Pinecone vs pgvector — 2026
pgvector inside your existing Postgres is the right default for 90% of RAG builds. Pinecone wins only at huge scale (10M+ vectors) or when you need their managed sparse-dense hybrid out of the box.
Pick Pinecone if…
- You have 10M+ vectors
- You need managed scaling with zero ops
- You want best-in-class hybrid search day-1
- You're a pure-AI shop with no Postgres dependency
Pick pgvector if…
- You already use Postgres / Supabase / RDS
- You have under 10M vectors (most apps)
- You want ACID + joins with your relational data
- You want to keep your stack simple
Pricing
Pinecone
Starter: free 100K vectors. Standard: $0.096/hr + storage. Scales fast.
pgvector
Free with Postgres. Pay only for your existing Postgres host (Supabase free tier works for most starts).
Our verdict
Default to pgvector. Migrate to Pinecone only when you've actually outgrown it.
FAQs
Pinecone vs pgvector — which is better?
Default to pgvector. Migrate to Pinecone only when you've actually outgrown it.
When should I pick Pinecone?
You have 10M+ vectors. You need managed scaling with zero ops. You want best-in-class hybrid search day-1. You're a pure-AI shop with no Postgres dependency.
When should I pick pgvector?
You already use Postgres / Supabase / RDS. You have under 10M vectors (most apps). You want ACID + joins with your relational data. You want to keep your stack simple.
How much does Pinecone cost?
Starter: free 100K vectors. Standard: $0.096/hr + storage. Scales fast.
How much does pgvector cost?
Free with Postgres. Pay only for your existing Postgres host (Supabase free tier works for most starts).
Can I use both Pinecone and pgvector?
Often yes — we build hybrid setups all the time. Default to pgvector. Migrate to Pinecone only when you've actually outgrown it.
Related comparisons
Want our honest take on a tool not listed here?
Free 30-minute strategy call. We'll tell you exactly what we'd build, what it'd cost, and whether AI is actually the right tool for the job.