Elasticsearch vs Beam
A side-by-side look at pricing plans, free tiers, features, pros and cons, updated for 2026. Elasticsearch starts at See pricing page and Beam starts at See pricing page. Check both pricing pages for current plans.
At a glance
Best for
Category
Pricing model
Starting price
Free plan
Made by
Based in
Rating
Key features
- Vector embedding storage and search
- Elastic Agent Builder
- Kibana dashboards
- Jina AI search models
- Serverless, hosted or self-managed
- Observability and security use cases
- Serverless GPU functions
- Fast cold starts
- Code sandboxes
- Open-source runtime
- Per-second billing
| Feature | Elasticsearch | Beam |
|---|---|---|
| Best for | Search engine and vector database for AI apps and agents | Serverless GPUs and sandboxes for AI inference and agents |
| Category | Models & APIs | Models & APIs |
| Pricing model | Free trial | Freemium |
| Starting price | See pricing page | See pricing page |
| Free plan | No, trial available | Yes |
| Made by | Elastic | Beam |
| Based in | Netherlands | United States |
| Rating | No ratings yet | No ratings yet |
| Key features |
|
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Pricing compared
Elasticsearch starts at See pricing page and Beam starts at See pricing page. Check both pricing pages for current plans.
Free plan
Cheapest paid plan
Top plan
Free trial
5 plans
Virtual Machines
From $0.0306 / hr
- 1 vCPU, 1 GiB RAM base
- 50 GiB root disk included
Sandboxes
From $0.319 / hr
- Isolated environments for untrusted code
- Billed by the millisecond
Serverless GPU
From $0.000192 / sec
- RTX 4090, 5090, H100 and more
- Pay only while code runs
On-demand GPUs
H100 from $1.83 / hr
- Flat price per machine
- vCPU, RAM and NVMe included
Clusters
Contact sales
- Multi-node GPU with InfiniBand
- Reserved monthly or yearly
Prices in USD, checked Oct 28, 2026 or later. Plans change often, so confirm on each tool's site before you buy.
Pros and cons
Elasticsearch
- Handles keyword and vector search together
- Three deployment options
- Mature ecosystem and tooling
- Pricing details are not clear on the page
- Cluster tuning takes expertise
- Broad product line can be confusing
Beam
- Quick container start times
- Self-hostable runtime
- Simple Python API
- Smaller company than rivals
- Python-focused
- Fewer GPU regions
Which one should you choose?
Choose Elasticsearch if you want:
- Handles keyword and vector search together
- Three deployment options
- Mature ecosystem and tooling
Watch out: pricing details are not clear on the page.
Choose Beam if you want:
- Quick container start times
- Self-hostable runtime
- Simple Python API
Watch out: smaller company than rivals.
Elasticsearch vs Beam FAQ
What is the difference between Elasticsearch and Beam?
Elasticsearch: Search engine and vector database for AI apps and agents. Beam: Serverless GPUs and sandboxes for AI inference and agents. Both are models & apis tools.
Is Elasticsearch or Beam cheaper?
Elasticsearch starts at See pricing page and Beam starts at See pricing page. Check both pricing pages for current plans.
Do Elasticsearch and Beam have free plans?
Elasticsearch: No, trial available. Beam: Yes.
Who makes Elasticsearch?
Elasticsearch is made by Elastic, based in Netherlands.
Who makes Beam?
Beam is made by Beam, based in United States.
Which should I choose, Elasticsearch or Beam?
Choose Elasticsearch if you value handles keyword and vector search together and three deployment options. Choose Beam if you value quick container start times and self-hostable runtime.