Inference.net vs Poolside

Inference.net lists 2 models and Poolside 4. Inference.net is cheaper on a typical model ($0.08 per 1M tokens median). Below: line-up, price tiers, the cheapest model for each capability, and what each costs for five real workloads.

At a glance

Inference.netPoolside
Models listed24
Models with published pricing24
Typical price (median, 3:1 blend per 1M)$0.08$0.09
Cheapest paid modelInference.net: Schematron V2 Turbo ($0.06)Poolside: Laguna XS 2.1 ($0.07)
Longest contextInference.net: Schematron V2 Small (128K)Poolside: Laguna S 2.1 (1.0M)
Free models02
Newest modelInference.net: Schematron V2 Small (2026-09-12)Poolside: Laguna S 2.1 (2026-07-21)
Price changes in the last 90 days00
Advertisement

What each costs for real workloads

For each workload: the cheapest model from each provider that can actually do it (fits the context window; tool calling required for the agent), and its monthly cost at list price.

Workload (per month)Inference.netPoolside
Customer-support chatbot
50,000 conversations — each a 6-turn conversation
$5.25 with Inference.net: Schematron V2 Turbo$6.90 with Poolside: Laguna XS 2.1
RAG search over documents
20,000 questions — each a question answered from ~8 retrieved passages
$5.10 with Inference.net: Schematron V2 Turbo$8.40 with Poolside: Laguna XS 2.1
Coding / tool-using agent
2,000 tasks — each a multi-step task with tool calls and file context
no suitable model$8.64 with Poolside: Laguna XS 2.1
Batch summarisation
10,000 documents — each a 6,000-word report summarised to a page
$3.30 with Inference.net: Schematron V2 Turbo$5.52 with Poolside: Laguna XS 2.1
Long-document analysis
500 documents — each a 150-page contract or codebase read in one pass
$1.65 with Inference.net: Schematron V2 Turbo$3.12 with Poolside: Laguna XS 2.1

Cheapest model for each capability

You needInference.netPoolside
Any modelInference.net: Schematron V2 Turbo ($0.06)Poolside: Laguna XS 2.1 ($0.07)
With tool callingnone listedPoolside: Laguna XS 2.1 ($0.07)
With image inputnone listednone listed
With reasoning modenone listedPoolside: Laguna XS 2.1 ($0.07)
128K+ contextInference.net: Schematron V2 Turbo ($0.06)Poolside: Laguna XS 2.1 ($0.07)
1M+ contextnone listedPoolside: Laguna S 2.1 ($0.11)

Line-up by type and price tier

Model typeInference.netPoolside
text->text24
Price per 1M (3:1 blend)Inference.netPoolside
Free02
Under $0.5022
$0.50 – $300
$3 – $1000
$10 and up00

Frequently asked questions

How does Inference.net cost compare with Poolside cost?

Inference.net is cheaper on a typical model: a median of $0.08 per 1M tokens (3:1 input/output) against $0.09 for Poolside. The cheapest paid models are Inference.net: Schematron V2 Turbo at $0.06 and Poolside: Laguna XS 2.1 at $0.07.

Is Inference.net better than Poolside?

It depends on the job: Poolside offers the broader line-up (2 models vs 4), Inference.net the lower typical price, Poolside the longest context (1.0M tokens). The workload table above shows which wins for chat, RAG, agents, batch jobs and long documents.

Which has more models, Inference.net or Poolside?

Poolside: Inference.net lists 2 models and Poolside lists 4.

Which provider has the longest context window?

Poolside: Inference.net's longest is Inference.net: Schematron V2 Small at 128K tokens; Poolside's is Poolside: Laguna S 2.1 at 1.0M.

Do Inference.net or Poolside offer free models?

Inference.net: none. Poolside: 2 free models (e.g. Poolside: Laguna S 2.1 (free)).

Which provider has models that can read images?

Inference.net: 0 of 2 models accept images. Poolside: 0 of 4.

Browse more providers

Advertisement