Qdrant vs Chroma
Side-by-side from the Top 11 ranking of The 11 Best Vector Databases (2026). Last verified May 31, 2026.
The short answer
Qdrant ranks higher on Top 11 (#4 vs #5) for AI engineers building RAG and semantic search at scale. A highly performant and efficient vector database written in Rust.
At a glance
| Qdrant | Chroma | |
|---|---|---|
| Top 11 rank | #4 / The 11 Best Vector Databases (2026) | #5 / The 11 Best Vector Databases (2026) |
| Score (out of 9.4) | 8.9 | 8.7 |
| Best for | Performance-focused and efficient | Easiest for developers to start |
| Pricing | $$ (Free to custom/enterprise) | $ (Free to usage-based) |
| HQ | Berlin, Germany | San Francisco, USA |
| Founded | 2021 | 2022 |
Methodology and scoring weights live at /methodology. No vendor pays for placement — see about.