Pinecone Free Plan 2026: What's Included & What's Not
Honest breakdown of the free tier limits and features
Pinecone costs Free to $500 per month as of July 2026, with 4 plans available including a free tier. Plans: Starter (free), Builder at $20/month, Standard at $50/month, and Enterprise at $500/month. 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: Yes
Pinecone offers 4 pricing tiers: Starter, Builder, Standard, Enterprise. A free plan is available. Paid plans include Builder at $20/month, Standard at $50/month, Enterprise at $500/month. The Builder plan is solo developers and small teams.
Yes, Pinecone offers a forever free plan as of July 2026. The free tier includes 8 features with limits on usage. Paid plans start at $20/month (Builder). Pricing verified from 1 sources by CostBench.
Pinecone's free plan is available indefinitely with no time limit.
What's Included in the Free Plan
- Up to 2 GB storage
- Up to 2M write units/month
- Up to 1M read units/month
- 5M embedding tokens/month included
- 500 rerank requests/month
- AWS us-east-1 only
- Up to 5 indexes, 100 namespaces per index
- Community support via Discord
What's NOT Included (Paid Only)
- $20/month flat
- Everything in Starter with increased usage limits
- Choose your cloud and region (AWS, Azure, GCP)
- Multiple projects and users
- 10 indexes per project, 1,000 namespaces per index
- Prometheus and Datadog monitoring
You'll Need to Upgrade When...
- You exceed the user limit
- You need features like $20/month flat or Everything in Starter with increased usage limits
- 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
- Pinecone 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 Builder Plan Comparison
| Starter $0 | Builder $20/month | |
|---|---|---|
| Features | 8 included | 6+ included |
| Support | Community/Email | Priority Support |
| Branding | Pinecone branding | Your branding |
| Best For | Prototypes, evaluation, small projects | Solo developers and small teams |
Frequently Asked Questions
01 Is Pinecone free?
Yes, Pinecone offers a forever free plan with 8 core features included. However, there are limits on users and features that may require upgrading.
02 What's included in Pinecone's free plan?
Pinecone's free plan includes: Up to 2 GB storage, Up to 2M write units/month, Up to 1M read units/month, 5M embedding tokens/month included, 500 rerank requests/month, and 3 more features. Key limits include basic usage caps.
03 What's NOT included in Pinecone's free plan?
The free plan excludes: $20/month flat, Everything in Starter with increased usage limits, Choose your cloud and region (AWS, Azure, GCP), Multiple projects and users, 10 indexes per project, 1,000 namespaces per index. You'll also have Pinecone branding and limited support options.
04 When should I upgrade from Pinecone's free plan?
Consider upgrading when: you hit user or storage limits, need features like $20/month flat or Everything in Starter with increased usage limits, require premium support, or want to remove branding. The cheapest paid plan starts at $20/month.
05 Is Pinecone's free plan really free forever?
Yes, Pinecone'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.