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Pinecone vs PostgreSQL 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

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
PostgreSQL
Ranking in Vector Databases
7th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.7
Number of Reviews
125
Ranking in other categories
Open Source Databases (2nd)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of June 2025, in the Vector Databases category, the mindshare of Pinecone is 7.4%, down from 9.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of PostgreSQL is 5.0%, up from 3.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Vector Databases
 

Featured Reviews

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.
PavithrarajShetty - PeerSpot reviewer
Offers simplicity and is cheaply priced
I haven't gone through the scalability aspect since I was using MySQL Server. I haven't worked to a high level in PostgreSQL, but with MySQL Server, I have managed clustering and partitioning. I think I haven't put much focus on PostgreSQL, so I am not sure how it behaves or how it works.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The most valuable features of the solution are similarity search and maximal marginal relevance search for retrieval purposes."
"The semantic search capability is very good."
"The product's setup phase was easy."
"We chose Pinecone because it covers most of the use cases."
"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 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 product is easy to use and works fast for relational databases."
"The solution is scalable, it is very good."
"The community support and the open-source community for it are good."
"It is easy to use."
"It has completely met our needs. It works, and it is robust. We haven't had any problems with what PostgreSQL does for us and the way it does it. That's why we've been using it for so long. We understand it, and it does the job."
"This is an open-source solution, operates at a high speed, and supports more than one SQL language."
"The system can perform faster analysis by providing it with a lot of memory. Speed is crucial for analytics. Currently, the main reason we haven't adopted Elasticsearch is that we lack the necessary expertise to manage it."
"Scalable, stable, and easy to manage database system, with a straightforward installation."
 

Cons

"Pinecone can be made more budget-friendly."
"The tool does not confirm whether a file is deleted or not."
"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."
"For testing purposes, the product should offer support locally as it is one area where the tool has shortcomings."
"Onboarding could be better and smoother."
"The product fails to offer a serverless type of storage capacity."
"It could be more secure."
"It is possible that in the newer version this has been addressed, but I would like the deployment in microservices architecture could be improved."
"I don't think PostgreSQL supports bulk databases, so it needs to have more capabilities in terms of managing the bulk data."
"PostgreSQL could improve by adding data warehousing tools."
"PostgreSQL could improve by being more user-friendly. In SQL Server they have a studio where you can easily do management but not in this solution."
"PostgreSQL could improve by providing a geographical solution for tracking trucks and people in the field. They might already have features similar to this and I have not found them. I haven't done research about this topic."
"I'm not really able to customize it."
"PostgreSQL’s performance could be improved."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"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 have experience with the tool's free version."
"I think Pinecone is cheaper to use than other options I've explored. However, I also remember that they offer a paid version."
"The solution is relatively cheaper than other vector DBs in the market."
"It is free, but if you need support, you can go for the commercial version called EnterpriseDB. They provide paid support, and they can even do hosting for you if you want standby and support."
"PostgreSQL is a free and open-source database."
"The tool is cheaply priced compared to other RDBMS providers in the market."
"It is an open-source platform."
"There is an annual license."
"Our company pays for it. There are free versions available, but for advanced features, you obviously have to pay."
"The community version of Postgre is basically free."
"It is also open-source so it is free."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
17%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Comms Service Provider
7%
Computer Software Company
15%
Financial Services Firm
12%
Comms Service Provider
10%
Manufacturing Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

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.
How does Firebird SQL compare with PostgreSQL?
PostgreSQL was designed in a way that provides you with not only a high degree of flexibility but also offers you a cheap and easy-to-use solution. It gives you the ability to redesign and audit yo...
What do you like most about PostgreSQL?
It's a transactional database, so we use Postgres for most of our reporting. That's where it's helping.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for PostgreSQL?
The tool is free of cost. For now, it's not about making money. But once we perfect it, we can offer it to customers willing to pay for support and other services. Most of my deployments are free.
 

Comparisons

 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

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Find out what your peers are saying about Pinecone vs. PostgreSQL and other solutions. Updated: June 2025.
859,129 professionals have used our research since 2012.