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Pinecone vs Qdrant

Two fact sheets from our own research, side by side — pricing, platforms, API access and status re-checked by us rather than quoted from the vendors.

The short answer

Free plan
Both have one
Public API
Both have one
Best fit
Pinecone: RAG and agent memory backends that need low-latency retrieval at scale · Qdrant: Teams building RAG or semantic search who want an open-source, self-hostable store
Trust score
About even — Pinecone 92, Qdrant 88
Status
Both up at our last check — Pinecone Sep 6, 2026, Qdrant Oct 2, 2026

From our own records as of each tool's last check. Anything we have not confirmed is left out rather than guessed. How we verify

PineconeManaged vector database for similarity search over billions of embeddings, with serverless and BYOC optionsQdrantOpen-source vector search engine written in Rust, available self-hosted or as a managed cloud for RAG and recommendation apps.

Side by side

FactPineconeQdrant
CategoryVector Databases & RAGVector Databases & RAG
Pricing modelFreemiumFreemium
Starts at$20/mo—
Public APIYesYes
Trust score92 / 10088 / 100
PlatformsWeb, APIWeb, API
CompanyPinecone Systems, Inc.Qdrant Solutions GmbH
Launched20212021
Last verifiedSep 6, 2026Oct 2, 2026

What our research says

Pinecone

The default managed choice when you want vector search without operating infrastructure, and serverless billing makes small projects cheap to start. Costs are metered per read/write unit, so query-heavy workloads need modeling up front - bills scale with success, and storage, egress and support are all separate lines.

Pros

  • Serverless architecture separates storage from compute
  • Free tier plus a $20 flat Builder plan lowers the entry cost
  • Hosted embedding and reranking models reduce pipeline glue
  • Enterprise controls: SSO, RBAC, audit logs, BYOC, HIPAA add-on

Cons

  • Unit-based pricing is hard to forecast for spiky query loads
  • Closed source, with BYOC reserved for the Enterprise tier
  • Responsive support costs $29-250/month extra on lower tiers

Qdrant

A mature, well-documented vector database that is easy to start with locally and scales to managed or private deployments. It is a strong pick when you want open-source control and fine-grained metadata filtering. Paid cost is usage-based and not quoted as a simple number, so estimate it with the vendor's calculator before committing.

Pros

  • Apache 2.0 engine with a free forever cloud tier
  • Native hybrid search with dense and sparse vectors
  • Deployable on your own servers, in Qdrant Cloud, or in your own cloud
  • SOC 2 and HIPAA compliance listed on the homepage

Cons

  • Standard and Premium cloud pricing is usage-based with no quoted starting price
  • The free tier is a single small node suited to prototypes only
  • Self-hosting means you handle scaling, backups and upgrades

Which one fits

Choose Pinecone if you need

  • RAG and agent memory backends that need low-latency retrieval at scale
  • Teams that would rather pay per usage than operate open-source vector stores
  • Enterprises needing SSO, RBAC, HIPAA or bring-your-own-cloud deployment

Choose Qdrant if you need

  • Teams building RAG or semantic search who want an open-source, self-hostable store
  • Applications that need heavy metadata filtering alongside vector similarity
  • Regulated companies that need to run managed clusters in their own cloud

Pinecone vs Qdrant: the questions people ask

Is Pinecone cheaper than Qdrant?

Pinecone starts at $20/mo. Qdrant has a free tier; what its paid plans cost is not confirmed by us yet.

Does Pinecone or Qdrant have a free tier?

Both: Pinecone has a free tier, and Qdrant has a free tier.

Which has a public API, Pinecone or Qdrant?

Both ship a public API, so either can be built on; the fact table above shows the platforms each one runs on.

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