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Databases · head to head

LanceDB vs SurrealDB

LanceDB logo

LanceDB

Databases

Embedded retrieval library over the Apache 2.0 Lance columnar format, with proprietary Cloud and Enterprise tiers for serving at scale.

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
SurrealDB logo

SurrealDB

Databases

Multi-model database combining documents, graphs, vectors and time-series

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only SurrealDB has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: LanceDB the open source build is a library with no network endpoint, authentication or tenancy model, so exposing it to more than one application means writing your own service in front of it and handing every consumer credentials to the bucket.; SurrealDB the listed $0.192/node/hr Scale pricing lacks transparent higher-tier rates, requiring a sales conversation for full production sizing.
  • They diverge on capability: LanceDB covers Embedded operation, SurrealDB covers Multi-model engine.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 30 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which LanceDB and SurrealDB actually diverge.

Attributes where LanceDB and SurrealDB differ
AttributeLanceDBSurrealDB
Starting priceOn requestFree
Pricing modelquoteusage-based
Free tierNoYes
PlatformsWebweb, api, windows, mac, linux
FoundedUnknown2022

Identical on both: user rating (Not yet rated), category (Databases).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in LanceDB

  • Embedded operation
  • Lance columnar format
  • Object storage native
  • Multimodal storage
  • Vector indexes
  • Full-text and hybrid search
  • Scalar filtering
  • Dataset versioning

Only in SurrealDB

  • Multi-model engine
  • ACID transactions
  • Hybrid retrieval
  • Horizontal scaling
  • Multi-region disaster recovery
  • FIPS-compliant cryptography

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

LanceDB

  • Retrieval over a dataset that includes images, audio or video, where keeping the embeddings and the source media in one format avoids a second storage systemnot SurrealDB
  • A training and retrieval pipeline that must read the same rows for both purposes without maintaining two copies and a sync jobnot SurrealDB
  • Prototyping search locally with the same code path that later runs against S3, with no local server to installnot SurrealDB
  • Keeping a large, mostly cold vector corpus on object storage rather than paying to hold it in memory in a conventional vector databasenot SurrealDB

SurrealDB

  • AI agent memory and retrieval-augmented generationnot LanceDB
  • Applications needing documents, graphs and vectors in one databasenot LanceDB
  • Knowledge graph construction from unstructured datanot LanceDB
  • Regulated workloads requiring SOC2/ISO27001/HIPAA-eligible hostingnot LanceDB

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

LanceDB

  • The open source build is a library with no network endpoint, authentication or tenancy model, so exposing it to more than one application means writing your own service in front of it and handing every consumer credentials to the bucket.
  • Queries that miss the cache pay object storage round trips, so interactive latency depends on local SSD caching or the Enterprise serving tier rather than on the library itself.
  • Concurrent writers to the same dataset coordinate through commits on the object store, so multi-writer setups can conflict and the safe pattern is a single writer per table, which is an architectural constraint on your ingest design.
  • Newly written rows are not in the index until the index is rebuilt or updated, and until then they are searched by brute force, so recall and latency drift between reindexing jobs that you have to schedule and pay for.
  • The capabilities that make it operable at scale, distributed index building, managed caching and hosted serving, live in the proprietary Cloud and Enterprise tiers, so the open licence protects the data but not the production deployment.

SurrealDB

  • The listed $0.192/node/hr Scale pricing lacks transparent higher-tier rates, requiring a sales conversation for full production sizing.
  • As a newer multi-model database, it has a smaller ecosystem of drivers, ORMs and community tooling than established single-model databases.
  • HIPAA compliance is only available as an Enterprise add-on rather than included in standard paid tiers.
  • Combining multiple data models in one engine can add query-planning complexity compared to purpose-built single-model databases.

Pricing, plan by plan

LanceDB

On request

No published plan breakdown. See the LanceDB review.

SurrealDB

Free
  • StartFree
    • 1 free instance, then from $0.021/hr
    • 1GB storage free forever
    • Vertical scaling to terabytes
  • Scale$0.192/month
    • $0.192/node/hr
    • Production-grade fault tolerance
    • Horizontal scaling to petabytes
  • Enterprise$undefined/month
    • Self-hosted, custom pricing
    • Clustered fault-tolerant deployments
    • FIPS-compliant cryptography

Which should you pick?

Choose LanceDB if

  • You need embedded operation.
  • You also want lance columnar format.
LanceDB review

Choose SurrealDB if

  • You need multi-model engine.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on web, api, windows, mac, linux.
  • You also want acid transactions.
SurrealDB review

Questions people ask

Is LanceDB or SurrealDB better?
Neither clearly leads. LanceDB starts at On request and SurrealDB at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, LanceDB or SurrealDB?
SurrealDB has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at On request for LanceDB and Free for SurrealDB.
Does LanceDB or SurrealDB run on more platforms?
LanceDB runs on Web. SurrealDB runs on web, api, windows, mac, linux.
Can I use SurrealDB for free?
Yes. SurrealDB has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. LanceDB starts at On request.
What is LanceDB best used for?
LanceDB is most often used for retrieval over a dataset that includes images, audio or video, where keeping the embeddings and the source media in one format avoids a second storage system, a training and retrieval pipeline that must read the same rows for both purposes without maintaining two copies and a sync job, prototyping search locally with the same code path that later runs against s3, with no local server to install, keeping a large, mostly cold vector corpus on object storage rather than paying to hold it in memory in a conventional vector database. Of those, retrieval over a dataset that includes images, audio or video, where keeping the embeddings and the source media in one format avoids a second storage system and a training and retrieval pipeline that must read the same rows for both purposes without maintaining two copies and a sync job are not what SurrealDB is typically brought in for.
What can LanceDB do that SurrealDB cannot?
LanceDB covers Embedded operation, Lance columnar format, Object storage native, Multimodal storage. SurrealDB covers Multi-model engine, ACID transactions, Hybrid retrieval, Horizontal scaling.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

LanceDB: Is LanceDB open source?

The LanceDB library and the underlying Lance format are Apache 2.0. LanceDB Cloud and LanceDB Enterprise are proprietary managed products built on top of them.

SurrealDB: What does SurrealDB cost?

SurrealDB Cloud's Start plan is free with one free instance (then from $0.021/hr), the Scale plan runs $0.192/node/hr for production workloads, and Enterprise self-hosted deployments use custom pricing.

Source
LanceDB: Do I need the managed service?

Not for development or for embedded use in a single application. You typically need it when many clients must query concurrently with predictable latency, or when index builds outgrow one machine.

SurrealDB: Is there a free plan and what are its limits?

Yes, the Start plan includes one free instance with 1GB of storage free forever and 1GB of outbound data transfer per month, aimed at prototypes and development.

Source
LanceDB: Can other tools read my data?

Yes. Lance datasets are readable from DuckDB, Polars, Pandas, PyArrow and PyTorch, which is the main practical difference from a vector database that owns its own storage.

SurrealDB: How is billing handled?

Customers are invoiced monthly based on actual usage in a pay-as-you-go model with no long-term commitments, though commitment-based discounts are available.

Source
LanceDB: How does it compare to pgvector?

pgvector keeps vectors next to relational data in a database you already run. LanceDB keeps them in object storage in a format built for random access and multimodal payloads, and scales storage independently of any server.

LanceDB: What happens to updates and deletes?

Writes append new fragments and mark old rows deleted, with compaction reclaiming space later, so a workload with heavy in-place updates accumulates overhead until compaction runs.

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