Weaviate Serverless Cloud
Weaviate Serverless Cloud is the SaaS version of Weaviate, where the vendor operates the infrastructure and you simply load objects and embeddings. It removes the need to manage servers or scaling while you build vector and semantic search applications. The platform targets developers and small teams who want to experiment or deploy production use cases without infrastructure overhead.
Key Features
-
Fully managed cluster by Weaviate Cloud
-
Usage pricing based on the number of vector dimensions stored per month (and SLA tier)
-
Vector and object storage for hybrid semantic queries
-
Built-in embedding modules or the ability to bring custom embeddings
-
High-availability SLA tiers available (Standard, Professional, Business Critical)
-
Easy scaling without manual infrastructure management
Use Cases
-
Rapid prototyping of semantic search for documents or knowledge bases
-
Retrieval augmented generation (RAG) back-end, where you store embeddings and query by similarity
-
Lightweight recommendation systems for apps using vector similarity
-
Startups or small teams that want vector search without handling ops
Pricing & Plans
-
Start at US $25 per month for the Standard SLA tier.
-
In the Standard tier, the pricing is roughly $0.095 per 1 M vector dimensions stored per month.
-
Higher tiers: Professional from ~$135/month at ~$0.145 per 1 M vector dimensions; Business Critical from ~$450/month at ~$0.175 per 1 M vector dimensions.
-
Note: High availability clusters multiply cost; billing depends on support plan and usage.
Integrations & Compatibility
-
Supports SDKs and APIs (REST, GraphQL) via Weaviate open source core
-
Works with embedding modules from OpenAI, Hugging Face, etc (or custom embeddings)
-
Deployment is fully handled, no need to select infrastructure
-
Storage types and indexing types configurable under the hood (via Weaviate)
Pros & Cons
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Very low barrier to entry with managed service and minimal ops overhead | Pricing model (per 1 M vector dimensions) may be harder to estimate for unfamiliar workloads |
| Ideal for fast prototyping and scaling without managing servers | For large-scale or enterprise needs, you may outgrow the standard tier |
| Managed infrastructure means less DevOps burden | Some features (multi-AZ, dedicated resources) cost more |
| Access to vector/semantic search with hybrid queries | If you require full control of infrastructure, this may be limiting |
Final Verdict
If you are a startup, developer or team building an AI/ML driven product and you want to focus on application logic rather than infrastructure, Weaviate Serverless Cloud offers a compelling managed vector database option. With pay-as-you-go pricing and no server management, you can move quickly from prototype to production. As your workloads grow and you need dedicated resources or enterprise features, you might consider shifting to one of the dedicated options next.