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Redis Cloud vs Pinecone

SEPT 2026 audit

A comparison of Redis Cloud and Pinecone built from values read directly from each provider's own documentation, with the source recorded against every figure.

Reviewed by Palash BagchiUpdated 26 criteria comparedSources last checked

The short answer

Choose Redis Cloud if…

Teams that want Redis from the company that maintains it, with an on-demand hourly Essentials tier cheap enough to run a small production workload without committing to a fixed plan.

Editorial · Palash Bagchi · approved

Choose Pinecone if…

Teams that want a fully managed vector search product with hybrid search and metadata filtering built in, and don't want to operate the underlying index themselves.

Editorial · Palash Bagchi · approved

Consider something else if…

  • Redis Cloud: Multi-region active-active replication is needed on a small budget — that's a Pro-tier feature here, where a serverless competitor may price per-region replication into a lower-cost plan.
  • Pinecone: Cost predictability at small scale matters more than managed convenience — the $50/month Standard minimum applies before any pay-as-you-go usage starts.

Neither quite fits? Every other option, ranked by iScore: Redis Cloud alternatives · Pinecone alternatives

15 sourced criteria separate them — see where, with sources, below.

Visit Redis Cloud documentationVisit Pinecone documentation

No affiliate links, sponsored placements or paid rankings appear on this site. Ordering follows the sourced data and the stated criteria.

01.

At a glance.

CriterionRedis CloudPinecone
Pricing
Free tierYesYes
Kind of free offerFree tierFree tier
Entry paid plan
Essentials: from $0.007/hour, $5/month total. 250 MB-100 GB RAM and SSD, single DB.
Builder plan: $20/month flat, for solo developers and small teams. Standard plan is usage-based with a $50/month minimum.
Pricing modelOn-demand hourly billing. Data transfer is included in the price, with limits.Usage-based on the Standard plan, with a $50/month minimum before pay-as-you-go charges apply.
Infrastructure
Regions76 regions for Redis Cloud Pro — 34 AWS and 42 Google Cloud — and 38 for Essentials (20 AWS, 16 Google Cloud, 2 Azure). Counted from the per-provider tables on Redis's supported-regions page, which publishes the regions and no total; Redis Cloud Pro on Azure is delivered as Azure Managed Redis rather than listed here, and the page notes AWS me-central-1 is temporarily unavailable.Starter is AWS us-east-1 only. Builder, Standard and Enterprise get all available regions across AWS, Azure and GCP.
Vector
Similarity metrics supportedCosine appears as the distance metric in Redis's own vector-field schema example. The page shows it in use and does not enumerate the other metrics, so this is not a list of what is supported.cosine, dotproduct or euclidean, chosen per dense vector field when the index is created.
Metadata filteringSupported — a vector KNN query can be combined with a pre-filter on other indexed fields in the same query.Supported — Pinecone indexes metadata so a query can include a metadata filter to limit the search.
Support
Support on entry paid plan
Best-effort SLA, community support
Community support via Discord on Starter; free support on Builder, the entry paid plan.
Compliance
SOC 2Annual SOC 2 Type II (SSAE 18) audit by an independent third-party firm; Redis provides the report on written request, under confidentiality. Measures document applies to the Redis Cloud Services; last updated March 20, 2025.SOC 2 Type II, audited annually, covering security, availability and confidentiality controls.
ISO 27001ISO 27001:2022 ISMS certification covering information assets at Redis; the certificate is downloadable from the Trust Center after requesting access. Trust Center names Coalfire as auditor; scope is stated for Redis, not Redis Cloud specifically.ISO 27001:2022 certified; annual surveillance audit completed and certification reported as fully active. From the Trust Center updates feed, posted April 1, 2026.
HIPAARedis offers a HIPAA-compliant business associate agreement (BAA) for its HIPAA-secure Redis Cloud services.HIPAA: BAA available on request for covered entities and business associates.
GDPR / data residencyDPA incorporates the EU Standard Contractual Clauses; the customer controls which geographic region personal data resides in when configuring the service.GDPR: data processing agreements, EU data residency and right-to-erasure support.
PCI DSS
Assessed as a Level 1 Service Provider against PCI DSS 4.0.1; Redis Cloud Flexible/Annual subscriptions may process, store and transmit card data. Scope named as Redis Cloud Flexible/Annual subscriptions, not Essentials.
Master Subscription Agreement forbids using the Services to process credit or debit card numbers, which it defines as Restricted Information. The only carve-out is HIPAA Information where an Order contemplates it and a BAA is executed.
Encryption at restRedis Cloud deployments are always encrypted at rest — encrypted EBS volumes on AWS, and disk encryption by default on Google Cloud and Azure. Docs say always; the plan comparison table lists encryption at rest only under Redis Cloud Pro.Stored data encrypted with the 256-bit Advanced Encryption Standard (AES-256).
Role-based access controlRBAC is configured in the Redis Cloud console: named Redis ACLs are grouped into roles spanning databases, and roles are assigned to database users. Some Redis ACL subcommands (ACL SETUSER, DELUSER, LOAD, SAVE, LOG, GENPASS) are not supported.Role-based access control over users, service accounts and API keys; roles managed in the console or via the Admin API.
Private networking / VPCAWS PrivateLink exposes the database as a VPC endpoint service inside your own VPC; available only with Redis Cloud Pro, not supported on Essentials. VPC peering, AWS Transit Gateway and Google Private Service Connect are the other options, also Pro only.Private Endpoints via AWS PrivateLink or Azure Private Link, up to 10 per project; requires a Pinecone Enterprise plan.
Dedicated infrastructureRedis Cloud Pro is hosted in dedicated VPCs, with single- or multi-AZ high availability, Active-Active, clustering and configurable backups. The pricing page calls Essentials a shared deployment and Pro a dedicated cloud deployment.Dedicated reserved-compute deployment, plus BYOC: a privately managed Pinecone region inside your own AWS, Azure or Google Cloud account.

