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Head to head · 2026

Airy vs Qdrant

Pricing, free plans, ratings, features, pros and cons, side by side. Where one comes out ahead, we mark it.

Airy

Real-time AI agents that watch your data streams and act on complex patterns automatically - built…

3.9Not listed

Visit Airy (opens Airy in a new tab)

Qdrant

Open-source vector database that raised a $50M Series B to power retrieval for AI agents

4.3Free

Visit Qdrant (opens Qdrant in a new tab)

Who comes out ahead

Based only on the facts in our directory. The right pick still depends on the job you need done.

  • Lower starting price

    Not comparable

    Not comparable: Airy does not list a price

  • Free plan

    Qdrant

    Only Qdrant has one

  • Higher rating

    Qdrant

    3.9 against 4.3

  • Same job?

    Yes

    Both are AI Infrastructure & Agent Tooling tools

Side by side

Compared onAiryQdrant
Our rating3.94.3Better
Starts atNot listedFree
Free planNoYesBetter
CategoryAI Infrastructure & Agent ToolingAI Infrastructure & Agent Tooling
PlansSee pricingFree
Key features
  • AI agents continuously monitoring real-time data streams
  • Built on Apache Flink for proven stream processing
  • Natural-language AI assistants for querying datasets
  • Data schema, lineage and governance tooling
  • Pre-built connectors for data sources, models and vector databases
  • Open-source vector database, free to self-host with full source access
  • Qdrant Cloud managed service with a free tier and usage-based paid plans
  • Purpose-built for semantic search, recommendations, and RAG pipelines
  • $50M Series B raised March 2026 to expand agent-retrieval infrastructure
  • Filterable vector search with payload metadata alongside embeddings
Pros
  • Real-time continuous monitoring, not scheduled batch analysis
  • Built on established, proven stream-processing infrastructure (Flink)
  • Acquired by Confluent - real technical maturity and backing
  • Open-source option gives full control and zero licensing cost for self-hosted deployments
  • Managed cloud tier removes the operational overhead of running vector search infrastructure
  • Free tier on Qdrant Cloud is generous enough for real prototyping, not just a demo
Cons
  • Data-engineering infrastructure, not a plug-and-play business tool
  • No self-serve pricing - expect a sales-led process
  • Realizing value requires genuine investment in schemas and pipeline design
  • Self-hosting still requires infrastructure expertise the managed tier is meant to remove
  • Competes in a crowded vector-database field against Pinecone and several open-source alternatives
  • Newer funding means less operating history than some competing vector databases
CompanyAiry, Inc. (Confluent)Qdrant, founded 2021

Prices come from each vendor's pricing page, last checked 20260824. Check the vendor before you buy.

FAQ

Questions people ask

Is Airy better than Qdrant?

In our reviews Airy scores 3.9 and Qdrant scores 4.3. The better pick depends on the job. Airy: Real-time AI agents that watch your data streams and act on complex patterns automatically - built on Apache Flink, acquired by Confluent. Qdrant: Open-source vector database that raised a $50M Series B to power retrieval for AI agents.

Which is cheaper, Airy or Qdrant?

Airy: see pricing. Qdrant: free.

Do Airy and Qdrant have free plans?

Only Qdrant has a free plan.

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