Softwr

AI · head to head

Poolside vs Vellum

Poolside logo

Poolside

AI

Open-weight foundation models built for agentic software engineering

From
$0.06/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Vellum logo

Vellum

AI

Personalized AI assistant with persistent memory and autonomous action-taking

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Vellum 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; Vellum pricing varies significantly by computational tier, making budget planning difficult
  • They diverge on capability: Poolside covers Laguna S 2.1, Vellum covers Persistent AI identity.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Poolside and Vellum actually diverge.

Attributes where Poolside and Vellum differ
AttributePoolsideVellum
Starting price$0.06/monthFree
Pricing modelusage-basedFreemium with paid plans and pay-as-you-go credits
Free tierNoYes
Platformsweb, api, mac, windows, linuxWeb, macOS, iOS, Slack, Telegram, Terminal
Founded2023Unknown

Identical on both: 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 Vellum

  • Persistent AI identity
  • Long-term memory
  • Email automation
  • Calendar management
  • Autonomous task execution
  • Multi-device synchronization
  • Custom plugins
  • Open-source deployment

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

Vellum

  • Personal productivity automation across email and calendarnot Poolside
  • CRM updates and pipeline managementnot Poolside
  • Expense report generation and managementnot Poolside
  • Document drafting and content creationnot Poolside
  • Meeting scheduling and calendar coordinationnot 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

Vellum

  • Pricing varies significantly by computational tier, making budget planning difficult
  • Requires explicit permission for sensitive actions, limiting autonomy
  • Self-hosting option may intimidate non-technical users
  • Learning curve to develop customizations with plugins

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

Vellum

Free
  • FreeFree
    • Starter credits included
    • Basic features
  • Mighty$30/month
    • 1 vCPU, 2 GiB RAM
    • 10 GB storage
    • Included usage allowance
  • Super$100/month
    • 2.5 vCPU, 5 GiB RAM
    • 30 GB storage
    • Assistant email and subdomain
  • Ultra$200/month
    • 4 vCPU, 8 GiB RAM
    • 60 GB storage
    • Assistant email and subdomain

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 Vellum if

  • You need persistent ai identity.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, macOS, iOS, Slack, Telegram, Terminal.
  • You also want long-term memory.
Vellum review

Questions people ask

Is Poolside or Vellum better?
Neither clearly leads. Poolside starts at $0.06/month and Vellum at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Poolside or Vellum?
Vellum has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at $0.06/month for Poolside and Free for Vellum.
Does Poolside or Vellum run on more platforms?
Poolside runs on web, api, mac, windows, linux. Vellum runs on Web, macOS, iOS, Slack, Telegram, Terminal.
Can I use Vellum for free?
Yes. Vellum 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 Vellum is typically brought in for.
What can Poolside do that Vellum cannot?
Poolside covers Laguna S 2.1, Laguna XS 2.1, Desktop and CLI tools, Open-weight models. Vellum covers Persistent AI identity, Long-term memory, Email automation, Calendar management.

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
Vellum: How does Vellum protect my data privacy?

Vellum uses permission-based controls requiring explicit approval for sensitive actions. Data is encrypted and the option for self-hosting provides complete data control. Open-source deployment option allows hosting on your own infrastructure.

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
Vellum: Can I use Vellum for business team collaboration?

Vellum is primarily designed as a personal assistant with persistent identity. For team collaboration, platforms like Lindy offer better multi-user features with shared credit pools and Slack workspace integration.

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
Vellum: What does the free tier include?

Vellum offers free starter credits to begin using the platform. Beyond that, it operates on a pay-as-you-go credit model with paid tiers starting at $30/month for increased computational resources and bundled credits.

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 Poolside

More on Vellum

Keep looking

Other head to heads