Only criteria both providers publish appear here; a tinted cell marks a real difference. Criteria only one of them documents are listed below, and an absence there means we found no source — not that the feature is missing. How we source this.

The small bar above a value is inetGeek's own lean toward that side — computed from the same facts shown, never a number the provider published. See the picker below "The short answer" to weigh only the criteria you care about.

02.

Where they differ.

Entry paid plan

Redis Cloud
Essentials: from $0.007/hour, $5/month total. 250 MB-100 GB RAM and SSD, single DB.
Pinecone
Builder plan: $20/month flat, for solo developers and small teams. Standard plan is usage-based with a $50/month minimum.
Sources (2) →
  • Redis Cloud Pricing ↗

    “Essentials From $0.007 /hour Total $5/month Get Essentials Shared deployment 250 MB-100 GB RAM & SSD, single DB”

    Read 2026-09-13 · official pricing · Report a correction

  • Pinecone Pricing ↗

    “Builder NEW For solo developers and small teams. Get Started $20/month flat [...] Standard POPULAR For production applications at any scale. Start Free Trial $50/month min. usage You'll be charged a minimum of $50/month. Once your usage exceeds this amount, you'll pay as you go.”

    Read 2026-09-13 · official pricing · Report a correction

Pricing model

Redis Cloud
On-demand hourly billing. Data transfer is included in the price, with limits.
Pinecone
Usage-based on the Standard plan, with a $50/month minimum before pay-as-you-go charges apply.
Sources (2) →
  • Redis Cloud Pricing ↗

    “Pricing methodology On demand On demand On demand On demand, annual Data transfer Included in price, limited Included in price, limited Included in price, limited Usage based”

    Read 2026-09-13 · official pricing · Report a correction

  • Pinecone Pricing ↗

    “You'll be charged a minimum of $50/month. Once your usage exceeds this amount, you'll pay as you go.”

    Read 2026-09-11 · official pricing · Report a correction

Regions

Redis Cloud
76 regions for Redis Cloud Pro — 34 AWS and 42 Google Cloud — and 38 for Essentials (20 AWS, 16 Google Cloud, 2 Azure). Counted from the per-provider tables on Redis's supported-regions page, which publishes the regions and no total; Redis Cloud Pro on Azure is delivered as Azure Managed Redis rather than listed here, and the page notes AWS me-central-1 is temporarily unavailable.
Pinecone
Starter is AWS us-east-1 only. Builder, Standard and Enterprise get all available regions across AWS, Azure and GCP.
Sources (2) →
  • Supported Cloud providers and regions — Redis Cloud Docs ↗

    “Redis Cloud supports databases in the following Amazon Web Services (AWS) regions. [...] Redis Cloud supports databases in the following Google Cloud regions. [...] Redis Cloud Essentials is available on the following Microsoft Azure regions:”

