MongoDB Atlas Vector Search vs Zilliz Cloud (Milvus) pricing
Both are in vector database apis. MongoDB Atlas Vector Search is billed atlas cluster consumption-based; Zilliz Cloud (Milvus) is billed per compute-unit-hour + storage. Numbers below are copied from each vendor's pricing page.
MongoDB Atlas Vector SearchFree tier or trial
- Free tier
- M0 cluster: 512MB storage, shared
- Billed
- Atlas cluster consumption-based
- Best for
- Vector search inside operational MongoDB
- Verified
- Jun 27, 2026
Zilliz Cloud (Milvus)Free tier or trial
- Free tier
- 5GB storage + compute credits, permanent free tier
- Billed
- Per compute-unit-hour + storage
- Best for
- Managed Milvus at billion-vector scale
- Verified
- Jun 27, 2026
MongoDB Atlas Vector Search plans
| Plan | Price | What it covers |
|---|---|---|
| Free (M0) | $0/mo | 512 MB storage, shared RAM/vCPU; for learning and prototyping. Vector Search available on shared tiers with limits. |
| Flex | $8-$30/mo | Usage-based ($0.011-$0.041/hr), 5 GB storage, tiered by ops/sec; for dev/test and unpredictable traffic. |
| Dedicated (M10+) | from $0.08/hr (~$57/mo) | M10 = 2 vCPU / 2 GB RAM; scales to M300 (96 vCPU / 384 GB) at $21.85/hr. Required for production with 99.995% SLA. |
| Vector Search Nodes (High-CPU) | $0.12-$3.26/hr per node | Dedicated search compute, billed separately, two-node minimum. S20 ($0.12) to S80 (64 vCPU / 128 GB, $3.26). |
| Vector Search Nodes (Storage-optimized) | ~$1.04/hr for s50 (2 nodes) | s50 = 32 GB RAM / 4 vCPU used in MongoDB benchmarks for scalar-quantized 15.3M-vector workloads. |
- Pricing is the most common complaint across G2/PeerSpot - expensive and hard to predict versus self-hosting
- HNSW indexes need ~1.2-1.5x raw vector size in RAM and must fit in memory, making memory planning critical and upgrades costly
- Production vector workloads require separately-billed Search Nodes with a two-node minimum, adding base cost
Source: https://www.mongodb.com/pricing
Zilliz Cloud (Milvus) plans
| Plan | Price | What it covers |
|---|---|---|
| Free (Serverless) | $0/month | Free serverless tier including ~5GB storage and a monthly vCU allowance; suitable for prototyping. Collections unlimited. |
| Serverless | Pay-as-you-go (from ~$0.35/M vCU) | Pay-per-operation model charged on read/write resource consumption plus storage; best for variable/low-traffic workloads. |
| Dedicated | From ~$99/month (compute + storage) | Reserved compute units (CU ~= 1 vCPU + 4GB RAM) at pay-as-you-go rates; 99.95% uptime SLA, production-grade performance and isolation. |
| Business Critical (BC) | Custom | Added Oct 2025 for teams with stringent security/compliance needs; enhanced isolation, support, and resilience. |
| BYOC (Bring Your Own Cloud) | Custom | Zilliz Cloud control plane operating inside the customer's own cloud account/VPC for data-residency and compliance requirements. |
- Cost is the most cited complaint, managed pricing can be far more expensive than self-hosting Milvus on a cheap VPS for small/hobby projects
- vCU / CU-hour + tiered-storage billing model can be hard to forecast and reason about
Source: https://zilliz.com/pricing