Lowest listed starting rate
Pinecone Builder$20 per month flat
Flat $20 per month with included usage limits.
Interactive calculator
Vector Database Pricing Comparison for RAG Apps
Compare vector database pricing for Pinecone, Qdrant, and other retrieval infrastructure. Change usage inputs to see cheapest, balanced, and excluded options.
Cheapest eligibleCalculating
Balanced optionCalculating
CoverageCalculating
| Provider / model | Estimated monthly cost | Unit price | Context | Rate limit | Signal |
|---|
Excluded or custom-priced models
| Provider / model | Status | Reason |
|---|
Recommended Starting Points
Balanced comparison pick
Pinecone Standard$0.33 per GB-month, $50 minimum
Minimum $50/month. Read units are $16-$18 per 1M and writes $4-$4.50 per 1M depending on cloud and region.
Useful alternative
Qdrant Managed CloudUsage-based pricing
Usage-based cluster pricing; use Qdrant pricing calculator for current vCPU, RAM, and storage rates.
Pricing Details
| Provider | Model | Category | Current pricing | Context | Capabilities |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pinecone | Pinecone Builder Flat $20 per month with included usage limits. |
vector-db | $20 per month flat | Not applicable | Check provider |
| Pinecone | Pinecone Standard Minimum $50/month. Read units are $16-$18 per 1M and writes $4-$4.50 per 1M depending on cloud and region. |
vector-db | $0.33 per GB-month, $50 minimum | Not applicable | Check provider |
| Qdrant | Qdrant Managed Cloud Usage-based cluster pricing; use Qdrant pricing calculator for current vCPU, RAM, and storage rates. |
vector-db | Usage-based pricing | Not applicable | Check provider |
Limits and Notes
Rates checked 2026-11-10. Tiered, batch, cached-input, peak/off-peak, and regional pricing can differ from the standard planning rate shown here. Confirm the official source before committing budget.
FAQ
How is monthly cost calculated?
Token APIs use input and output token prices. Per-request APIs use monthly requests. Character-priced TTS uses monthly characters, while token-priced speech models use text and audio token volumes. Vector database estimates use storage and read/write units when the provider publishes them.
Why are some models excluded?
The calculator excludes models that miss required context, rate-limit, streaming, JSON, or tool-calling requirements. Custom or purely resource-based pricing is also excluded from numeric ranking.
Are prices guaranteed?
No. This is a planning dataset with official source links. Model availability, promotions, and account-tier limits can change.
Data Sources and Last Checked
- Pinecone official pricing · checked 2026-11-10
- Qdrant official pricing · checked 2026-11-10