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Software · head to head

Poolside vs You.com

Poolside logo

Poolside

Software

Open-weight foundation models built for agentic software engineering

From
$0.06/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
You.com logo

You.com

Software

Web search and data extraction APIs built for AI agents and LLMs

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only You.com 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; You.com pricing tiers beyond the pay-as-you-go table are not published and require contacting sales for volume discounts.
  • They diverge on capability: Poolside covers Laguna S 2.1, You.com covers Web Search API.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Poolside and You.com actually diverge.

Attributes where Poolside and You.com differ
AttributePoolsideYou.com
Starting price$0.06/monthFree
Free tierNoYes
Platformsweb, api, mac, windows, linuxweb, api
Founded2023Unknown

Identical on both: pricing model (usage-based), user rating (Not yet rated), category (Unknown).

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 You.com

  • Web Search API
  • Contents API
  • Answer API
  • Research API
  • Zero data retention
  • SOC 2 certification

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

You.com

  • Grounding LLM chatbots with live web datanot Poolside
  • Building AI research agentsnot Poolside
  • Adding cited web answers to productsnot Poolside
  • Financial research automationnot 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

You.com

  • Pricing tiers beyond the pay-as-you-go table are not published and require contacting sales for volume discounts.
  • Finance Research API is priced significantly higher than the other endpoints, at $110 per 1,000 calls.
  • No self-serve dashboard details are published for managing enterprise zero-retention settings.

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

You.com

Free
  • FreeFree
    • 100 Web Search API queries/day
    • $100 free credit
  • Pay-as-you-go$undefined/mo
    • Web Search API $5 per 1,000 calls
    • Contents API $1 per 1,000 pages
    • Answer API $5 per 1,000 calls

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 You.com if

  • You need web search api.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on web, api.
  • You also want contents api.
You.com review

Questions people ask

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

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
You.com: Does You.com offer a free tier?

Yes, the Free plan includes 100 Web Search API queries per day plus $100 in free credit to try the other APIs before paying.

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
You.com: How is usage billed on paid plans?

Pay-as-you-go pricing charges per 1,000 calls: $5 for Web Search, $1 for Contents, $5 for Answer, $12 for Research, and $110 for Finance Research.

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
You.com: Are there volume discounts?

Yes, You.com offers lower per-call rates as usage scales, plus optional annual commitment plans for deeper discounts and predictable costs.

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
You.com: Is there a minimum spend to use the APIs?

No, the pay-as-you-go model has no minimums, so developers are billed only for the calls they actually make beyond the free credit.

Source
You.com: What enterprise security options are available?

You.com offers SOC 2 certified infrastructure, zero data retention options, and Data Processing Agreements with custom QPS limits for enterprise customers.

Source
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