Pinecone

Reference vector database for RAG and semantic search — Starter tier is free up to 2GB

pinecone.io ↗

APIFree tierSOC 2

Audited by Jack Phillips · Updated June 2026

Visit site

Overall score

3.4/ 5

SME fit2/5

tiered pricing with step cliff + free tier

JTBD5/5

clearly named, measurable job

Integration4/5

API + 9 integrations

Trust5/5

mature, founded 2019

Quality1/5

no public rating

Compliance5/5

SOC 2 + GDPR + customer-choice residency

About

Pinecone is the most-used vector database in production AI applications — fully managed, serverless, with sub-50ms query latency at scale. Most builders pick Pinecone first for RAG and semantic search because the developer experience and operational maturity are unmatched in the category, then migrate to Weaviate/Qdrant only if they need self-hosting or have specific cost optimizations.

Best for: Any team building RAG, semantic search, or recommender features and wanting a managed vector DB without infrastructure overhead. Starter tier is genuinely useful — 2GB and 1M reads/mo covers a lot of POCs and side projects before you pay anything.

Pricing

Starter
Monthly
Free
Annual /mo
Free
Billing
flat
Notes
Up to 2GB storage;2M write units/mo;1M read units/mo;5 indexes;100 namespaces per index;Community support · Free forever. Genuinely usable for POCs and small side projects.
Builder
Monthly
$20
Annual /mo
$20
Billing
flat
Notes
Up to 10GB storage;5M write units/mo;2M read units/mo;10 indexes;1,000 namespaces per index;Free support · Flat $20/mo with bumped limits. Best value for individual developers and small teams.
Standard
Monthly
$50
Annual /mo
$50
Billing
usage
Notes
Pay-as-you-go on top of $50/mo minimum;Storage at $0.33/GB/mo;Read units at $16-$18/M;Write units at $4-$4.50/M;Unlimited storage;20 indexes;100,000 namespaces per index;HIPAA available as $190/mo add-on · $50/mo minimum then PAYG. 3-week trial with $300 in credits.
Enterprise
Monthly
$500
Annual /mo
$500
Billing
flat
Notes
Everything in Standard;99.95% uptime SLA;Private networking;Customer-managed encryption keys;Pro support;200 indexes per project · $500/mo minimum. Contact sales for custom commitment.

Tier	Monthly	Annual /mo	Billing	Notes
Starter	Free	Free	flat	Up to 2GB storage;2M write units/mo;1M read units/mo;5 indexes;100 namespaces per index;Community support · Free forever. Genuinely usable for POCs and small side projects.
Builder	$20	$20	flat	Up to 10GB storage;5M write units/mo;2M read units/mo;10 indexes;1,000 namespaces per index;Free support · Flat $20/mo with bumped limits. Best value for individual developers and small teams.
Standard	$50	$50	usage	Pay-as-you-go on top of $50/mo minimum;Storage at $0.33/GB/mo;Read units at $16-$18/M;Write units at $4-$4.50/M;Unlimited storage;20 indexes;100,000 namespaces per index;HIPAA available as $190/mo add-on · $50/mo minimum then PAYG. 3-week trial with $300 in credits.
Enterprise	$500	$500	flat	Everything in Standard;99.95% uptime SLA;Private networking;Customer-managed encryption keys;Pro support;200 indexes per project · $500/mo minimum. Contact sales for custom commitment.