Pinecone is a fully managed vector database optimized for simplicity and speed-to-production with 5+ million requests per second capacity, while Weaviate is an open-source alternative offering greater customization and lower costs for self-hosted deployments. Pinecone excels for enterprises needing managed infrastructure; Weaviate suits teams prioritizing flexibility and cost control.
Pinecone vs Weaviate — Side-by-side comparison on A Versus B
Fully managed cloud vector database as a service with built-in auto-scaling, optimized for production AI workloads at enterprise scale.
Open-source vector database with flexible deployment options (self-hosted or managed cloud) and full code transparency.
Deployment Model. Starting Cost (monthly). Setup Time. Vector Search Throughput. Customization & Control. Query Latency (p99). Free Tier
Choose Pinecone if you need a production-ready, fully managed vector database with enterprise-grade performance, minimal setup overhead, and 99.99% uptime SLAs—ideal for startups and enterprises willing to pay for convenience. Choose Weaviate if you prioritize cost control, need full customization, value open-source transparency, or want to self-host without vendor lock-in—best for teams with engineering resources and budget constraints.
Pinecone: $0 (free tier limited to 1M vectors) | Weaviate: N/A
Pinecone: 1 (vector-only) | Weaviate: N/A
Pinecone: 0 (standalone database) | Weaviate: N/A
Pinecone: Pay-per-usage (storage + queries) | Weaviate: N/A
Pinecone: $200-400 (managed pricing) | Weaviate: N/A
Pinecone: 5-10 minutes | Weaviate: 30-45 minutes (self-hosted)
Pinecone: No (SaaS only) | Weaviate: N/A
Pinecone: Basic payload filtering | Weaviate: N/A
Pinecone: 99.95% (enterprise tier) | Weaviate: N/A
Pinecone: Up to 20,000 dimensions | Weaviate: N/A
Pinecone: No (separate system) | Weaviate: N/A
Pinecone: ~2,500 (closed-source) | Weaviate: 13,000+ stars
Pinecone: $70 (minimum pod + index) | Weaviate: N/A
Pinecone: 100M+ (unlimited with multi-pod) | Weaviate: N/A
Pinecone: 20,000 dimensions | Weaviate: Unlimited
Pinecone: 15-20 (account + API key setup) | Weaviate: N/A
Pinecone: Not open-source | Weaviate: ~9,500 stars (as of 2026)
Pinecone: ~$150-200 (pod + index + compute) | Weaviate: N/A
Pinecone: 100,000 vectors | Weaviate: Unlimited (self-hosted)
Pinecone: $10 + storage | Weaviate: $500-800 (managed)
Pinecone: Metadata filtering only | Weaviate: BM25 keyword + vector
Monthly Cost (1M vectors, 1K queries/day)
Pinecone: 5 billion (enterprise) | Weaviate: N/A
Pinecone: 25+ (LangChain, LlamaIndex, OpenAI) | Weaviate: N/A
Pinecone: Limited; JSON export only, subject to egress costs | Weaviate: N/A
Pinecone: $50 (Starter tier minimum) | Weaviate: N/A
Pinecone: 10B+ (unlimited) | Weaviate: N/A
Pinecone: Advanced (AND/OR/NOT) | Weaviate: N/A
Pinecone: $25 | Weaviate: $0 (self-hosted) / $50+ (managed)
Pinecone: < 5 minutes | Weaviate: 30+ minutes (self-hosted)
Pinecone: Proprietary (not open-source) | Weaviate: 9,200+
Pinecone: 99.95% | Weaviate: User-managed (no SLA)
Pinecone: Limited (SaaS constraints) | Weaviate: Unlimited (open-source)
Pinecone: None | Weaviate: Unlimited (self-hosted)
Pinecone: $0 (free tier with limits) | Weaviate: N/A
Pinecone: $84 (Pro plan, 5M vectors) | Weaviate: N/A
Pinecone: 1B+ (distributed) | Weaviate: N/A
Pinecone: Yes (REST + gRPC) | Weaviate: N/A
Pinecone: Yes (SOC 2 Type II, HIPAA) | Weaviate: N/A
Pinecone: N/A | Weaviate: Cloud-managed SaaS + Self-hosted Docker/Kubernetes
Pinecone: N/A | Weaviate: 3 methods (HNSW, flat, dynamic)
Average Query Latency (1M vectors, 384-dim)
Pinecone: N/A | Weaviate: 20+ providers (OpenAI, Anthropic, Cohere, Hugging Face)
Minimum Monthly Infrastructure Cost (Self-hosted Production)
Pinecone: N/A | Weaviate: Yes, with built-in tenant isolation
Pinecone: N/A | Weaviate: 2 (GraphQL, REST)
Pinecone: N/A | Weaviate: 2 billion vectors
Pinecone: N/A | Weaviate: 5-10 minutes (cloud)
Pinecone: N/A | Weaviate: Native BM25 + vector search
