A developer prototyping a docs chatbot
- Create a free Starter project
- Embed help articles and upsert into an index
- Query the index and send top matches to an LLM
free plan works
Pinecone Systems · Managed vector database
Pinecone
Fully managed vector database for semantic search and retrieval-augmented generation.
- Provider
- Pinecone Systems
- Latest confirmed model
- Not applicable / not verified
- Pricing
- Free plan + paid
- Free plan
- Yes
- API
- Yes · free quota
- Status
- Generally available
- Last verified
- Oct 19, 2026
What is Pinecone?
Pinecone is a hosted database that stores embeddings (numeric representations of text, images or other data) and finds the most similar items quickly. Developers use it to give AI apps searchable memory, such as retrieving relevant documents before asking a model to answer. It also offers hosted embedding and reranking models and an Assistant product.
Searching large collections by meaning rather than exact keywords, without running your own vector infrastructure.
Why use Pinecone?
Practical benefits
- No servers to manage
- Free Starter plan
- Built-in embedding, reranking and Assistant features
- Enterprise SLA available
Who it suits
- Developers building RAG apps
- Teams adding semantic search
- Companies wanting managed infrastructure
When another tool may fit better
- Teams that must self-host open-source software
- Very cost-sensitive large workloads that could self-host
- Offline use
- Learning curve
- Some experience helps
- Skills needed
- Programming and understanding of embeddings.
Example workflows
- Embed documents, upsert vectors into an index, query the index and pass results to an LLM
What can it do?
- Serverless indexesUsage-based storage, reads and writes.
- Hosted inferenceEmbedding and bge-reranker models; Starter includes 5M embedding tokens and 500 rerank requests monthly.
- Pinecone AssistantDocument Q&A service with its own storage and token allowances.
- Dedicated Read Nodes Depends on planProvisioned read capacity on Standard and Enterprise.
- Bring Your Own Cloud Depends on planDeploy in your own cloud account; via sales.
Good for
- RAG chatbots over company documents
- Semantic product search
- Recommendation systems
- Deduplication
Where it runs
Pricing and plans
Free plan + paid Starter is free (5 indexes, 2 GB storage, 2M write and 1M read units per month). Builder is $20/month flat. Standard has a $50/month minimum and Enterprise $500/month, with pay-as-you-go storage ($0.33/GB/month), writes and reads above that.
| Plan | Price | Billing | Free trial / tier | Usage limits | Main inclusions | Model access | API access | Restrictions |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Starter | Free | per month | Free tier | 5 indexes, 2 GB storage, 2M write units/mo, 1M read units/mo, 1 GB egress/mo |
|
Hosted embedding and rerank models | Yes | Usage caps |
| Builder | $20/mo Flat monthly price | per month | — | 10 GB storage, 5M writes, 2M reads, 10 GB egress included | — | — | Yes | — |
| Standard | $50/mo $50/month minimum, then pay-as-you-go | per month | 3 weeks with $300 credits | Storage $0.33/GB/mo; writes $4-$4.50 per million; reads $16-$18 per million |
|
— | Yes | — |
| Enterprise | $500/mo $500/month minimum, then pay-as-you-go | per month | On request | Writes $6-$6.75 per million; reads $24-$27 per million; up to 200 indexes per project |
|
— | Yes | — |
API and developer access
- Official API
- Yes
- Documentation
- API docs (opens in a new tab)
- Authentication
- API key
- Pricing model
- per GB stored, per million read/write units
- Free API quota
- Starter: 2 GB storage, 2M write units and 1M read units per month
- Rate limits
- Not documented
- Context / input limits
- Not documented
- SDKs
- Not documented
- Streaming
- Not documented
- Batch processing
- Not documented
- Structured output
- Not documented
- Tool / function calling
- Not documented
- Commercial use
- See the provider terms
- Data retention & privacy
- See the provider privacy terms
Published API rates
| Item | Price | Unit |
|---|---|---|
| Storage (Standard) | $0.33 | per GB per month |
| Read units (Standard, from) | $16 | per 1M read units |
| Write units (Standard, from) | $4 | per 1M write units |
A free Pinecone account is not the same thing as free API access. The API allowance above is the provider's documented developer quota.
Advantages and disadvantages
Advantages
- Fully managed
- Generous free Starter limits for prototyping
- Clear usage rates
Disadvantages
- Proprietary, cannot self-host the core product
- Monthly minimums on paid plans
- Read/write unit pricing takes effort to estimate
Privacy: BYOC option keeps data in your own cloud account (via sales).
Real-world examples
A startup moving to production
- Upgrade to Standard ($50/month minimum, 3-week $300 trial)
- Scale storage and reads pay-as-you-go
- Enable backups
needs paid plan
An enterprise needing an SLA
- Choose Enterprise ($500/month minimum)
- Use up to 200 indexes per project
- Rely on 99.95% uptime SLA
needs paid plan
Pinecone alternatives
Qdrant
Open-source vector search engine written in Rust, available self-hosted or as a managed cloud.
Pinecone vs QdrantChroma
Open-source embedding database that runs in your app or as Chroma Cloud.
Pinecone vs ChromaLlamaIndex
Open-source framework for connecting LLMs to your data, plus the commercial LlamaParse document platform.
Pinecone vs LlamaIndexFrequently asked questions
Is Pinecone free?
Yes, the Starter plan is free with up to 5 indexes, 2 GB storage, 2M write units and 1M read units per month.
How much does Pinecone Standard cost?
It has a $50 monthly minimum, then pay-as-you-go usage such as $0.33 per GB per month for storage. New users get a 3-week trial with $300 credits.
Can I self-host Pinecone?
Not as open-source software. Pinecone is a managed service; a Bring Your Own Cloud option is available through sales.
What is a read unit?
A billing measure for query and fetch operations; Standard charges $16-$18 per million read units.
Does Pinecone create embeddings?
Yes, it offers hosted embedding and reranking models, with 5M embedding tokens per month included on Starter.