recall vs Poolside AI
Side-by-side comparison of features, pricing, and ratings
At a glance
| Dimension | recall | Poolside AI |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free (open-source) | Contact sales (enterprise custom) |
| Deployment | 100% local, offline | On-prem, VPC, cloud API, workstation (defense only) |
| Core Technology | TF-IDF + TextRank extractive summarization | Laguna XS.2 (33B) and M.1 (225B) foundation models, multi-agent orchestration |
| Context Length | Limited by session log size (no explicit cap) | 256K tokens (both models as of May 2026) |
| Target User | Solo developers / small teams using Claude Code | Large enterprises in regulated industries (finance, healthcare, defense) |
| Integrations | Claude Code only | IDE extensions, TUI, agents, binaries, data connectors |
Choose Recall if you're an individual Claude Code user who wants free, offline session memory to reduce token waste. Choose Poolside AI if you're an enterprise in a regulated industry needing custom foundation models, long-horizon multi-agent planning, and air-gapped deployment with full governance.
Free, offline persistent memory for Claude Code — automatic session logs and local summaries.
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Open-weight agentic coding models for regulated enterprises needing auditable, on-prem AI
Visit WebsiteWhat real users say: recall vs Poolside AI
Not marketing copy and not our opinion — a structured sweep of public discussion (reviews, forums, communities and video comments), showing what people praise and what they complain about for each tool.
recall
133 mentions across 8 sources · 43% positive — mixed
Hacker News, YouTube, Product Hunt, App Store, Bluesky, Stack Overflow, GitHub, Lemmy
What users praise
- • 100% offline and private—no data ever leaves your machine.
- • Zero ongoing cost beyond your Claude Code subscription.
- • Lightweight, easy to install via GitHub clone or pip.
- • Open-source (MIT license) allows customization and auditing.
What frustrates them
- • Extractive summarization may miss key context from complex sessions.
- • Only works with Claude Code—no integration with other AI tools.
- • Name collision with many other 'Recall' products causes confusion.
- • No active community or dedicated support channels observed.
Researched Jun 22, 2026
Poolside AI
40 mentions across 4 sources · 48% positive — mixed
Hacker News, YouTube, Bluesky, Lemmy
What users praise
- • Open-weight models with strong SWE-bench scores (72.5%).
- • On-prem, VPC, and air-gapped deployment for high security.
- • 256K context length supports long-horizon reasoning tasks.
- • Multi-agent orchestration with sandboxed execution environments.
What frustrates them
- • Community feedback is scarce; limited real-world user reviews.
- • Platform is still in research preview as of April 2026.
- • Pricing is opaque; only 'contact us' with no published tiers.
- • Trademark dispute with Poolside FM creates name confusion.
Researched Jul 17, 2026
Who should pick which
- Solo developer using Claude CodePick: recall
Recall provides free, offline session memory that saves tokens by preventing repetitive context re-explanation. It's easy to install and works with local Claude Code.
- Enterprise CTO in financePick: Poolside AI
Poolside offers on-prem/VPC deployment with custom models, auditability, and governance needed for regulated environments. Long 256K context supports complex, multi-step development tasks.
- Security-conscious teams working with air-gapped codebasesPick: Poolside AI
Poolside can be deployed entirely within a security boundary without any cloud dependency, with role-based access control. Recall is offline but only for Claude Code memory.
- Claude Code users wanting minimal overheadPick: recall
Recall is lightweight, pip-installable, and runs without any external service. It's perfect for users who just want persistent context without changing their workflow.
- Team needing multi-agent planning and tool use across large codebasesPick: Poolside AI
Poolside is built for long-horizon engineering tasks with multi-agent orchestration, tool integration, and sandboxed execution. Its models are designed for complex, multi-step reasoning.
Frequently Asked Questions
recall vs Poolside AI: which should you choose?
Choose Recall if you're an individual Claude Code user who wants free, offline session memory to reduce token waste. Choose Poolside AI if you're an enterprise in a regulated industry needing custom foundation models, long-horizon multi-agent planning, and air-gapped deployment with full governance.
Does Recall require an internet connection?
No, Recall works 100% offline. No data leaves your machine.
Can Poolside AI be deployed on-premises?
Yes, Poolside AI supports on-prem, VPC, and even workstation deployment (for defense), with custom foundation models and full auditability.
Which tools does Recall support?
Recall is a plugin for Claude Code only. It does not work with other AI assistants.
What is the context length for Poolside's models?
As of May 2026, both Laguna XS.2 and M.1 support up to 256K tokens of context.
Is Recall free to use?
Yes, it's open-source under MIT license and completely free.
Does Poolside AI offer a self-service signup?
No, it requires contacting sales for custom enterprise onboarding.
Can I use Recall without Claude Code?
No, Recall is specifically a plugin for Claude Code CLI.
What kind of summarization does Recall use?
Recall uses extractive summarization with TF-IDF and TextRank. It does not use LLMs, so it's fast and free but less semantically rich.
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Last reviewed: June 22, 2026