Machine Learning · head to head
LlamaIndex vs Pinecone
The short version
- Each has a real cost: LlamaIndex the free LlamaCloud plan includes 10K credits and has no pay as you go option, so work stops when credits run out; Pinecone reads and writes are billed on separate meters, and reads are far more expensive, at $16 to $18 per million against $4 to $4.50 for writes on Standard
- They diverge on capability: LlamaIndex covers Data connectors, Pinecone covers Vector similarity search.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which LlamaIndex and Pinecone actually diverge.
| Attribute | LlamaIndex | Pinecone |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | usage-based | freemium |
| Platforms | Linux, Mac, Windows | Web |
| Founded | 2022 | 2019 |
Identical on both: starting price (Free), free tier (Yes), user rating (Not yet rated), category (Machine Learning).
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 LlamaIndex
- Data connectors
- Indexing
- Query engine
- RAG pipelines
- Agents
- Anthropic
- Pinecone
- Weaviate
Only in Pinecone
- Vector similarity search
- Metadata filtering
- Namespace partitioning
- Real-time updates
- Hybrid search
- Cohere
- LangChain
- LlamaIndex
Both cover
- OpenAI
What people use each for
The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.
LlamaIndex
- Parsing PDFs and complex documents into structured text for RAGnot Pinecone
- Building retrieval augmented generation pipelines over private datanot Pinecone
- Indexing and querying enterprise documents from an LLM applicationnot Pinecone
Pinecone
- Vector database for AI/ML applicationsnot LlamaIndex
- Semantic search implementationnot LlamaIndex
- Recommendation systemsnot LlamaIndex
- RAG (Retrieval-Augmented Generation) architecturesnot LlamaIndex
Where each one falls short
Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.
LlamaIndex
- The free LlamaCloud plan includes 10K credits and has no pay as you go option, so work stops when credits run out
- Concurrent parse jobs are capped at 5 on Free and Starter, 20 on Pro and 100 on Enterprise
- Pay as you go spend is capped at $500 per month on Starter and $5,000 per month on Pro
- Enterprise SSO is Enterprise plan only
- Volume discounts on credits and 5x higher rate limits are Enterprise only
- SaaS or hybrid cloud deployment choice and a dedicated account manager are Enterprise only
- Enterprise pricing is by quote with no published rate
Pinecone
- Reads and writes are billed on separate meters, and reads are far more expensive, at $16 to $18 per million against $4 to $4.50 for writes on Standard
- Unit prices vary by region, so the same workload costs different amounts in different places
- The Standard plan carries a $50 monthly minimum and Enterprise $500, charged whether or not the usage reaches it
- Enterprise pays more per unit as well as more in minimum, at $24 to $27 per million reads against Standard's $16 to $18
- Indexes and namespaces are capped by plan, at 5 indexes on the free tier and 20 on Standard
- RBAC and SSO require the Standard plan
Pricing, plan by plan
LlamaIndex
Free- FreeFree
- 10K monthly credits
- Basic parsing
- 5 concurrent jobs
- Starter$50/month
- 40K credits + pay-as-you-go
- Up to 400K credits
- 5 concurrent jobs
- Pro$500/month
- 400K credits + limited-time bonus
- 20 concurrent jobs
- Priority Slack support
- Enterprise$null/custom
- Custom volume discounts
- 5x higher rate limits
- SSO
Pinecone
Free- StarterFree
- 2GB storage
- 2M write units/month
- 1M read units/month
- Builder$20/month
- 10GB storage
- 5M write units
- 2M read units
- Standard$50/month
- Unlimited storage ($0.33/GB/month)
- 20 indexes per project
- 100K namespaces
- Enterprise$500/month
- 99.95% uptime SLA
- BYOC (Bring Your Own Cloud) option
- Private endpoints
Which should you pick?
Choose LlamaIndex if
- You need data connectors.
- You want to start without paying.
- You work on Linux, Mac, Windows.
- You also want indexing.
Choose Pinecone if
- You need vector similarity search.
- You want to start without paying.
- You also want metadata filtering.
Questions people ask
- Is LlamaIndex or Pinecone better?
- Neither clearly leads. LlamaIndex starts at Free and Pinecone at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, LlamaIndex or Pinecone?
- LlamaIndex starts at Free and Pinecone at Free.
- Does LlamaIndex or Pinecone run on more platforms?
- LlamaIndex runs on Linux, Mac, Windows. Pinecone runs on Web.
- Can I use LlamaIndex for free?
- Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
- What is LlamaIndex best used for?
- LlamaIndex is most often used for parsing pdfs and complex documents into structured text for rag, building retrieval augmented generation pipelines over private data, indexing and querying enterprise documents from an llm application. Of those, parsing pdfs and complex documents into structured text for rag and building retrieval augmented generation pipelines over private data are not what Pinecone is typically brought in for.
- What can LlamaIndex do that Pinecone cannot?
- LlamaIndex covers Data connectors, Indexing, Query engine, RAG pipelines. Pinecone covers Vector similarity search, Metadata filtering, Namespace partitioning, Real-time updates. Both handle OpenAI.
Answered from the vendors’ own pages
LlamaIndex: How much does LlamaIndex (LlamaParse) cost?
LlamaIndex offers a Free plan with 10K monthly credits at $0/month. The Starter plan is $50/month for 40K credits plus pay-as-you-go overage up to 400K total. The Pro plan is $500/month for 400K credits. Credits are priced at 1,000 credits for $1.25.
SourcePinecone: Does Pinecone offer a free plan?
Yes, Pinecone's Starter tier is free and includes 2GB storage, 2M write units/month, 1M read units/month, and supports up to 2 users and 1 project.
SourceLlamaIndex: Is LlamaIndex free?
Yes, LlamaIndex offers a free plan with 10K monthly credits, basic parsing, 5 concurrent jobs, and support for up to 100 users with no upfront payment required.
SourcePinecone: What are Pinecone's storage costs on the Standard plan?
On the Standard plan, storage costs $0.33/GB per month. Read units cost $16-18 per million units; write units cost $4-4.50 per million units.
SourceLlamaIndex: What are LlamaIndex's concurrent job limits?
The Free and Starter plans allow 5 concurrent jobs. The Pro plan increases this to 20 concurrent jobs. Enterprise plans offer custom configurations with 5x higher rate limits.
SourcePinecone: What support options does Pinecone provide?
Starter tier includes community Discord support. Builder tier includes free support. Standard tier support costs $29/month for Developer or $250/month for Pro. Enterprise tier includes Pro support.
SourceRelated pages
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