Qdrant alternative. Vector search without the RAM tax.
Evaluating Qdrant? LanceDB scales on object storage with compute-storage separation. No HNSW parameter tuning. No segment optimization. No shard management.
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Why teams switch
Compute-storage separation
Complete database on object storage. No DIY persistence layer. Up to 100x savings at scale.
One table, not six systems
Raw data, embeddings, and features together. No custom serialization, no external metadata store.
Schema evolution without rebuilds
New embedding model? Add a column. No index rebuild, no custom migration code.
Full-text + hybrid search, native
Native full-text search integrated with vector search. Qdrant requires external sparse vectorization for text search.
Comparison
Qdrant
LanceDB
Cost
RAM-heavy architecture with full shard replication. $3-5/GB/month.
Object storage at $0.02/GB/month with compute-storage separation. Up to 100x savings.
Scale
Requires shard management, segment rebalancing, storage amplification.
Stateless scaling. No sharding decisions, no rebalancing. 20 PB largest table.
Search
Vector only. No native full-text search. Requires external sparse vectorization.
Native vector, full-text, and SQL hybrid search in one query.
Metadata
Metadata in RocksDB. Must be fully indexed in RAM.
Arrow-native columnar format. Efficient WHERE filtering and analytics.
Operations
Continuous tuning - segment sizes, HNSW params (ef, m), optimizer thresholds.
Zero tuning. Asynchronous indexing handles balance automatically.
Best for
When tuning for peak single-query latency is everything.
Cost-efficient scale with zero operational complexity.
The Power of the Lance Format
Vector Search
- Fast scans and random access from the same table — no tradeoff
- Zero-copy access for high throughput without serialization overhead
Multi-Modal
- Raw data, embeddings, and metadata in one table — not pointers to blob storage
- No separate metadata store to keep in sync
Enterprise-Grade Requirements
Security
Granular RBAC, SSO integration, and VPC deployment options.
Governance
Data versioning and time-travel capabilities for auditability.
Support
Dedicated technical account management and guaranteed SLAs.
