kitio.aiElasticsearch vs Weaviate
A side-by-side look at pricing plans, free tiers, features, pros and cons, updated for 2026. Elasticsearch starts at See pricing page and Weaviate starts at $45/mo. 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
- Hybrid vector and keyword search
- Built-in vectorizer modules
- Multi-tenancy
- Generative search
- Weaviate Cloud
| Feature | Elasticsearch | Weaviate |
|---|---|---|
| Best for | Search engine and vector database for AI apps and agents | Open-source vector database with hybrid search and built-in vectorizers |
| Category | Models & APIs | Models & APIs |
| Pricing model | Free trial | Freemium |
| Starting price | See pricing page | $45/mo |
| Free plan | No, trial available | Yes |
| Made by | Elastic | Weaviate |
| Based in | Netherlands | Netherlands |
| Rating | No ratings yet | No ratings yet |
| Key features |
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Pricing compared
Elasticsearch starts at See pricing page and Weaviate starts at $45/mo. Check both pricing pages for current plans.
Free plan
Cheapest paid plan
Top plan
Free trial
3 plans
Free
Free
- 1 cluster, 100K objects
- 1 GB memory, 10 GB disk
- Basic support
Flex
$45/mo
- Starting price, pay-as-you-go
- Shared cloud cluster
- RBAC, 99.5% uptime
Premium
Contact sales
- Prepaid contract
- Shared or dedicated deployment
- Up to 99.95% uptime
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
Weaviate
- Strong hybrid search
- Open source and self-hostable
- Good multi-tenant support
- Memory-hungry at scale
- Cloud pricing changed often
- Schema concepts to learn
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 Weaviate if you want:
- Strong hybrid search
- Open source and self-hostable
- Good multi-tenant support
Watch out: memory-hungry at scale.
Elasticsearch vs Weaviate FAQ
What is the difference between Elasticsearch and Weaviate?
Elasticsearch: Search engine and vector database for AI apps and agents. Weaviate: Open-source vector database with hybrid search and built-in vectorizers. Both are models & apis tools.
Is Elasticsearch or Weaviate cheaper?
Elasticsearch starts at See pricing page and Weaviate starts at $45/mo. Check both pricing pages for current plans.
Do Elasticsearch and Weaviate have free plans?
Elasticsearch: No, trial available. Weaviate: Yes.
Who makes Elasticsearch?
Elasticsearch is made by Elastic, based in Netherlands.
Who makes Weaviate?
Weaviate is made by Weaviate, based in Netherlands.
Which should I choose, Elasticsearch or Weaviate?
Choose Elasticsearch if you value handles keyword and vector search together and three deployment options. Choose Weaviate if you value strong hybrid search and open source and self-hostable.