Chroma vs Qdrant
A side-by-side look at 2 AI & ML tools for 2026 — the verdict, pricing, ratings, features, and what readers think.
Head to head
| Chroma | Qdrant | |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | $0/mo + usage | — |
| Free tier | Yes | — |
| Free trial | Starter plan with $5 in free credits | — |
| Platforms | Web · API · CLI · Self-hosted | Web · API · CLI · Self-hosted |
Features compared
| Chroma | Qdrant | |
|---|---|---|
| Plans & pricing | ||
| Free tier | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |
| Pricing model | Open source / managed cloud | Open source / managed cloud (usage-based) |
| Platforms & access | ||
| Web app | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |
| Self-hosted option | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |
| Integrations & extensibility | ||
| Public API | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |
| Native integrations | LangChain, LlamaIndex, OpenAI, Hugging Face | LangChain, LlamaIndex, OpenAI, Cohere |
| Security & compliance | ||
| SSO / SAML | — | ✓ Yes |
| Two-factor auth | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |
| SOC 2 | — | ✓ Yes |
| GDPR compliant | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |
| Encryption at rest | — | ✓ Yes |
| Support | ||
| Email support | — | ✓ Yes |
| Knowledge base | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |