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AI · head to head

Poolside vs Proxmox VE

Poolside logo

Poolside

AI

Open-weight foundation models built for agentic software engineering

From
$0.06/month
Free plan
No
Full reviewWebsite
Proxmox VE logo

Proxmox VE

Cloud

Open-source hypervisor combining KVM and LXC virtualisation

From
€120/year
Free plan
No
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Poolside no self-serve public application; access is largely through enterprise sales or third-party model gateways; Proxmox VE per-socket licensing model: cost scales with CPU socket count, not vCore count, resulting in high costs for multi-socket servers
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 29 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Poolside and Proxmox VE actually diverge.

Attributes where Poolside and Proxmox VE differ
AttributePoolsideProxmox VE
Starting price$0.06/month€120/year
Pricing modelusage-basedsubscription
Platformsweb, api, mac, windows, linuxLinux, Web, API, Self-hosted
CategoryAICloud
Founded2023Unknown

Identical on both: free tier (No), 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 Poolside

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

Only in Proxmox VE

Nothing recorded that Poolside does not also cover.

What people use each for

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

Poolside

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

Proxmox VE

  • Open-source datacenter virtualisation for hosting providers and cloud platformsnot Poolside
  • Cost-sensitive enterprise virtualisation replacing commercial hypervisorsnot Poolside
  • High-availability clustering for disaster recovery and business continuitynot Poolside
  • Container deployments using LXC as lighter-weight alternative to Dockernot Poolside
  • Hybrid VM and container workloads in a single management interfacenot Poolside
  • Backup and archival infrastructure alongside primary virtualisationnot Poolside

Where each one falls short

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

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

Proxmox VE

  • Per-socket licensing model: cost scales with CPU socket count, not vCore count, resulting in high costs for multi-socket servers
  • Linux-based host only; Windows hypervisors not supported, limiting adoption in Windows-focused organisations
  • Clustering and high-availability setup requires operational expertise and careful network configuration
  • Commercial support tiers limit advanced features (just-in-time access, network flow logs) to paid subscriptions
  • Smaller ecosystem of third-party plugins and integrations compared to VMware vSphere

Pricing, plan by plan

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

Proxmox VE

€120/year
  • Community$120/year
    • Enterprise Repository access
    • Community forum support only
    • Per-socket subscription model
  • Basic$370/year
    • 3 support tickets per year
    • 1 business day response time
    • Stable updates and Enterprise Repository
  • Standard$550/year
    • 10 support tickets per year
    • 4-hour response time for critical issues
    • Remote SSH support and offline updates
  • Premium$1100/year
    • Unlimited support tickets
    • 2-hour response time for critical issues
    • Remote SSH support and offline updates

Which should you pick?

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

Choose Proxmox VE if

  • You work on Linux, Web, API, Self-hosted.
Proxmox VE review

Questions people ask

Is Poolside or Proxmox VE better?
Neither clearly leads. Poolside starts at $0.06/month and Proxmox VE at €120/year, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Poolside or Proxmox VE?
Poolside starts at $0.06/month and Proxmox VE at €120/year.
Does Poolside or Proxmox VE run on more platforms?
Poolside runs on web, api, mac, windows, linux. Proxmox VE runs on Linux, Web, API, Self-hosted.
What is Poolside best used for?
Poolside is most often used for enterprises deploying ai coding assistance across large developer organizations, government and defense agencies needing on-premise or sovereign coding models, teams building custom coding agents on open-weight foundation models, organizations wanting on-device lightweight coding models. Of those, enterprises deploying ai coding assistance across large developer organizations and government and defense agencies needing on-premise or sovereign coding models are not what Proxmox VE is typically brought in for.
What can Poolside do that Proxmox VE cannot?
Poolside covers Laguna S 2.1, Laguna XS 2.1, Desktop and CLI tools, Open-weight models.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

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
Proxmox VE: What is the licensing model for Proxmox VE?

Proxmox VE is open-source and free to deploy. Optional subscription tiers provide technical support, priority response times, and access to the Enterprise Repository for stable update channels. All tiers include identical virtualisation features.

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
Proxmox VE: Can I run Proxmox VE without a support subscription?

Yes. Community Edition (€120/year per socket) provides Enterprise Repository access with community-based support through forums. The core Proxmox VE platform is fully functional without any subscription.

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
Proxmox VE: What hypervisors does Proxmox VE support?

Proxmox VE includes both KVM for full virtualisation and LXC for Linux containers. It does not support Xen or Hyper-V. Workloads on those platforms must be migrated or reimplemented.

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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