PiecesPaid only
Paid from
$18.99 a month
View plans and limitsUpdated 4 September 2026 · Independent comparison
Pieces vs Poolside:
which should you use?
Pieces and Poolside, side by side. Find the one that fits what you need to do.
Find your best fitThe 30-second answer
Pieces remembers what you were doing across your editor, browser and terminal, and can keep all of it on your own machine.
Poolside a free chat with Poolside’s Laguna models, which can search the web, run code and analyse files.
Pricing, simplified
Start free. Upgrade when you need more.
PoolsideFree plan
Pricing
No verified ladder yet
View plans and limitsThe 30-second comparison
If you only read one section, make it this one. Rows where both sides say the same thing are left out — the point is where they differ. Where each row came from is listed underneath.
| Category | Pieces | Poolside | Better fit |
|---|---|---|---|
| What it's built for | Remembers what you were doing across your editor, browser and terminal, and can keep all of it on your own machine. | A free chat with Poolside’s Laguna models, which can search the web, run code and analyse files. | Tie |
| Free plan | No. Paid from the start. | Yes. Free to use at chat.poolside.ai while the Laguna models are in preview | Poolside |
| Cheapest way to pay | $18.99 a month. | No paid tier — it is free. | Poolside |
| What the paid tiers cost |
| No paid tier — it is free. | Tie |
| What to watch out for | A memory layer rather than a coding assistant — it will not write the code. The free tier is gone: every plan now starts with a seven-day trial that asks for a card, and the value only appears after weeks of use. | Free while the models are in preview, so the terms may change. Poolside’s business is coding agents for companies and governments, and the chat is a way in to the models rather than its main product. | Tie |
| Made by | Pieces for Developers — Cincinnati, US. | Poolside — San Francisco, US. | Tie |
Poolside is ahead on 2 of the 6 rows compared, 1 of them about how well it does the job itself. It is a single row of daylight, so read Pieces’s column before deciding.
Poolside
A free chat with Poolside’s Laguna models, which can search the web, run code and analyse files.
✓ A free chat with Poolside’s Laguna models, which can search the web, run code and analyse files.
✓ You want to start without paying anything
✓ You would rather not take on a subscription at all
✓ Free to use at chat.poolside.ai while the Laguna models are in preview
Remembers what you were doing across your editor, browser and terminal, and can keep all of it on your own machine.
Pieces is the better answer when the job is what it was built for rather than what the pick above does broadly.
✓ Remembers what you were doing across your editor, browser and terminal, and can keep all of it on your own machine.
✓ It can run on hardware you control
✓ It is aimed at developers
✓ Paid plans start at $18.99 a month
How we know
Every row that separated these two, and where it came from. Nothing here is a hands-on test — if a line rests on a vendor’s own pricing page, it says so and links it.
| Row | Favours | Weight | Where it came from |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free plan | Poolside | How well it does the job | From each vendor’s own pricing page. Dates and pages are listed below. |
| Cheapest way to pay | Poolside | Everything else | From each vendor’s own pricing page. Dates and pages are listed below. |
The prices
Pieces. Read by hand off pieces.app on 4 September 2026. It is not on the monthly re-check, so confirm there before paying. pieces.app/pricing
Poolside. Read by hand off chat.poolside.ai on 4 September 2026. It is not on the monthly re-check, so confirm there before paying. chat.poolside.ai
The ratings
The category these two share. Coding, Data & Technical Work — both are listed there in the catalogue, and the fit recorded against each listing is a judgement made here, by hand.
The nine-category grid below. Derived from what each product is listed for, by one script, once per build — so the same pair always reads the same. It is a derivation, not a review.
What this is not
Neither product was run side by side to produce this page. Nobody was paid to appear on it and nothing here is ranked by commission.
To put the same question to both and read the answers yourself, run them side by side — that is a live test, and this is not.
Choose based on what you’re doing
All ten categories, including the ones where neither of these is the answer. These ratings are derived from what each product is listed for, not from running it — a rating here is a reading of the record, and the record is linked.
01
General-Purpose AI Assistants
Questions, brainstorming, explanations, everyday tasks, decision-making, general advice.
Pieces
Not a good fitPoolside
Bad fitBest choice: Neither
02
Search, Research & Academics
Web research, deep research, books, academic papers, citations, news, fact-checking.
