Chroma Free Plan 2026: What's Included & What's Not
Honest breakdown of the free tier limits and features
Chroma costs Free to $250 per month as of April 2026. Pricing depends on your chosen tier, contract length, and negotiated discounts.
Use the interactive pricing calculator to estimate your exact cost based on team size and requirements.
- Free tier: No free tier available
Yes, Chroma offers a forever free plan as of April 2026. The free tier includes 5 features with limits on usage. Paid plans start at $250/month (Team). Pricing verified from 2 sources by CostBench.
Chroma's free plan is available indefinitely with no time limit.
What's Included in the Free Plan
- Free forever
- Self-hosted deployment
- Apache 2.0 license
- Full feature set
- Community support
What's NOT Included (Paid Only)
- $250/month base + usage-based pricing
- $100 in credits included
- 100 databases
- 30 team members
- Slack support
- SOC II compliance
- Volume-based discounts
You'll Need to Upgrade When...
- You exceed the user limit
- You need features like $250/month base + usage-based pricing or $100 in credits included
- You require premium support or SLA guarantees
- You need to remove branding or watermarks
- You need advanced integrations or API access
Hidden Restrictions on Free Plan
- Chroma branding may appear on your content or communications
- Support is limited to community forums or email with longer response times
- Export options may be restricted or include watermarks
- API access is typically limited or not available
- Advanced reporting and analytics require paid plans
Free vs Paid: Which Do You Need?
Free Plan is Enough If...
- You're an individual or very small team
- You need only basic features
- You don't mind usage limits
- Branding on output is acceptable
- Community support is sufficient
You Need Paid If...
- Your team is growing beyond limits
- You need advanced features
- Professional branding is required
- You need priority support
- Integrations/API access is critical
Free vs Team Plan Comparison
| Open Source (Self-Hosted) $0 | Team $250/month | |
|---|---|---|
| Features | 5 included | 7+ included |
| Support | Community/Email | Priority Support |
| Branding | Chroma branding | Your branding |
| Best For | Developers who want full control and can manage their own infrastructure | Teams scaling production workloads that need compliance and dedicated support |
Frequently Asked Questions
01 Is Chroma free?
Yes, Chroma offers a forever free plan with 5 core features included. However, there are limits on users and features that may require upgrading.
02 What's included in Chroma's free plan?
Chroma's free plan includes: Free forever, Self-hosted deployment, Apache 2.0 license, Full feature set, Community support. Key limits include basic usage caps.
03 What's NOT included in Chroma's free plan?
The free plan excludes: $250/month base + usage-based pricing, $100 in credits included, 100 databases, 30 team members, Slack support. You'll also have Chroma branding and limited support options.
04 When should I upgrade from Chroma's free plan?
Consider upgrading when: you hit user or storage limits, need features like $250/month base + usage-based pricing or $100 in credits included, require premium support, or want to remove branding. The cheapest paid plan starts at $250/month.
05 Is Chroma's free plan really free forever?
Yes, Chroma's free plan is available indefinitely with no time limit. However, feature and usage limits may restrict what you can do without upgrading to a paid plan.