    Read 2026-09-13 · official docs · Report a correction

  • Pinecone Pricing ↗

    “Cloud Availability AWS AWS, Azure, GCP AWS, Azure, GCP AWS, Azure, GCP Region Availability us-east-1 All available regions All available regions All available regions”

    Read 2026-09-14 · official pricing · Report a correction

Similarity metrics supported

Redis Cloud
Cosine appears as the distance metric in Redis's own vector-field schema example. The page shows it in use and does not enumerate the other metrics, so this is not a list of what is supported.
Pinecone
cosine, dotproduct or euclidean, chosen per dense vector field when the index is created.
Sources (2) →

Metadata filtering

Redis Cloud
Supported — a vector KNN query can be combined with a pre-filter on other indexed fields in the same query.
Pinecone
Supported — Pinecone indexes metadata so a query can include a metadata filter to limit the search.
Sources (2) →

Support on entry paid plan

Redis Cloud
Best-effort SLA, community support
Pinecone
Community support via Discord on Starter; free support on Builder, the entry paid plan.
Sources (2) →

SOC 2

Redis Cloud
Annual SOC 2 Type II (SSAE 18) audit by an independent third-party firm; Redis provides the report on written request, under confidentiality. Measures document applies to the Redis Cloud Services; last updated March 20, 2025.
Pinecone
SOC 2 Type II, audited annually, covering security, availability and confidentiality controls.
Sources (2) →

ISO 27001

Redis Cloud
ISO 27001:2022 ISMS certification covering information assets at Redis; the certificate is downloadable from the Trust Center after requesting access. Trust Center names Coalfire as auditor; scope is stated for Redis, not Redis Cloud specifically.
Pinecone
ISO 27001:2022 certified; annual surveillance audit completed and certification reported as fully active. From the Trust Center updates feed, posted April 1, 2026.
Sources (2) →

HIPAA

Redis Cloud
Redis offers a HIPAA-compliant business associate agreement (BAA) for its HIPAA-secure Redis Cloud services.
Pinecone
HIPAA: BAA available on request for covered entities and business associates.
Sources (2) →

GDPR / data residency

Redis Cloud
DPA incorporates the EU Standard Contractual Clauses; the customer controls which geographic region personal data resides in when configuring the service.
Pinecone
GDPR: data processing agreements, EU data residency and right-to-erasure support.
Sources (2) →

PCI DSS

Redis Cloud
Assessed as a Level 1 Service Provider against PCI DSS 4.0.1; Redis Cloud Flexible/Annual subscriptions may process, store and transmit card data. Scope named as Redis Cloud Flexible/Annual subscriptions, not Essentials.
Pinecone
Master Subscription Agreement forbids using the Services to process credit or debit card numbers, which it defines as Restricted Information. The only carve-out is HIPAA Information where an Order contemplates it and a BAA is executed.
Sources (2) →
  • Redis Trust Center — Certifications & Compliance, PCI DSS ↗

    “Redis Cloud Flexible/Annual subscriptions is authorized to process, store, and transmit credit card information for our customers. Redis has been assessed as a Level 1 Service Provider against the PCI DSS 4.0.1 standard.”

    Read 2026-09-13 · official site · Report a correction

  • Pinecone Master Subscription Agreement ↗

    “Customer must not use the Services to process any Restricted Information. [...] “ Restricted Information ” means the following categories of Personal Information: (a) patient, medical, or other protected health information regulated by the U.S. Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (“ HIPAA Information ”); (b) credit, debit, bank account, or other financial account numbers”

    Read 2026-09-13 · official site · Report a correction

Encryption at rest

Redis Cloud
Redis Cloud deployments are always encrypted at rest — encrypted EBS volumes on AWS, and disk encryption by default on Google Cloud and Azure. Docs say always; the plan comparison table lists encryption at rest only under Redis Cloud Pro.
Pinecone
Stored data encrypted with the 256-bit Advanced Encryption Standard (AES-256).
Sources (2) →

Role-based access control

Redis Cloud
RBAC is configured in the Redis Cloud console: named Redis ACLs are grouped into roles spanning databases, and roles are assigned to database users. Some Redis ACL subcommands (ACL SETUSER, DELUSER, LOAD, SAVE, LOG, GENPASS) are not supported.
Pinecone
Role-based access control over users, service accounts and API keys; roles managed in the console or via the Admin API.
Sources (2) →

