Weaviate vs Chroma: Vector Databases Pricing (2026)
Compare / Weaviate vs Chroma
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Team size
25 seats

Weaviate vs Chroma

Vector Databases pricing comparison · 2026

Weaviate has a free plan, then $45–$400/mo, while Chroma has a free plan, then $250/mo. Weaviate is typically 11% more affordable, though your actual cost depends on tier and team size.

Visit
See pricing on each vendor's site
Above-the-fold path — each link opens the vendor's pricing page in a new tab.
Visit Weaviate pricing
Free plan limits → Discount programs →
Visit Chroma pricing
Free plan limits → Discount programs →
Compare
2 products · Vector Databases
Side-by-side · live
Weaviate
Weaviate pricing starts at $45/month for the Flex plan and $400/month for the Premium plan
verified 7d ago
$250 $7.3K
View pricing →
Chroma
Chroma is an open-source vector database for AI applications, available as a self-hosted l
verified 11d ago
$250 $7.3K
View pricing →
Recorded annual contract medians
Chroma median is $7.0K less than Weaviate · different customer contracts; not a quote
Cheapest $250
Spread 97%
Estimated license cost
at 25 seats
List price × seats. Click a tier below to lock it.
Usage-based
$0.00465 per 1M dimensions
see vendor pricing for volume tiers
Usage-based
$2.5 per GiB
see vendor pricing for volume tiers
What buyers actually pay
median, annual
Vendr deal-flow data. The real benchmark, not list price.
Median annual
$7.3K/yr
Vendr · n=3 · limited data
↓ Lowest median
Median annual
$250/yr
Vendr · n=81
REF · 01

Sources & confidence

Every dollar amount and contract clause below traces back to a sourced fact. We don't manufacture composite scores.

Where this data comes from
Vendr · TrustRadius · Reddit · BBB · official docs
Sources 13 sourced facts
9 hidden-cost · 3 contract · Vendr median
Last verified 1w ago
Confidence Limited confidence
Sources 4 sourced facts
1 hidden-cost · 2 contract · Vendr median
Last verified 1w ago
Confidence Medium confidence
REF · 02

Plans at a glance

Every tier per product. Lock one to drive the cost row above and reveal a tier-specific outbound CTA.

Tier ladder
Click a tier to lock the cost row to it. Locking surfaces a tier-specific Visit CTA.
REF · 03

Hidden costs

Each cost is severity-ranked, with the dollar range quoted from its source (Vendr, Reddit, TrustRadius, BBB, official docs) — never our estimate.

Beyond the sticker
Severity-ranked, sourced
4 documented
  • Multi-Axis Usage Scaling
    10-50% of base license costs
    2 sources
  • Embedding Model Choice Drives Infrastructure Cost
    10-100% of base license costs
    2 sources
  • Scaling Costs with Vector Count and Dimensions
    $369-$3,000
    3 sources
  • Infrastructure Overhead for Self-Hosting
    $50-$200
    2 sources
1 documented
  • Self-Hosting Server Infrastructure
    $50-$200
    1 source
REF · 04

Contract terms

The fine print, surfaced. Green = buyer-friendly. Each clause backed by a quoted source.

Weaviate
Chroma
Auto-renewal
—
—
Cancellation
—
30 days for material revisions; written notice required for subscription order cancellation.
Commitment
—
$10/month for Pro plan; Custom annual contract for Enterprise.
Price escalation
$369-$3,000
—
Can downgrade
—
—
Based on 5 verified sources (Vendr · TrustRadius · BBB)
REF · 05

What users say

Aggregated, with sample sizes. We use whichever review platform has data.

User reviews
TrustRadius · Trustpilot · G2
No public ratings yet
Best for
Permanent free tier for exploration and prototyping
Watch out
Managed cloud pricing becomes expensive at scale — $3,000/month for 50M high-dimensional vectors
No public ratings yet
Best for
Solo developers and small teams
Watch out
Seen as a prototyping tool rather than a production-grade database by parts of the developer community
Decide
Get a quote from each vendor
Each link opens the vendor's pricing page in a new tab.
Visit Weaviate pricing
Free plan limits → Discount programs →
Visit Chroma pricing
Free plan limits → Discount programs →
License cost is computed from publicly listed plans (real math, list price × seats). Median annual cost is from Vendr's deal flow when available — see source badges. Hidden costs and contract terms each cite their own sources. We do not invent composite scores.
Vector Databases

Weaviate

Free plan; paid $45–$400
/mo
3 plans · Free tier
Full pricing breakdown →
VS
Vector Databases

Chroma

Free plan; paid $250
/mo
3 plans · Free tier
Full pricing breakdown →

Weaviate and Chroma are both vector databases competitors. This page compares their list pricing tier by tier so you can see which is cheaper for your workload shape.

Plan-by-Plan Pricing

Plan Weaviate Chroma
Engram (Free) Free /month Free /month
Flex $45 /month $250 /month
Premium $400 /month Custom

Cost at Scale

Total cost of ownership — licenses, implementation, and hidden costs included.

Weaviate

5 scenarios
$45/month
Starter: Flex Plan Minimum
$400/month
Growing Team: Premium Plan
$0/month
Prototype / Evaluation (Free Trial)
See all 5 scenarios →

Chroma

3 scenarios
~$50/month (VPS costs only; software is $0)
Self-Hosted Open Source
~$50/month (VPS infrastructure; Open Source (Self-Hosted) plan is free)
Developer Self-Hosted on VPS
$250/month (Team plan)
Team on Chroma Cloud

Market Intelligence

Weaviate

Median annual cost
$7,296
Based on
3 deals

Chroma

Median annual cost
$250
Based on
81 deals

Contract Terms

Term Weaviate Chroma
Auto-renewal — —
Cancellation — 30 days for material revisions; written notice required for subscription order cancellation.
Minimum commitment — $10/month for Pro plan; Custom annual contract for Enterprise.
Price escalation $369-$3,000 —

Continue researching

Weaviate

Chroma

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