Head-to-head · Vector Database Hosting
Chroma vs Weaviate
Chroma leads on 0 checks, Weaviate on 1, and 3 are even. Who comes out ahead on the 4 yes/no, price and count checks where we have data for both products. The editor score weighs everything else too.
Our verdict
- Highest scoreChroma · 9.4/10
- Lowest starting priceWeaviate · $45/mo
- Free planboth
Chroma scores higher on our rubric for vector database hosting: 9.4 against 9.1 out of 10; our editors rank them #1 and #3.
Weaviate is cheaper to start at $45/mo against $250/mo.
Chroma is the better fit for open-source hybrid retrieval teams. Weaviate is the better fit for production hybrid search deployments.
- Chroma fits best
Open-source hybrid retrieval teams
- Weaviate fits best
Production hybrid search deployments
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Side by side
| Feature | Chroma 9.4/10 Visit ↗ | Weaviate 9.1/10 Visit ↗ |
|---|---|---|
| At a glance | ||
| Editor score | 9.4 | 9.1 |
| Ranking | #1 in Vector Database Hosting | #3 in Vector Database Hosting |
| Best for | Open-source hybrid retrieval teams | Production hybrid search deployments |
| Pricing model | Free plan + paid | Free plan + paid |
| Starting price | $250/mo | $45/mo (best) |
| Free plan | ✓ | ✓ |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Deployment | Cloud, Self-hosted | Cloud, Self-hosted |
| Platforms | Web, Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android | Web |
| Support | Email, Community, Docs | Email, Phone, Community, Docs · 24/7 |
| Compliance | SOC 2 | SOC 2, HIPAA, SSO/SAML |
| Built for | Solo, Small business, Mid-market, Enterprise | Small business, Mid-market, Enterprise |
| Features Chroma 2/3 · Weaviate 2/3 | ||
| Hybrid search | ✓ | ✓ |
| Metadata filtering | ✓ | ✓ |
| Serverless scaling | Not checked yet | Not checked yet |
| Specs | ||
| Included storage | Not checked yet | Not checked yet |
| Deployment regions | Not checked yet | Not checked yet |
| Maximum dimensions | 4096 dimensions | Not checked yet |
| Our review | ||
| Pros |
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| Cons |
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| Our verdict | Chroma is an open-source database and search infrastructure for AI applications. It stores documents, embeddings, and metadata, with support for dense similarity search, sparse search using BM25 or SPLADE, hybrid ranking, full-text search,… Read the review → |
Weaviate is an open-source vector database for developers and teams building AI applications. It stores data objects and vector embeddings, with vector similarity search, BM25/BM25F keyword search, hybrid search, metadata and scalar… Read the review → |
Strengths and trade-offs
Chroma — where it wins
- Combines dense, sparse, hybrid, full-text, regex, and metadata search
- Supports self-hosting, Chroma Cloud, and local persistent storage
- Integrates with OpenAI, Cohere, Hugging Face, and other AI tools
Where it doesn't
- Chroma Cloud combines plan fees with usage-based charges
- Enterprise pricing is custom rather than publicly listed
- Broader search features may exceed the needs of simple vector workloads
Weaviate — where it wins
- Hybrid search combines vector and BM25/BM25F keyword results
- Managed cloud and self-hosted deployment options
- Replication, multitenancy, compression, and multiple index types
Where it doesn't
- Free plan is limited to 100,000 objects and 1 GB memory
- Flex starts at $45 per month, with usage-based charges possible
- Premium requires a prepaid contract starting at $400 per month
- Chroma9.4/10 · Free plan
A flexible vector database for hybrid retrieval, multimodal search, and self-hosted AI applications.
Visit ChromaFull verdict → - Weaviate9.1/10 · Free plan
A flexible vector database for production hybrid search across cloud and self-managed deployments.
Visit WeaviateFull verdict →
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Reviewed by iTechGuides Editors · Editorial team · Updated Oct 2026
Last updated · How we research and update