Pieces
Bad fitPoolside
Bad fitBest choice: Neither
03
Writing, Communication & Language
Emails, reports, essays, editing, summarizing, translation, presentations.
Pieces
Bad fitPoolside
Bad fitBest choice: Neither
04
Coding, Data & Technical Work
Programming, debugging, data analysis, spreadsheets, math, engineering, technical research.
Pieces
Good fitPoolside
Bad fitBest choice: Pieces
05
Business, Finance & Professional Work
Business strategy, investing, market research, legal, sales, HR, accounting, consulting.
Pieces
Not a good fitPoolside
Bad fitBest choice: Neither
06
Image & Design
Image generation, photo editing, logos, graphics, product design, advertising creatives.
Pieces
Bad fitPoolside
Bad fitBest choice: Neither
07
Video
Video generation and editing, clipping, subtitles, avatars, animation and motion capture.
Pieces
Bad fitPoolside
Bad fitBest choice: Neither
08
Audio, Voice & Music
Voice generation, transcription, music, dubbing, sound cleanup and podcast production.
Pieces
Bad fitPoolside
Bad fitBest choice: Neither
09
Marketing & Content Creation
Social media, SEO, advertising, copywriting, content ideas, scripts, brand development.
Pieces
Bad fitPoolside
Bad fitBest choice: Neither
10
Productivity, Automation & Personal Life
AI agents, workflows, scheduling, meetings, organization, shopping, travel, personal finance.
Pieces
Not a good fitPoolside
Bad fitBest choice: Neither
Remembers what you were doing across your editor, browser and terminal, and can keep all of it on your own machine.
by Pieces for DevelopersRemembers what you were doing across your editor, browser and terminal, and can keep all of it on your own machine.
It can run on hardware you control
It is aimed at developers
Paid plans start at $18.99 a month
A free chat with Poolside’s Laguna models, which can search the web, run code and analyse files.
San Francisco, USA free chat with Poolside’s Laguna models, which can search the web, run code and analyse files.
You want to start without paying anything
You would rather not take on a subscription at all
Free to use at chat.poolside.ai while the Laguna models are in preview
Pricing, simplified
The plans people actually compare, read from each vendor’s own page.
PricingSimple, up-to-date plan overview.
Free version
Pieces
No — paid from the startPaid from the start
Poolside
Yes — Free plan availableFree to use at chat.poolside.ai while the Laguna models are in preview
Individual plans
Pieces
Pro
$18.99 / month$14.17 / month (annual)
PoolsideFree plan only
Business plans
PiecesNot sold to teams
PoolsideNot sold to teams
Enterprise
Pieces
From $22.99 / user / monthFrom $22.99 / user / month (annual)
PoolsideNot published
Tell us what you use AI for
Pick your main job and the verdict below changes to match. Every answer is on the page already, so this works as a reader, not a lookup.
The verdict for that job
Poolside
Close call. Both cover coding, data & technical work at the same level; only Poolside has a free plan.
6 rows compared
Frequently asked questions
Is Pieces or Poolside better?
Poolside is ahead on 2 of the 6 rows compared, 1 of them about how well it does the job itself. It is a single row of daylight, so read Pieces’s column before deciding. only Poolside has a free plan. Pieces: Remembers what you were doing across your editor, browser and terminal, and can keep all of it on your own machine. Poolside: A free chat with Poolside’s Laguna models, which can search the web, run code and analyse files.
Is Pieces or Poolside cheaper?
Only one of the two publishes a ladder we have verified, so a like-for-like comparison is not possible yet.
Do Pieces and Poolside both have free plans?
Poolside does — Free to use at chat.poolside.ai while the Laguna models are in preview. Pieces does not.
What should I watch out for?
Pieces: A memory layer rather than a coding assistant — it will not write the code. The free tier is gone: every plan now starts with a seven-day trial that asks for a card, and the value only appears after weeks of use. Poolside: Free while the models are in preview, so the terms may change. Poolside’s business is coding agents for companies and governments, and the chat is a way in to the models rather than its main product.
Read more
Pieces
What it is for, who makes it, what it costs and what to use instead.
Poolside
What it is for, who makes it, what it costs and what to use instead.
Best AI for Coding
Programming, debugging, data analysis, spreadsheets, math, engineering, technical research.