How Much Does a Vector Database Cost?
Vector databases bill by index size, queries, and compute — or by your own infrastructure. For RAG agents, it's a real line item.
How vector DB pricing works
Hosted: per-index size, per-query, per-namespace.
Self-hosted: hardware + power + ops.
Verify current pricing per provider.
The agentic multiplier
RAG agents embed and query per turn.
Index growth compounds storage cost.
What it really costs
Index size + query volume + embedding compute. Caps on embedding volume control it.
Where the money goes
| Cost bucket | How to control it |
|---|---|
| Index storage | Retention policies |
| Queries | Per-agent ceilings |
| Embeddings | Category budgets |
FAQ
Hosted or self-hosted?
Depends on volume — model your TCO.
Can sipi.bot govern vector spend?
Yes — per-agent caps and category rules.
Related
Stop the next $12,400 night.
One API call (or MCP tool) in front of every agent transaction — APPROVED, BLOCKED, or FLAGGED, deterministic, ~5 ms, fully logged.
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