Qdrant
Open-source vector search engine written in Rust, self-hosted or on Qdrant Cloud.
Updated · AppBreakup editorial · Self-hosted, Web
Is Qdrant free?
Yes, free and open source
- License:
- Apache-2.0
Checked on Qdrant's site Nov 1, 2026
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All 6- Verified facts
- 5 of 5
- Alternatives ranked
- 6
- Approved reviews
- 0
- Visits sent from here
- 0
About Qdrant
Qdrant is an open-source vector database and search engine written in Rust. It stores embeddings with a JSON payload and lets you combine similarity search with rich filters on that metadata, including nested, text and geo conditions, which makes it a good fit for RAG, recommendations and product search. It supports dense and sparse vectors, native hybrid search with BM25, multivectors and quantization to save memory. You can run it from a Docker image on your own hardware, on-premises or at the edge, or use Qdrant Cloud, which offers a small free-forever cluster and usage-based paid tiers on AWS, Google Cloud or Azure; a hybrid option runs the data plane in your own Kubernetes cluster. The server is licensed under Apache 2.0. It suits engineering teams who want a fast, permissively licensed engine with deployment flexibility. Its managed tooling is younger than some rivals, and large clusters still need capacity planning.
Best for: Teams wanting a permissively licensed vector engine they can run anywhere.
Pros and cons
What works
- Apache 2.0 licence and easy Docker self-hosting
- Strong metadata filtering alongside vector search
- Free-forever cloud cluster for testing
Why people leave
- Free cloud cluster is tiny at 1 GB of RAM
- Cluster sizing is up to you, unlike serverless Pinecone
- Fewer built-in AI conveniences than some managed rivals
Qdrant vs Pinecone, Weaviate and Chroma
From each app's listing and the prices verified on its own site. A dash means we haven't verified it yet.
| Attribute | Qdrant | Pinecone | Weaviate | Chroma |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Open source | Free plan + paid | Open source | Open source |
| Verified price | — | $20 a month flat (Builder) | From $45/month | — |
| Free plan | Free app | Yes (Starter) | Free app | Free app |
| Open source | Yes | No | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hostable | Yes | No | Yes | Yes |
| Platforms | Self-hosted, Web | Web | Self-hosted, Web | Self-hosted, Linux, macOS, Windows |
Top Qdrant alternatives
See all 6- 1
Pinecone68.8Serverless managed service with no clusters to size, if you prefer not to self-host.
- 2
Weaviate64.8Open source with built-in embedding integrations and a Query Agent for natural-language queries.
- 3
Chroma57.5Open-source embedding database that can run in-process from Python, simpler for prototypes and small RAG apps than a Qdrant server.
- 4
Elasticsearch52.6One engine for vectors plus mature full-text search and log analytics.
- 5
PostgreSQL51.2pgvector adds vector search to the Postgres database you may already run.
Why people left Qdrant
In reviewers' own words, from reviews of the apps they moved to. These are their opinions, not ours.
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Reviews
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Qdrant: common questions
What is Qdrant?
Qdrant: Open-source vector search engine written in Rust, self-hosted or on Qdrant Cloud. Best for teams wanting a permissively licensed vector engine they can run anywhere. Available for Web, and you can host it yourself.
Is Qdrant free?
Yes. Qdrant is free, open-source software that you can host yourself.
Is Qdrant open source?
Yes. The source code is on GitHub at qdrant/qdrant. You can also run it on your own server.
What platforms does Qdrant run on?
Qdrant is available for Self-hosted and Web.
What are the best alternatives to Qdrant?
The highest-ranked Qdrant alternatives right now are Pinecone, Weaviate and Chroma. See the full ranked list for pricing, platforms and verified facts.
Qdrant vs Pinecone: what's the difference?
Qdrant is free and open source; Pinecone is free with paid plans. Qdrant is open source and Pinecone is not. Both run on Web.