kitio.aiMilvus vs Vald
A side-by-side look at pricing plans, free tiers, features, pros and cons, updated for 2026. Vald is completely free, while Milvus is freemium.
At a glance
Best for
Category
Pricing model
Starting price
Free plan
Made by
Based in
Rating
Key features
- Distributed architecture
- Many index types
- GPU indexing
- Hybrid search
- Milvus Lite
- Distributed ANN search
- Asynchronous auto-indexing
- Index replication
- Automatic index backup
- Custom gRPC filters
- Multi-language SDKs
| Feature | Milvus | Vald |
|---|---|---|
| Best for | Open-source vector database built for billion-scale search | Open-source distributed vector search engine for billions of vectors |
| Category | Models & APIs | Models & APIs |
| Pricing model | Freemium | Free |
| Starting price | See pricing page | Free |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes, fully free |
| Made by | Zilliz | vdaas |
| Based in | United States | – |
| Rating | No ratings yet | No ratings yet |
| Key features |
|
|
Pricing compared
Vald is completely free, while Milvus is freemium.
Free plan
Cheapest paid plan
Top plan
Free trial
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
Milvus
- Scales to billions of vectors
- Wide index choice
- Managed option via Zilliz
- Complex to run distributed
- Many components to operate
- Overkill for small apps
Vald
- Free and open source
- Scales to billions of vectors
- Keeps serving while indexing
- Needs Kubernetes to run
- No managed cloud offering
- More setup than hosted vector databases
Which one should you choose?
Choose Milvus if you want:
- Scales to billions of vectors
- Wide index choice
- Managed option via Zilliz
Watch out: complex to run distributed.
Choose Vald if you want:
- Free and open source
- Scales to billions of vectors
- Keeps serving while indexing
Watch out: needs kubernetes to run.
Milvus vs Vald FAQ
What is the difference between Milvus and Vald?
Milvus: Open-source vector database built for billion-scale search. Vald: Open-source distributed vector search engine for billions of vectors. Both are models & apis tools.
Is Milvus or Vald cheaper?
Vald is completely free, while Milvus is freemium.
Do Milvus and Vald have free plans?
Milvus: Yes. Vald: Yes, fully free.
Who makes Milvus?
Milvus is made by Zilliz, based in United States.
Who makes Vald?
Vald is made by vdaas.
Which should I choose, Milvus or Vald?
Choose Milvus if you value scales to billions of vectors and wide index choice. Choose Vald if you value free and open source and scales to billions of vectors.