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pgvector−29 Negative

GILD Review

GILD's call and the buying facts behind it.

From GILD research

Should we adopt pgvector?

When is pgvector inside your own Postgres enough, and when do teams outgrow it?

  1. 30-Second TakePick pgvector if your application data already lives in Postgres and your vectors belong beside it.
  2. Best fitEngineering teams on Postgres who want vectors in the same database, from small RAG sites to Instacart-scale search.GILD Review
  3. Consider another workflowIf selective filters and more than roughly 10 million vectors dominate, a dedicated vector database fits: Mem0 moved its vectors to turbopuffer and Halcyon found Postgres unsuitable at its scale.GILD Review

Drawn from 33 sources and 6 operator insights

GILD analysis

pgvector Review

pgvector adds vector search to the Postgres a team already runs, free under the PostgreSQL License, with HNSW and IVFFlat indexes, half-precision and binary vectors, and replication through the write-ahead log. Discourse and Instacart report it in production, while filtered queries, index memory, release regressions and host versions draw most complaints. Adopt it when vectors belong with your data, and test filtered plans and your host's pgvector release before scale.

  • Vector Databases
  • AI Costs

The decision

Best fit
Engineering teams on Postgres who want vectors in the same database, from small RAG sites to Instacart-scale search.
Consider another workflow
If selective filters and more than roughly 10 million vectors dominate, a dedicated vector database fits: Mem0 moved its vectors to turbopuffer and Halcyon found Postgres unsuitable at its scale.
Adoption condition
Filtered queries tested with EXPLAIN at production size, iterative scans or partial indexes where filters are selective, and a host that ships a current pgvector release.

Basis: pgvector's README, LICENSE, CHANGELOG and repository, and five managed hosts' pages on pgvector, stored from November 1 to November 3, 2026, six named deployment accounts (Instacart, Mem0, GitLab, Confident AI, NCSA's Center for AI Innovation and Malt), and 26 public accounts from people running pgvector. Not a GILD performance benchmark.

Buying & deployment factsWhat a team building on it should verify before production traffic grows.
How you buy it

Free, PostgreSQL License

Keep the copyright notice and license text in copies. Runs on Postgres 13+ or a host that ships it.

Source 3, raw.githubusercontent.com, META.json: META.jsonSource 2, pgvector, LICENSE: LICENSESource 1, pgvector, README: README

Details

pgvector is free under the PostgreSQL License. It permits use, copying, modification and distribution for any purpose, without fee, provided the copyright notice and license text appear in all copies. On Linux and Mac, compile and install it (supports Postgres 13+), or install it with Docker, Homebrew, PGXN, APT, Yum, pkg, APK, or conda-forge. It comes preinstalled with Postgres.app and many hosted providers, and managed hosting is priced by each host. Enable it once in each database that uses it.

Cost drivers

No usage charge

Managed hosting is priced by each host. A search of 117 repository files found no fee or plan.

Source 2, pgvector, LICENSE: LICENSESource 3, raw.githubusercontent.com, META.json: META.jsonSource 1, pgvector, README: README

Details

pgvector has no usage charge or overage: it is free under the PostgreSQL License, and managed hosting is priced by each host. The license requires the copyright notice and license text in all copies. A search of 117 files in the pgvector repository on Nov 3, 2026 found no fee or plan from the project itself.

Where GILD searched pgvector's repository for a fee, plan, tier, charge, price or paid offer, Nov 3, 2026
WherePages readMatches
pgvector repository files at master, every file of 500 or more characters in its GitHub git tree1170
GILD search record, Nov 3, 2026
Where it runs

Your Postgres or a host

Neon, Supabase, Cloud SQL and Amazon RDS. RDS needs PostgreSQL 15.2 or higher. Azure is in Details.

Source 1, pgvector, README: READMESource 6, pgvector, Neon: NeonSource 10, pgvector, Supabase: SupabaseSource 8, pgvector, Cloud SQL: Cloud SQLSource 9, pgvector, Amazon RDS: Amazon RDS

Details

Neon: available on every Neon plan with no add-on or paid tier required. Azure Database for PostgreSQL flexible server: add it to your allowlist before you enable it. Cloud SQL for PostgreSQL: versions 13 and later support version 0.8.5. Amazon RDS: AWS announced on May 3, 2023 that it is available on all database instances running PostgreSQL 15.2 and higher in all AWS Regions, including the AWS GovCloud (US) Regions. Supabase: enable vector under Extensions on the Dashboard's Database page.

What to verify

Runs in your Postgres

Compile it or use a hosted provider. Its repository documents no SSO or audit log (0 of 117 files).

Source 4, raw.githubusercontent.com, CHANGELOG: CHANGELOGSource 1, pgvector, README: READMESource 5, GitHub, Security: Security

Details

The pgvector project documents no SSO, SCIM, audit log, security certification, data retention or training policy: GILD found 0 matches across 117 files in its repository, checked Nov 3, 2026. For security issues, the project names security@pgvector.org. With approximate indexes, filtering is applied after the index is scanned. You will see different results for queries after adding an approximate index.

Where GILD searched pgvector's repository for SSO, SAML, SCIM, audit logs, certifications, retention and training, Nov 3, 2026
WherePages readMatches
pgvector repository files at master, every file of 500 or more characters in its GitHub git tree1170
GILD search record, Nov 3, 2026

Sourced from pgvector documentation