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Faiss vs Pinecone comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Mar 5, 2025

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Categories and Ranking

Faiss
Ranking in Vector Databases
5th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
8.8
Number of Reviews
2
Ranking in other categories
Open Source Databases (13th)
Pinecone
Ranking in Vector Databases
10th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
6
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of June 2025, in the Vector Databases category, the mindshare of Faiss is 6.7%, down from 16.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Pinecone is 7.4%, down from 9.1% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Vector Databases
 

Featured Reviews

Vasu Bansal - PeerSpot reviewer
Provides quick query search and has a big database
I did not face any issues integrating Faiss with other tools. I would recommend the solution to other users. Faiss has facilitated my AI-driven project very well. I recommend that other users use it for their AI projects because it provides quick query search and has a big database. Overall, I rate the solution nine and a half out of ten.
Neeraj Maurya - PeerSpot reviewer
It is very flexible, allowing us to input any kind of data dimensions into the platform
As per my advice, assess your data requirements. If you're working with PDF files and do not have much data, you could use other databases because they are similar to Pinecone. However, if you have a huge amount of data, I would suggest using Pinecone as it handles large datasets more efficiently. Pinecone offers a rich UI and managed services, making it easy to use and visualize data, which is a big advantage. However, if the client has a limited budget, I would recommend open-source models and databases instead. I would rate Pinecone an eight out of ten because of its functionality and ease of use despite the cost.

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"The product has better performance and stability compared to one of its competitors."
"I used Faiss as a basic database."
"The product's setup phase was easy."
"The most valuable feature of Pinecone is its managed service aspect. There are many vector databases available, but Pinecone stands out in the market. It is very flexible, allowing us to input any kind of data dimensions into the platform. This makes it easy to use for both technical and non-technical users."
"The semantic search capability is very good."
"The best thing about Pinecone is its private local host feature. It displays all the maintenance parameters and lets us view the data sent to the database. We can also see the status of the CD and which application it corresponds to."
"The most valuable features of the solution are similarity search and maximal marginal relevance search for retrieval purposes."
"We chose Pinecone because it covers most of the use cases."
 

Cons

"It could be more accessible for handling larger data sets."
"It would be beneficial if I could set a parameter and see different query mechanisms being run."
"For testing purposes, the product should offer support locally as it is one area where the tool has shortcomings."
"The product fails to offer a serverless type of storage capacity."
"The tool does not confirm whether a file is deleted or not."
"Onboarding could be better and smoother."
"I want to suggest that Pinecone requires a login and API key, but I would prefer not to have a login system and to use the environment directly."
"Pinecone can be made more budget-friendly."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Faiss is an open-source solution."
"It is an open-source tool."
"I have experience with the tool's free version."
"The solution is relatively cheaper than other vector DBs in the market."
"Pinecone is not cheap; it's actually quite expensive. We find that using Pinecone can raise our budget significantly. On the other hand, using open-source options is more budget-friendly."
"I think Pinecone is cheaper to use than other options I've explored. However, I also remember that they offer a paid version."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
19%
Financial Services Firm
14%
Manufacturing Company
8%
University
8%
Computer Software Company
18%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Comms Service Provider
8%
Educational Organization
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Faiss?
I used Faiss as a basic database.
What needs improvement with Faiss?
I didn't know what algorithm was being learned to fetch my query. It would be beneficial if I could set a parameter and see different query mechanisms being run. I can then compare the results to s...
What do you like most about Pinecone?
We chose Pinecone because it covers most of the use cases.
What needs improvement with Pinecone?
I want to suggest that Pinecone requires a login and API key, but I would prefer not to have a login system and to use the environment directly.
What is your primary use case for Pinecone?
I've used Pinecone to streamline token generation for my chatbot's functionality. Specifically, I used it for the OpenNeeam Building.
 

Comparisons

 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

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Find out what your peers are saying about Faiss vs. Pinecone and other solutions. Updated: April 2025.
856,873 professionals have used our research since 2012.