Qdrant vs Weaviate
Both are free/open-source alternatives to Pinecone. Here's how they stack up — verified facts, no spin.
Qdrant
TOP PICKFast, open-source, one binary — the default self-hosted vector DB.
Qdrant is a high-performance vector database written in Rust and licensed Apache-2.0 — free to self-host with no usage limits or feature gates. It ships as a single self-contained binary with REST and gRPC APIs, runs via Docker or Kubernetes (official Helm chart and Operator), and offers a managed Qdrant Cloud on AWS, GCP, and Azure when you'd rather not operate it. Strong filtering, quantization, and hybrid search make it the most common 'we left Pinecone' landing spot.
Weaviate
Open-source with built-in hybrid search and a module ecosystem.
Weaviate is an open-source (BSD-3-Clause), cloud-native vector database that stores objects and vectors together, pairing similarity search with structured filtering and strong built-in hybrid (keyword + vector) search. Its module system can handle embedding generation for you, and Weaviate Cloud offers the managed path. A polished middle ground between Qdrant's lean engine and Milvus's heavy distribution.
Side by side
| Qdrant | Weaviate | |
|---|---|---|
| Sovereignty Score | 92 | 87 |
| Open source | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hostable | Yes | Yes |
| Local-first | Yes | No |
| License | Apache-2.0 | BSD-3-Clause |
| Pricing | Free self-hosted (no limits); Qdrant Cloud managed tiers with a free 1GB cluster | Free self-hosted (BSD-3-Clause); Weaviate Cloud managed tiers |
Qdrant is Macrostack's recommended Pinecone alternative, so it's our pick here.
Qdrant
Strengths
- +Apache-2.0, no feature gates — the full engine is open
- +Single Rust binary: laptop to cluster with the same API
- +Excellent metadata filtering, quantization, hybrid search
- +Managed cloud exists when you want zero ops
Trade-offs
- −Self-hosting means you own scaling and backups
- −Smaller managed-service ecosystem than Pinecone's
Weaviate
Strengths
- +Hybrid keyword + vector search built in
- +Modules can generate embeddings server-side
- +GraphQL and REST APIs; solid multi-tenancy
Trade-offs
- −Heavier than Qdrant for simple use cases
- −Module system adds a learning curve
Facts verified 2026-07-15. Licenses and pricing change — spotted something out of date? That's a correction we want.