What would your vector database cost?
The same workload priced on SkimmerDB, turbopuffer and Pinecone, from each one’s published prices and billing rules. Move the sliders, or start from an example, and share the link.
| Storage6.1 GB as stored | $0.61 |
| Writes707 MB written | $0.18 |
| Queries | $0.50 |
| Cold reads~100K object-store reads | $0.05 |
| Storage7.1 GB logical | $2.33 |
| Writes707 MB, 50% batch discount | $0.71 |
| Queries1.28 GB billed a query | $1.28 |
| Storage7.1 GB logical | $2.33 |
| Writes1.4M write units | $5.66 |
| Queries250K read units | $4.00 |
SkimmerDB comes to $10.00 a month, 38% less than the next lowest ($16.00).
The rules behind the numbers
List prices, read October 22, 2026. Prices change: check each page before you decide.
| Service | What the calculator charges |
|---|---|
| SkimmerDB | Free up to 1 GB stored, 1 GB written and 100k queries a month. Then $0.10/GB-month stored (as stored, compressed), $0.25/GB written, $0.50 per million queries whatever the namespace’s size, cold queries’ object-store reads at $0.50 per million; $10.00 monthly minimum that usage counts against. |
| turbopuffer | Launch plan: $16/month minimum, no free plan. Up to $0.33/GB-month (logical bytes), up to $2.00/GB written before batch discounts (at most 50%, which we apply to every write), queries $1 per PB of namespace queried, each query at least 1.28 GB, 80% off between 32 and 128 GB and 96% off past it. Data returned is billed too, at a rate the page doesn’t give; not included here. |
| Pinecone | Starter free (2 GB, 2M write units, 1M read units), Builder $20 flat (10 GB, 5M WU, 2M RU), Standard $50 minimum: $0.33/GB-month, $4 per million write units, $16 per million read units (the lowest regional rates). A query costs 1 RU per GB of namespace, at least 0.25; an upsert 1 WU per KB, and an update also 1 WU per KB of the record it replaces. |
Assumptions
- Documents spread evenly over the namespaces, and queries over the documents.
- Logical size is the text and metadata plus 4 bytes a vector dimension, as turbopuffer and Pinecone bill it.
- Steady state: the month’s writes are the share of documents rewritten, not the first load.
- SkimmerDB cold reads grow with the namespace: about 1 object-store read a cold query at 1 GB or less, about 28 at 100 GB (our measurements).
What’s not included
- Egress and data returned, on every service.
- Embedding (SkimmerDB can embed for you at Voyage’s price) and backups.
- Pinecone Dedicated Read Nodes and turbopuffer’s Scale and Enterprise plans, priced differently.
- Volume discounts anyone negotiates.
Questions
How is this calculated?
With each service’s published list prices and billing rules, read October 22, 2026: SkimmerDB’s pricing page, turbopuffer’s pricing page and Pinecone’s pricing page and cost guide. Where a rule is ambiguous we take the reading that costs the competitor least (turbopuffer’s full batch discount on every write, Pinecone’s lowest regional rates). Real bills also depend on things this page leaves out, listed under “What’s not included”.
Why does namespace size matter so much?
turbopuffer bills each query for the size of the namespace it searches (at least 1.28 GB), and Pinecone charges 1 read unit per GB of namespace a query. A big single index makes every query expensive on both. SkimmerDB charges a flat price a query; a cold query on a big namespace also passes on its object-store reads, which the calculator estimates.
Why is SkimmerDB storage cheaper?
It keeps every namespace in object storage, compressed, and bills what it stores: text typically takes about half its size, and vectors keep f32 rows for reranking plus small codes for search (about 5.25 bytes a dimension). turbopuffer and Pinecone bill logical bytes at $0.33/GB-month.
Is SkimmerDB a drop-in replacement for Pinecone or turbopuffer?
Not wire-compatible: it has its own REST API, Python and TypeScript clients, and a remote MCP server. Namespaces, metadata filters, vector, full-text (BM25) and hybrid search map closely, and documents move with a bulk import of NDJSON, CSV or Parquet.
Do the numbers include a free plan?
Yes. SkimmerDB’s free plan (no card) and Pinecone’s Starter plan show as $0 when the workload fits. turbopuffer has no free plan; its Launch minimum is $16 a month.
Try it on your own data
Free up to 1 GB stored and 100k queries a month. No card to start.