Softwr

Machine Learning · head to head

Orange vs Poolside

Orange logo

Orange

Machine Learning

Data mining and visualization toolkit

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 Orange has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: Orange orange is licensed under the GNU General Public License version 3, so distributing modified or derived software requires releasing the source under the GPL; Poolside no self-serve public application; access is largely through enterprise sales or third-party model gateways
  • They diverge on capability: Orange covers Visual programming, 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 Orange and Poolside actually diverge.

Attributes where Orange and Poolside differ
AttributeOrangePoolside
Starting priceFree$0.06/month
Pricing modelopen-sourceusage-based
Free tierYesNo
PlatformsLinux, Mac, Windowsweb, api, mac, windows, linux
CategoryMachine LearningAI
Founded19962023

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 Orange

  • Visual programming
  • Data visualization
  • Machine learning
  • Text mining
  • Bioinformatics
  • Python
  • scikit-learn
  • PyQt

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.

Orange

  • Visual programming for data mining and machine learning workflowsnot Poolside
  • Teaching data science without writing codenot Poolside
  • Exploratory data visualisation and clustering on tabular datanot Poolside

Poolside

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

Where each one falls short

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

Orange

  • Orange is licensed under the GNU General Public License version 3, so distributing modified or derived software requires releasing the source under the GPL
  • The widgets and canvas are built on Qt, which is itself distributed under GPL 3.0
  • Orange add-ons may carry additional licensing requirements set in their own licence files
  • Documentation and website content are under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike, which imposes an attribution and share-alike obligation on reuse
  • The software is distributed without any warranty of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose

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

Orange

Free
  • Open SourceFree
    • Visual programming
    • Machine learning
    • Data visualization

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 Orange if

  • You need visual programming.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Linux, Mac, Windows.
  • You also want data visualization.
Orange 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 Orange or Poolside better?
Neither clearly leads. Orange 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, Orange or Poolside?
Orange has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Orange and $0.06/month for Poolside.
Does Orange or Poolside run on more platforms?
Orange runs on Linux, Mac, Windows. Poolside runs on web, api, mac, windows, linux.
Can I use Orange for free?
Yes. Orange has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Poolside starts at $0.06/month.
What is Orange best used for?
Orange is most often used for visual programming for data mining and machine learning workflows, teaching data science without writing code, exploratory data visualisation and clustering on tabular data. Of those, visual programming for data mining and machine learning workflows and teaching data science without writing code are not what Poolside is typically brought in for.
What can Orange do that Poolside cannot?
Orange covers Visual programming, Data visualization, Machine learning, Text mining. Poolside covers Laguna S 2.1, Laguna XS 2.1, Desktop and CLI tools, Open-weight models.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Orange: What is the cost of Orange Data Mining?

Orange Data Mining is free open-source software available for Windows, Mac, and other platforms. There are no subscription fees, licensing costs, or paid tiers.

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
Orange: How is Orange Data Mining funded?

Orange Data Mining is supported through optional voluntary donations. The project encourages donations from users who value the software to support bug fixes, new features, educational content, and infrastructure maintenance.

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
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
Share

Related pages

More on Orange

More on Poolside

Keep looking

Other head to heads