Weaviate vs Milvus: Vector Databases Pricing (2026)

Weaviate vs Milvus

Vector Databases pricing comparison · 2026

Weaviate pricing ranges from $0–$400/month, while Milvus ranges from $0–$155/month. Weaviate is typically 42% more affordable, though your actual cost depends on tier and team size.

Vector Databases

Weaviate

$0–$400
/month
3 plans · Free tier
Full pricing breakdown →
VS
Vector Databases

Milvus

$0–$155
/month
5 plans · Free tier
Full pricing breakdown →

Weaviate and Milvus 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 Milvus
Free Trial Free /month Free /month
Flex $45 /month Free /month
Premium $400 /month $99 /month
Zilliz Cloud Enterprise $155 /month
Zilliz Cloud Business Critical 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 →

Milvus

5 scenarios
~$50/month (VPS only)
Developer / Prototype (Self-Hosted on VPS)
$0
Small Production (Zilliz Cloud Free + Standard)
free → $99/month on Zilliz Cloud Standard
~$400/month (infrastructure only)
Mid-Scale Production (Self-Hosted Milvus)
See all 5 scenarios →

Market Intelligence

Weaviate

Median annual cost
$7,296
Based on
3 deals

Milvus

Median annual cost
$450
Based on
8 deals

Hidden Costs

Beyond the sticker price — what catches buyers off guard.

Weaviate 4 hidden costs

medium
Multi-Axis Usage Scaling 10-50% of base license costs
medium
Embedding Model Choice Drives Infrastructure Cost 10-100% of base license costs
high
Scaling Costs with Vector Count and Dimensions $369-$3,000
medium
Infrastructure Overhead for Self-Hosting $50-$200
See all Weaviate hidden costs →

Milvus 3 hidden costs

medium
Self-Hosting Infrastructure Costs $50-$400/month
medium
Opaque vCU Pricing Makes Cost Forecasting Difficult $99-$1,800/month
high
Extreme Scale Costs on Zilliz Cloud $23,000/month
See all Milvus hidden costs →