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AI · head to head

Poolside vs You.com

Poolside logo

Poolside

AI

Open-weight foundation models built for agentic software engineering

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

You.com

AI

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.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 29 August 2026.

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 (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 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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