Redis Cloud vs Pinecone
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.
The short answer
- 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.
3 sourced criteria separate them:
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
Pick the criteria you care about. The chart counts how many of them lean toward each provider — the same read as scanning the bars below, just totalled for the ones you chose.
Redis Cloud 0
Pinecone 0
At a glance.
| Criterion | Redis Cloud | Pinecone |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | ||
| Free tier | Yes | Yes |
| 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 model | On-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. |
| Vector | ||
| Metadata filtering | Supported — 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. |
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) →Sources ↓
- Redis Cloud Pricing ↗
“From $0.007/hour. Total $5/month. 250 MB-100 GB RAM & SSD, single DB.”
Read 2026-09-11 · official pricing
- Pinecone Pricing ↗
“$20/month flat, for solo developers and small teams. You'll be charged a minimum of $50/month [on Standard]. Once your usage exceeds this amount, you'll pay as you go.”
Read 2026-09-11 · official pricing
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) →Sources ↓
- Redis Cloud Pricing ↗
“On demand. Data Transfer: Included in price, limited.”
Read 2026-09-11 · official pricing
- 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
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) →Sources ↓
- Redis vector search documentation ↗
“(@brand:trek)=>[KNN 50 @vector $query_vector]=>{$SHARD_K_RATIO: 0.4; $YIELD_DISTANCE_AS: similarity}”
Read 2026-09-11 · official docs
- Pinecone documentation ↗
“Pinecone indexes metadata for filtering, so a query can include a metadata filter to limit the search.”
Read 2026-09-11 · official docs
When these numbers change, hear about it. Sources are re-checked monthly; a repricing goes out as a short note.
Which should you choose?
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.
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.
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.