Keywords AI

ClickHouse vs Qdrant

Compare ClickHouse and Qdrant side by side. Both are tools in the Vector Databases category.

Quick Comparison

ClickHouse
ClickHouse
Qdrant
Qdrant
CategoryVector DatabasesVector Databases
PricingfreemiumOpen Source
Best ForTeams needing analytics and vector search in one storeEngineering teams who need a fast, self-hosted vector database with strong filtering
Websiteclickhouse.comqdrant.tech
Key Features
  • Analytics + vector
  • High scale
  • Observability
  • High-performance open-source vector search
  • Written in Rust for speed
  • Advanced filtering with payload indexes
  • Distributed deployment support
  • On-disk storage for cost efficiency
Use Cases
  • High-throughput vector search
  • Production RAG with complex filtering
  • Self-hosted vector infrastructure
  • Real-time similarity matching
  • Cost-efficient large-scale deployments

When to Choose ClickHouse vs Qdrant

Qdrant
Choose Qdrant if you need
  • High-throughput vector search
  • Production RAG with complex filtering
  • Self-hosted vector infrastructure
Pricing: Open Source

How to Choose a Vector Databases Tool

Key criteria to evaluate when comparing Vector Databases solutions:

Query performanceSearch latency and throughput at your expected data scale and query volume.
ScalabilityHow well the database handles growing from thousands to billions of vectors.
Hosting modelFully managed cloud, self-hosted, or embedded options depending on your infrastructure needs.
Filtering supportAbility to combine vector similarity search with metadata filters efficiently.
Integration ecosystemNative integrations with popular frameworks like LangChain, LlamaIndex, and Haystack.

About ClickHouse

High-performance analytical database with vector search. Standard for observability + embeddings.

About Qdrant

Qdrant is a high-performance open-source vector database written in Rust, optimized for speed and reliability. It supports advanced filtering with payload indexes, quantization for memory efficiency, and distributed deployments for horizontal scaling. Qdrant offers a managed cloud service and is popular with teams that need production-grade vector search with fine-grained control over indexing and query parameters.

What is Vector Databases?

Purpose-built databases for storing, indexing, and querying high-dimensional vector embeddings used in semantic search, RAG, and recommendation systems.

Browse all Vector Databases tools →

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a vector database?

A vector database stores high-dimensional numerical representations (embeddings) of data like text, images, or audio, and enables fast similarity search across millions or billions of vectors using approximate nearest neighbor algorithms.

Do I need a dedicated vector database or can I use pgvector?

For small to medium datasets (under 10 million vectors), pgvector in PostgreSQL works well and avoids adding another service. For larger datasets or when you need advanced features like hybrid search and real-time indexing, a dedicated vector database is recommended.

How do I choose the right embedding model for my vector database?

Match the embedding model to your use case. For general text search, models like OpenAI text-embedding-3 or Cohere embed-v3 work well. For domain-specific applications, consider fine-tuned models. Always benchmark with your actual data.

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