Poolside lists 4 models and Recursive 1. Below: line-up, price tiers, the cheapest model for each capability, and what each costs for five 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.
It depends on the job: Poolside offers the broader line-up (4 models vs 1), 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, Poolside or Recursive?
Poolside: Poolside lists 4 models and Recursive lists 1.
Which provider has the longest context window?
Poolside: Poolside's longest is Poolside: Laguna S 2.1 at 1.0M tokens; Recursive's is Recursive: Flint (free) at 262K.
Do Poolside or Recursive offer free models?
Poolside: 2 free models (e.g. Poolside: Laguna S 2.1 (free)). Recursive: 1 free model (e.g. Recursive: Flint (free)).
Which provider has models that can read images?
Poolside: 0 of 4 models accept images. Recursive: 0 of 1.