Weaviate vs Vespa
Side-by-side from the Top 11 ranking of The 11 Best Vector Databases (2026). Last verified May 31, 2026.
The short answer
Weaviate ranks higher on Top 11 (#2 vs #6) for AI engineers building RAG and semantic search at scale. Top open-source choice with excellent developer experience and powerful hybrid search.
At a glance
| Weaviate | Vespa | |
|---|---|---|
| Top 11 rank | #2 / The 11 Best Vector Databases (2026) | #6 / The 11 Best Vector Databases (2026) |
| Score (out of 9.4) | 9.1 | 8.5 |
| Best for | Flexible open-source hybrid search | Battle-tested big data search |
| Pricing | $$ (Free to custom/enterprise) | $$$ (Free to custom/enterprise) |
| HQ | Amsterdam, Netherlands | Sunnyvale, USA |
| Founded | 2019 | 2017 |
Weaviate
Top open-source choice with excellent developer experience and powerful hybrid search.
weaviate.ioMethodology and scoring weights live at /methodology. No vendor pays for placement — see about.