Milvus vs Qdrant: Pricing and Ratings Compared (2026)
Entry prices and free plans as read on each vendor's pricing page, and user ratings as published on review sites, for Milvus and Qdrant side by side. This page compares data; it is not a hands-on review.
On the data: On the data below the two are close or not directly comparable, so we do not name a winner for this pair.
Short on time? Here's the quick answer
Based on published vendor pricing and features and on public review data, here's who should pick what:
Milvus
Open-source vector database for AI
Qdrant
Vector database for similarity search
| At a Glance | Milvus | Qdrant |
|---|---|---|
Starts at | Free plan, paid from $126/mo, billed monthly Zilliz Dedicated (Standard) plan | Free plan |
Category | Vector Databases Data & Databases | Vector Databases Data & Databases |
Rating | 4.8/5 Capterra 4.8 · G2 4.7 310 reviews | 4.5/5 G2 4.5 12 reviews |
Free plan | Yes | Yes |
Watch out for | Overage fees for vCUs on Serverless tier | Opaque per-unit pricing: Qdrant Cloud does not publish per-vCPU, per-GB-RAM, or per-GB-storage rates on its pricing page. You must use the pricing calculator at cloud.qdrant.io/calculator or contact sales to estimate costs. This makes budget planning harder compared to competitors with transparent rate cards |
Choose Milvus or Qdrant?
Choose Milvus if
- You need vector databases features specifically.
Choose Qdrant if
- You need vector databases features specifically.
In-Depth Analysis
Milvus
Open-source vector database for AI
Milvus offers a very generous pricing model, especially with its robust open-source option and the Zilliz Cloud Free tier providing 5GB storage and 2.5M vCUs/month at no cost.
Watch out
Overage fees for vCUs on Serverless tier
Strengths
- Pro: High performance
- Pro: Scalable
- Pro: Open source
- Pro: Good for large scale
- Pro: Active development
Weaknesses
- Con: Complex operations
- Con: Heavy resource usage
- Con: Learning curve
- Con: Kubernetes recommended
- Con: Documentation dense
Key features
Qdrant
Vector database for similarity search
Qdrant occupies the sweet spot between developer-friendly open source and production-grade managed cloud.
Watch out
Opaque per-unit pricing: Qdrant Cloud does not publish per-vCPU, per-GB-RAM, or per-GB-storage rates on its pricing page. You must use the pricing calculator at cloud.qdrant.io/calculator or contact sales to estimate costs. This makes budget planning harder compared to competitors with transparent rate cards
Strengths
- Pro: Fast performance
- Pro: Rust-based
- Pro: Good filtering
- Pro: Open source
- Pro: Self-hostable
Weaknesses
- Con: Smaller community
- Con: Cloud newer
- Con: Documentation improving
- Con: Fewer integrations
- Con: Less known
Key features
Plans and prices: Milvus vs Qdrant
| Tool | Plans and prices | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Milvus |
| zilliz.com/pricing read Oct 26, 2026 |
| Qdrant |
| qdrant.tech/pricing read Nov 2, 2026 |
Prices as read on each vendor's own pricing page on the date shown. Plans are listed per tool and are not matched against the other tool's plans: a plan name or price in one column says nothing about the same row in the other. Details on Milvus pricing and Qdrant pricing.
Key Takeaways
Milvus
- Worth considering for vector databases
Qdrant
- Worth considering for vector databases
What the data shows
On the data below the two are close or not directly comparable, so we do not name a winner for this pair.
- User ratings rest on too few reviews to rank (4.8/5 from 310 reviews for Milvus, 4.5/5 from 12 reviews for Qdrant; we compare ratings only above 20 reviews on both sides).
- Milvus starts at $126/mo, billed monthly; Qdrant has no public paid plan price on file.
- Both have a free plan.
Criteria: user rating (only above 20 reviews on both sides, gap of 0.2 or more), entry price (only on the same billing basis), free plan. How we rate
Frequently Asked Questions
How do Milvus and Qdrant compare in 2026?
On the data below the two are close or not directly comparable, so we do not name a winner for this pair. User ratings rest on too few reviews to rank (4.8/5 from 310 reviews for Milvus, 4.5/5 from 12 reviews for Qdrant; we compare ratings only above 20 reviews on both sides). Milvus starts at $126/mo, billed monthly; Qdrant has no public paid plan price on file. Both have a free plan.
What are Milvus and Qdrant used for?
Milvus: Open-source vector database for AI. Qdrant: Vector database for similarity search.
What does Milvus cost vs Qdrant?
Milvus's cheapest paid plan is Zilliz Dedicated (Standard) at $126/mo, billed monthly; it also has a free plan. Qdrant has no public paid-plan price on file. Prices read on the vendors' pricing pages, latest check Nov 2, 2026.
What's the main difference between Milvus and Qdrant?
Milvus's main strength: high performance. Qdrant's main strength: fast performance.
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