Deepgram vs Pinecone Pricing (2026)

How do these two stack up on price? Here's what each one costs, what you get, and where the value sits.

Deepgram Pinecone
Starts at Custom $20/mo
Number of plans 3 4
Free plan
Free trial
Pricing model usage-based usage-based

Pay As You Go

$0/mo
  • No minimums. No expiration.
  • No credit card required.
  • Free $200 Credit
  • All endpoint in public models
  • Up to 50 for the REST API (Speech-to-Text)
  • Up to 150 for the WSS API (Speech-to-Text)
  • Up to 5 for Deepgram Whisper Cloud
  • Up to 45 for the REST API + WSS API (Text-to-Speech)
  • Up to 45 for the WSS API (Voice Agent API)
  • Up to 10 for the REST API (Audio Intelligence)
  • Community & Discord
  • Standard Uptime

Growth

Custom
  • With pre-paid credits for the year.
  • Credits are redeemed against actual usage.
  • Free $200 Credit
  • All endpoints in public models
  • Up to 50 for the REST API (Speech-to-Text)
  • Up to 225 for the WSS API (Speech-to-Text)
  • Up to 5 for Deepgram Whisper Cloud
  • Up to 60 for the REST API + WSS API (Text-to-Speech)
  • Up to 60 for the WSS API (Voice Agent API)
  • Up to 10 for the REST API (Audio Intelligence)
  • Community & Discord
  • Standard Uptime

Enterprise

Custom
  • For businesses with large volumes, data or deployment requirements, or support needs.

Starter

$0/mo
  • Pinecone Database On-Demand
  • Pinecone Inference
  • Pinecone Assistant
  • Dense, Sparse, and Full-Text Indexes
  • Console Metrics
  • Community Support via Discord

Builder

$20/mo
  • Increased usage limits
  • Choose your cloud and region
  • Multiple projects and users
  • Prometheus and Datadog monitoring
  • Includes Free support
  • Response SLAs available via Developer or Pro support add-on

Standard

Popular
$50/mo
  • Pay-as-you-go for Database On-Demand, Inference, and Assistant Usage
  • Choose your cloud and region
  • Dedicated Read Nodes (DRN)
  • Import from object storage
  • Backup and Restore
  • User and API Key RBAC
  • SAML SSO
  • HIPAA add-on
  • Includes Free support
  • Response SLAs available via Developer or Pro support add-on

Enterprise

$500/mo
  • 99.95% Uptime SLA
  • Bring Your Own Cloud (BYOC)
  • Private Networking
  • Customer Managed Encryption Keys
  • Audit Logs
  • Service Accounts
  • Admin APIs
  • HIPAA Compliance
  • Pro support included

Deepgram vs Pinecone FAQ

Which one is cheaper?
One or both use custom pricing, so it depends on your specific needs.
Can I use either one for free?
Both offer free plans, so you can try each without paying. Start with whichever fits your workflow better and upgrade when you hit the limits.
How do they charge?
Both use a usage-based model, so the comparison is straightforward — it comes down to features and limits at each price point.
Which one is a better deal?
Depends on what you need. Deepgram: Deepgram positions as the developer-friendly, cost-efficient alternative to Google and AWS in the speech AI space — not the cheapest, but meaningfully cheaper than hyperscaler STT at scale. The no-credit-card free tier is a direct shot at winning developers before they default to an incumbent. Pinecone: They're not the cheapest vector DB — Weaviate and Qdrant have self-hosted options that undercut on raw cost — but Pinecone is betting on managed simplicity and enterprise readiness. They're squarely targeting teams that want to ship fast without running infra, and the BYOC option signals they're going after security-conscious enterprise buyers who'd otherwise go self-hosted.

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