Chroma suits developers building AI applications that need search and retrieval over stored data, with options for local, cloud, or customer-VPC deployment.
Free plan Free trial Open source From $250 a month AndroidiPhone & iPadWebWindowsMacLinux+2
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Best Search & Vector Database Platforms 2026
These platforms give applications ways to store, index and retrieve information for search and AI workloads.
Review each platform's free plan, open-source status, trial availability and support for web, API, Linux, self-hosted, macOS and Windows environments. Listings have no published scoring basis.
02
SingleStore Helios
Helios suits teams that need a cloud database for transactional and analytical work, with multiple data models or AI workloads.
WebWindowsMac+3 Record6.0 Visit
03
Typesense
Typesense suits developers who need search for their own site or app data, with control over deployment and search behavior.
WebWindowsMac+3 Record5.9 Visit
04
Algolia
Algolia may suit developers and organizations adding search to websites or apps, including ecommerce and enterprise search use cases.
AndroidiPhone & iPadWeb+2 Record5.8 Visit
05
Pinecone
Pinecone suits teams building AI applications that need semantic search, recommendations, or retrieval-augmented generation.
WebMacLinux+1 Record5.8 Visit
6
Vespa
WebWindowsMac+3 Free plan Record5.8 Visit Vespa is intended for teams building AI applications where search quality, ranking, fresh real-time data, or increasing retrieval traffic matter.
8
Apache Solr
WebWindowsMac+3 Free plan Record5.6 Visit Solr suits teams and individuals building self-hosted search for documents, websites, or applications.
9
Meilisearch
WebWindowsMac+3 $20 usage-based Record5.6 Visit Meilisearch suits developers building search into websites or applications, from e-commerce and SaaS to media, knowledge bases, and enterprise use cases.
10
Weaviate
WebLinuxAPI+1 $45 usage-based Record5.2 Visit Weaviate suits developers building search, RAG, or agent systems who need a hosted or self-managed database.
11
Qdrant
WebWindowsMac+3 Free plan Record5.0 Visit Qdrant suits developers building semantic search or recommendation systems who need vector storage, metadata filtering or hybrid retrieval.
12
Redis Insight
WebWindowsMac+2 Free plan Record5.0 Visit Redis Insight is suited to developers and administrators who work with Redis data and want GUI and command-line tools for inspection and management.
13
OpenSearch
WebWindowsMac+3 Free plan Record4.8 Visit OpenSearch suits teams building search, observability, or security analytics applications, particularly those that need flexible deployment or want to modify and embed…
14
Zilliz Cloud
WebAPI Free plan Record4.8 Visit Zilliz Cloud suits teams building vector search applications on managed Milvus.
15
Milvus
LinuxAPISelf-hosted Free plan Record4.5 Visit Milvus suits developers and teams building vector search into GenAI applications, with deployment options ranging from local use to Kubernetes clusters.
17
LanceDB
LinuxAPISelf-hosted Free plan Record4.3 Visit LanceDB suits developers building and curating multimodal training datasets with searchable tables and versioned data.
18
Vertex AI Vector Search
WebAPI — Record3.8 Visit It suits teams building search, recommendation, generative AI, chatbot, or multimodal applications through cloud APIs.
Before you choose
Compare pricing access
Free plans are available from platforms on this list. Pricing choices range from free to freemium and paid offerings.
Check the product's pricing note before planning a deployment. Some freemium products list paid starting prices, while free products can use open-source distribution.
Check the code model
Open-source code is available from platforms on this list. Review the licence and project terms if you need to read, change or redistribute code.
A free plan and open-source code are separate choices, so check both before selecting a platform.
Use a trial when offered
Free trials are available from platforms on this list. Trial periods shown are 14 days for Elasticsearch and Meilisearch and 30 days for Oracle AI Vector Search.
Confirm trial length and pricing terms before moving an application beyond evaluation.
Match your environment
The listed services support web, API, Linux, self-hosted, macOS or Windows environments. Match the platform's listed environment to how you plan to build and operate the service.
Check whether the access method and operating system fit your application before choosing a plan.
Questions
Do these platforms offer free plans?
Yes. A free plan is offered by platforms on this list, alongside free, freemium and paid pricing models.
Can I find open-source search or vector platforms here?
Yes. Open-source code is offered by platforms on this list. Review the licence before using or changing the code.
Are free trials available?
Yes. Free trials are offered by platforms on this list. Elasticsearch and Meilisearch show 14-day periods, while Oracle AI Vector Search shows 30 days.
Which environments do these platforms support?
The entries cover web, API, Linux, self-hosted, macOS and Windows environments. Check the platform's own entry for its supported option.
What pricing models appear on this list?
The list includes free, freemium and paid pricing models. Product notes can also show a free plan, paid starting price or trial length.
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