Softwr

AI · head to head

Poolside vs Vultr

Poolside logo

Poolside

AI

Open-weight foundation models built for agentic software engineering

From
$0.06/month
Free plan
No
Full reviewWebsite
Vultr logo

Vultr

Cloud

High performance cloud compute

From
Free
Free plan
Yes
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Vultr 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; Vultr vultr Cloud Compute pricing as captured 31 December 2022 started at $5/month (1 vCPU, 1GB RAM, 25GB storage, 1TB transfer), scaling to $10/month and $20/month with more vCPU/RAM/storage; bandwidth overage billed at $0.01 to $0.05 per GB depending on plan
  • They diverge on capability: Poolside covers Laguna S 2.1, Vultr covers Cloud servers.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 30 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Poolside and Vultr actually diverge.

Attributes where Poolside and Vultr differ
AttributePoolsideVultr
Starting price$0.06/monthFree
Free tierNoYes
Platformsweb, api, mac, windows, linuxWeb, Api, Cli
CategoryAICloud
Founded20232014

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

  • Cloud servers
  • Bare metal servers
  • Block storage
  • Object storage
  • Load balancers
  • Kubernetes
  • Firewalls
  • Private networks

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

Vultr

  • High performance computingnot Poolside
  • Game serversnot Poolside
  • Streamingnot Poolside
  • Database hostingnot Poolside
  • Application serversnot 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

Vultr

  • Vultr Cloud Compute pricing as captured 31 December 2022 started at $5/month (1 vCPU, 1GB RAM, 25GB storage, 1TB transfer), scaling to $10/month and $20/month with more vCPU/RAM/storage; bandwidth overage billed at $0.01 to $0.05 per GB depending on plan

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

Vultr

Free
  • Cloud Compute$2.5/month
    • 512MB RAM
    • 10GB SSD
    • 500GB bandwidth
  • Bare Metal$32/month
    • Dedicated hardware
    • High performance
    • Full root access

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 Vultr if

  • You need cloud servers.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, Api, Cli.
  • You also want bare metal servers.
Vultr review

Questions people ask

Is Poolside or Vultr better?
Neither clearly leads. Poolside starts at $0.06/month and Vultr at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Poolside or Vultr?
Vultr has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at $0.06/month for Poolside and Free for Vultr.
Does Poolside or Vultr run on more platforms?
Poolside runs on web, api, mac, windows, linux. Vultr runs on Web, Api, Cli.
Can I use Vultr for free?
Yes. Vultr 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 Vultr is typically brought in for.
What can Poolside do that Vultr cannot?
Poolside covers Laguna S 2.1, Laguna XS 2.1, Desktop and CLI tools, Open-weight models. Vultr covers Cloud servers, Bare metal servers, Block storage, Object storage.

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
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
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