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Head-to-head · Ai Databases

Qdrant vs Elasticsearch

  • Updated Oct 2026
  • Both researched from official sources
  • 3 checks side by side
Higher score Qdrant #5 in Ai Databases 8.5/10 Free plan Free plan✓ 2 of 3 features Visit Qdrant
Elasticsearch #6 in Ai Databases 8.4/10 Free plan · 14-day trial Free planFree trial✓ 0 of 3 features Visit Elasticsearch

Qdrant leads on 0 checks, Elasticsearch on 0, and 3 are even. Who comes out ahead on the 3 yes/no, price and count checks where we have data for both products. The editor score weighs everything else too.

Our verdict

  • Highest scoreQdrant · 8.5/10
  • Free planboth
  • Free trialonly Elasticsearch
  • Most featuresQdrant · 2 of 3

Qdrant scores higher on our rubric for ai databases: 8.5 against 8.4 out of 10; our editors rank them #5 and #6.

Qdrant is the better fit for teams needing cloud or self-hosted vector search. Elasticsearch is the better fit for teams combining vector retrieval with established search.

  • Qdrant fits best

    Teams needing cloud or self-hosted vector search

  • Elasticsearch fits best

    Teams combining vector retrieval with established search

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Side by side

Feature Qdrant 8.5/10 Visit ↗ Elasticsearch 8.4/10 Visit ↗
At a glance
Editor score 8.5 8.4
Ranking #5 in Ai Databases #6 in Ai Databases
Best for Teams needing cloud or self-hosted vector search Teams combining vector retrieval with established search
Pricing model Free plan + paid Free plan + paid
Starting price — —
Free plan ✓ ✓
Free trial — 14 days
Deployment Cloud, Self-hosted Cloud, Self-hosted
Platforms Web, Windows, macOS, Linux Web
Support Email, Tickets, Community, Docs Phone, Live chat · 24/7
Built for Small business, Mid-market, Enterprise Small business, Mid-market, Enterprise
Features Qdrant 2/3 · Elasticsearch 0/3
Metadata filtering ✓ (best) Not checked yet
Hybrid search ✓ (best) Not checked yet
Managed backups Not checked yet Not checked yet
Specs
Deployment Not checked yet Not checked yet
Index types HNSW; sparse vector index; payload index; filterable HNSW Not checked yet
Max vector dimensions 65535 Not checked yet
Our review
Pros
  • Supports dense, sparse, and hybrid vector search with metadata filtering
  • Offers open-source self-hosting and managed cloud deployment
  • Includes a free tier with cloud inference for selected models
  • Combines lexical, vector, semantic, and hybrid search
  • Supports filtering, aggregations, and geospatial search
  • Offers self-managed and managed cloud deployments
Cons
  • The free tier is limited to a single-node cluster with 1 GB RAM
  • Standard pricing is usage-based rather than a fixed published amount
  • Higher availability and SSO are reserved for paid tiers
  • Paid Elastic Cloud Hosted starts at $99 per month
  • Paid tiers add features in steps across multiple plans
  • Self-managed Basic differs from the managed cloud offering
Our verdict

Qdrant is an open-source vector search engine and database for semantic search, retrieval-augmented generation, recommendations, and other AI applications. It suits teams that need to store vector representations alongside metadata and…

Read the review →

Elasticsearch is a distributed search and analytics engine for structured, unstructured, and vector data. It suits teams that need vector or semantic retrieval alongside established full-text search, filtering, aggregations, and real-time…

Read the review →
  1. QdrantAi Databases 8.5Free plan
  2. ElasticsearchAi Databases 8.4Free plan · 14-day trial

Strengths and trade-offs

  • Qdrant — where it wins

    • Supports dense, sparse, and hybrid vector search with metadata filtering
    • Offers open-source self-hosting and managed cloud deployment
    • Includes a free tier with cloud inference for selected models

    Where it doesn't

    • The free tier is limited to a single-node cluster with 1 GB RAM
    • Standard pricing is usage-based rather than a fixed published amount
    • Higher availability and SSO are reserved for paid tiers

  • Elasticsearch — where it wins

    • Combines lexical, vector, semantic, and hybrid search
    • Supports filtering, aggregations, and geospatial search
    • Offers self-managed and managed cloud deployments

    Where it doesn't

    • Paid Elastic Cloud Hosted starts at $99 per month
    • Paid tiers add features in steps across multiple plans
    • Self-managed Basic differs from the managed cloud offering

More comparisons

All ai databases comparisons → · Full ranking →

Reviewed by iTechGuides Editors · Editorial team · Updated Oct 2026

Last updated · How we research and update