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AI · head to head

Poolside vs Together AI

Poolside logo

Poolside

AI

Open-weight foundation models built for agentic software engineering

From
$0.06/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Together AI logo

Together AI

AI

Open-source AI at scale

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Together AI has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: Poolside no self-serve public application; access is largely through enterprise sales or third-party model gateways; Together AI free tier limits not clearly specified in pricing documentation
  • They diverge on capability: Poolside covers Laguna S 2.1, Together AI covers Open-source models.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 30 August 2026.

Where they differ

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

Attributes where Poolside and Together AI differ
AttributePoolsideTogether AI
Starting price$0.06/monthFree
Free tierNoYes
Platformsweb, api, mac, windows, linuxApi, Cloud
Founded20232022

Identical on both: pricing model (usage-based), 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 Poolside

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

Only in Together AI

  • Open-source models
  • Fine-tuning
  • Fast inference
  • Embeddings
  • REST API
  • Python SDK
  • OpenAI compatible
  • Api support

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 Together AI
  • Government and defense agencies needing on-premise or sovereign coding modelsnot Together AI
  • Teams building custom coding agents on open-weight foundation modelsnot Together AI
  • Organizations wanting on-device lightweight coding modelsnot Together AI

Together AI

  • LLM inference for production AI applicationsnot Poolside
  • Content generation at scalenot Poolside
  • Code execution and embeddingsnot Poolside
  • Model fine-tuning and trainingnot Poolside
  • Startup and enterprise AI deploymentnot 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

Together AI

  • Free tier limits not clearly specified in pricing documentation
  • Pricing varies significantly by model and use case
  • Requires account setup for production access
  • Batch API discounts apply only to non-urgent workloads

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

Together AI

Free
  • Serverless Inference$0.03/1M input tokens
    • Chat and Vision models
    • Image generation
    • Video generation
  • Provisioned Throughput$21600/month
    • Up to 83% savings vs commercial alternatives
    • Reserved capacity
    • Guaranteed throughput
  • Dedicated Inference$5.49/hour
    • H100 GPU instance
    • Single-tenant deployment
    • No resource sharing
  • GPU Clusters$3.99/GPU-hour
    • On-demand capacity
    • Volume discounts available
    • Reserved options with up to 35% savings

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 Together AI if

  • You need open-source models.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Api, Cloud.
  • You also want fine-tuning.
Together AI review

Questions people ask

Is Poolside or Together AI better?
Neither clearly leads. Poolside starts at $0.06/month and Together AI at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Poolside or Together AI?
Together AI has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at $0.06/month for Poolside and Free for Together AI.
Does Poolside or Together AI run on more platforms?
Poolside runs on web, api, mac, windows, linux. Together AI runs on Api, Cloud.
Can I use Together AI for free?
Yes. Together AI has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Poolside starts at $0.06/month.
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 Together AI is typically brought in for.
What can Poolside do that Together AI cannot?
Poolside covers Laguna S 2.1, Laguna XS 2.1, Desktop and CLI tools, Open-weight models. Together AI covers Open-source models, Fine-tuning, Fast inference, Embeddings.

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
Together AI: Does Together AI offer a free tier?

Yes, Together AI advertises 'Start for free, scale on demand,' but specific free tier usage limits are not detailed on the pricing page.

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
Together AI: What are Together AI's highest model prices?

Serverless inference pricing ranges from free for base models up to $4.40 per 1M input tokens for premium models. Video generation costs $0.14 to $3.20 per video depending on resolution.

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
Together AI: How much can I save with Provisioned Throughput?

Together AI offers up to 83% savings compared to commercial alternatives when using their Provisioned Throughput option with reserved capacity.

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
Together AI: What is Together AI's fine-tuning pricing?

Standard fine-tuning costs $0.48 to $2.90 per 1M tokens depending on model size, with a minimum charge of $4.00 per job.

Source
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