AI Tools · head to head
Poolside vs Together AI
Poolside
AI Tools
Open-weight foundation models built for agentic software engineering
- From
- $0.06/month
- Rated
- -
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 fine tuning carries a minimum charge of $4.00 per job regardless of dataset size
- They diverge on capability: Poolside covers Laguna S 2.1, Together AI covers Open-source models.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which Poolside and Together AI actually diverge.
| Attribute | Poolside | Together AI |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | $0.06/month | Free |
| Free tier | No | Yes |
| Platforms | web, api, mac, windows, linux | Api, Cloud |
| Founded | 2023 | 2022 |
Identical on both: pricing model (usage-based), user rating (Not yet rated), category (AI Tools).
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
- Serverless inference against open source chat, vision, embedding, image and video modelsnot Poolside
- Renting dedicated single tenant H100, H200 or B200 GPU clusters by the hournot Poolside
- Fine tuning open weight models on a per token basisnot 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
- Fine tuning carries a minimum charge of $4.00 per job regardless of dataset size
- Reserved GPU commitments beyond 180 days are priced by contacting sales with no published rate
- Volume and enterprise discounts are quote only with no published threshold
- Reserved dedicated inference pricing is contact sales while only on demand rates of $5.49 to $8.99 per GPU hour are published
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- FreeFree
- $5 credits
- API access
- Pay-per-use$0.2/per-million-tokens
- All models
- Fine-tuning
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.
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.
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.
SourcePoolside: 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.
SourcePoolside: 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.
SourcePoolside: 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.
SourceRelated pages
More on Together AI
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