Pinecone: N/A | Weaviate: $0-5000+/month (SaaS)
Pinecone: N/A | Weaviate: 20+ LLM providers
Pinecone: N/A | Weaviate: Limited (planning phase)
Pinecone: N/A | Weaviate: 3 (text, image, audio)
Pinecone: N/A | Weaviate: 100M+ (distributed)
Pinecone: N/A | Weaviate: 30-60 (with Docker)
Pinecone: N/A | Weaviate: Native with isolation
Pinecone: N/A | Weaviate: Docker, Kubernetes, Cloud (AWS/GCP/Azure)
Pinecone: N/A | Weaviate: Advanced GraphQL + WHERE clauses with boolean logic
Pinecone: N/A | Weaviate: Text, image, audio, video
Pinecone: N/A | Weaviate: Native Kubernetes-ready Helm charts
Pinecone: N/A | Weaviate: Docker/Kubernetes cluster (4GB+ RAM minimum)
Pinecone: N/A | Weaviate: Supported but secondary to GraphQL API
How to choose between Pinecone and Weaviate
Pinecone vs Weaviate — Structured Comparison Data
Machine-readable comparison dataset for Pinecone vs Weaviate. Contains 94 attribute comparisons, 5 FAQ pairs.
Pinecone vs Weaviate — Attribute Category Vocabulary
Taxonomy of attribute categories used to classify comparison data for Pinecone vs Weaviate.
Which vector database is faster for real-time search?
Pinecone delivers faster results with < 50ms p99 latency and 5+ million RPS throughput, thanks to its fully managed infrastructure and proprietary optimization. Weaviate achieves 50-150ms latency and 2-3 million RPS, which is still suitable for most applications but depends heavily on your self-hosted infrastructure quality. For latency-critical applications (sub-50ms requirements), Pinecone is the better choice.
Can I avoid vendor lock-in with either solution?
Weaviate provides full vendor lock-in protection—it's open-source, so you can migrate your data and deploy elsewhere without restrictions. Pinecone is a closed SaaS platform; migrating away requires exporting vectors and re-indexing in another system, which takes time and effort. If avoiding lock-in is critical, Weaviate is the clear winner.
What's the total cost difference for a small startup?
For a startup with 1M vectors and moderate queries, Pinecone starts at $25/month but can reach $500-$2,000+ depending on index size and query volume. Weaviate self-hosted costs only your server infrastructure (e.g., $50-$200/month on AWS), making it 5-10x cheaper. However, Pinecone eliminates DevOps costs that Weaviate self-hosting requires.
Which supports hybrid search (vectors + keywords)?
Both support hybrid search, but Weaviate has it built-in with BM25 keyword matching alongside vector similarity. Pinecone requires you to implement keyword filtering separately, often using external tools. Weaviate has a native advantage for hybrid search use cases.
What's the learning curve for each platform?
Pinecone has a gentler curve—you can query within 5 minutes using their Python SDK with minimal configuration. Weaviate self-hosted requires understanding Docker, Kubernetes (for scaling), and index configuration, adding 4-6 weeks of learning for production deployments. Weaviate Cloud (managed) is closer to Pinecone's simplicity but still requires more configuration knowledge.
How to Choose Between Pinecone and Weaviate
Deployment Model: Pinecone has Fully managed SaaS only, while Weaviate has Open-source self-hosted or managed cloud.
Starting Cost (monthly): Pinecone has $25-$1,500+ (index-based pricing), while Weaviate has $0 (self-hosted) or $50+ (managed).
Setup Time: Pinecone has < 5 minutes (no infrastructure needed), while Weaviate has 30+ minutes (self-hosted requires config).
Vector Search Throughput: Pinecone has 5+ million RPS at scale, while Weaviate has 2-3 million RPS (depends on infrastructure).
Customization & Control: Pinecone has Limited (vendor-locked features), while Weaviate has Extensive (full source code access).
Query Latency (p99): Pinecone has < 50ms average, while Weaviate has 50-150ms (varies by deployment).
Free Tier: Pinecone has No free tier available, while Weaviate has Unlimited free self-hosted option.