Private networking / VPC

Redis Cloud
AWS PrivateLink exposes the database as a VPC endpoint service inside your own VPC; available only with Redis Cloud Pro, not supported on Essentials. VPC peering, AWS Transit Gateway and Google Private Service Connect are the other options, also Pro only.
Pinecone
Private Endpoints via AWS PrivateLink or Azure Private Link, up to 10 per project; requires a Pinecone Enterprise plan.
Sources (2) →

Dedicated infrastructure

Redis Cloud
Redis Cloud Pro is hosted in dedicated VPCs, with single- or multi-AZ high availability, Active-Active, clustering and configurable backups. The pricing page calls Essentials a shared deployment and Pro a dedicated cloud deployment.
Pinecone
Dedicated reserved-compute deployment, plus BYOC: a privately managed Pinecone region inside your own AWS, Azure or Google Cloud account.
Sources (2) →
  • Manage subscriptions — Redis Cloud Docs ↗

    “Redis Cloud Pro supports more databases, larger databases, greater throughput, and no fixed database-level connection limit compared to Redis Cloud Essentials. [...] Hosted in dedicated VPCs, they feature high-availability in a single or multi-AZ, Active-Active, clustering, data persistence, and configurable backups.”

    Read 2026-09-13 · official docs · Report a correction

  • Pinecone Enterprise - Trusted Knowledge Infrastructure ↗

    “Dedicated Reserved compute for predictable performance. Ideal for consistent throughput requirements. [...] BYOC Database A privately managed Pinecone region inside your own AWS, Azure, or Google Cloud account. Data never leaves your VPC”

    Read 2026-09-13 · official site · Report a correction

When these numbers change, hear about it. Sources are re-checked monthly; a repricing goes out as a short note.

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03.

Documented by only one.

These criteria are published by one provider and not the other. An absence here means we have not found a source, not that the feature is missing — except where we say we read the other provider's own page on a given date and it does not state it. Those rows lean, and the provider can correct them with a link.

What the free plan includesPinecone: A first index at no charge, then pay-as-you-go. Pinecone no longer publishes the Starter tier's storage and unit limits on this page.
Uptime SLAPinecone: 99.95%, listed only against Enterprise (from $500/month minimum usage). Starter, Builder and Standard publish no uptime SLA.
Max dataset size, entry planRedis Cloud: 30 MB on the free Redis Cloud Essentials plan; paid Essentials plans start at 250 MB and run to 12 GB, or to 100 GB on the Essentials plans with Redis Flex, per the plan tables on this page. Redis Cloud Pro is separate: the plan comparison lists 50 TB memory size.
Data persistenceRedis Cloud: AOF (every write on Redis Cloud Pro, every second on paid Essentials) or snapshots every 1, 6 or 12 hours; free Essentials plans support no persistence at all.
Multi-region replicationRedis Cloud: Active-active multi-region replication is a Pro feature, alongside auto-tiering and private connectivity; Essentials is active-passive.
Max vector dimensionsPinecone: Up to 20000 dimensions per dense vector field (minimum 1), per the create-index schema in API version 2026-07.
Hybrid search (vector + keyword)Pinecone: Supported — combine a keyword signal (BM25 or sparse) with a dense signal at query time, often with reranking.
Response time commitmentPinecone: Not included on any plan: response SLAs are sold separately as a Developer or Pro support add-on.
Customer-managed keysPinecone: CMEK using keys you manage in AWS KMS on Pinecone-managed projects; requires a Pinecone Enterprise plan.
04.

Questions this comparison answers.

Entry paid plan: Redis Cloud or Pinecone?

Redis Cloud: Essentials: from $0.007/hour, $5/month total. 250 MB-100 GB RAM and SSD, single DB.

Pinecone: Builder plan: $20/month flat, for solo developers and small teams. Standard plan is usage-based with a $50/month minimum.

Should I choose Redis Cloud or Pinecone?

Pick Redis Cloud if Teams that want Redis from the company that maintains it, with an on-demand hourly Essentials tier cheap enough to run a small production workload without committing to a fixed plan.

Pick Pinecone if Teams that want a fully managed vector search product with hybrid search and metadata filtering built in, and don't want to operate the underlying index themselves.

Provider pages

Redis CloudManaged Redis from Redis Inc., with a permanent free tier and active-active multi-region replication on the Pro plan.PineconeManaged vector database with a free Starter tier, hybrid dense/sparse search, and usage-based Standard plans.

Related comparisons

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Comments

Every page here is sourced and dated.