lightweight option for learning and prototyping that can be installed via pip.

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
Milvus: Does Milvus offer a managed cloud service?

Yes, Zilliz Cloud is a fully managed Milvus cloud offering with serverless and dedicated cluster options. Pricing must be requested from the company as it is not listed on the public website.

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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