{ "data": { "a": { "slug": "elasticsearch", "name": "Elasticsearch", "vendor": "Elastic", "vendorUrl": "https://www.elastic.co", "kind": "http-api", "category": "vector-search", "summary": "Elasticsearch is Elastic's search engine and vector database, with keyword, vector and hybrid search over a REST API. Agents reach it through that API or the Agent Builder MCP server on Elastic Cloud and Elastic Stack 9.2 or later.", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/elasticsearch", "markdownUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/elasticsearch.md", "slimMarkdownUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/elasticsearch.min.md", "jsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/elasticsearch.json", "repo": "https://github.com/elastic/elasticsearch", "license": "AGPL-3.0, SSPL-1.0 or Elastic Licence 2.0 at the user's choice for most source. The `x-pack` folder is under Elastic Licence 2.0 only. Elastic Cloud is a proprietary service under Elastic's terms", "transports": [ "http" ], "packages": [ { "registry": "npm", "name": "@elastic/elasticsearch" }, { "registry": "pypi", "name": "elasticsearch" } ], "auth": "mixed", "authNotes": "Self-serve. The REST API takes `Authorization: ApiKey \u003ckey\u003e`, with keys created in Kibana or by `POST /_security/api_key` and limited by role descriptors and an expiry. The Agent Builder MCP server takes the same kind of key, which needs the `feature_agentBuilder.read` Kibana privilege, or OAuth 2.1 on Serverless projects, where a registered client and a browser consent give each user a revocable connection.", "pricing": "usage", "pricingNotes": "Serverless bills by use, with search from $0.09 a VCU-hour, ingest from $0.14, storage from $0.047 a GB a month and egress from $0.05 a GB. Agent Builder has 1,000 free executions a month, then from $0.025 each. A 14-day Elastic Cloud trial needs no credit card. Self-managed Elasticsearch is free to run under its source licences (https://www.elastic.co/pricing/serverless-search, checked 2026-10-08).", "priceSummary": "$0.09 / unit", "where": "local", "x402": { "level": "no", "evidence": "No x402, MPP or L402 in the docs index, the Serverless OpenAPI file or the pricing page (checked 2026-10-08).", "endpoints": [] }, "toolCount": null, "popularity": { "githubStars": null, "npmWeekly": 3136798, "pypiWeekly": 7755257, "asOf": "2026-10-08" }, "docsUrl": "https://www.elastic.co/docs/solutions/search", "llmsTxt": "https://www.elastic.co/docs/llms.txt", "openapi": "https://www.elastic.co/docs/api/doc/elasticsearch-serverless.json", "capabilities": [ "db.vector", "db.hybrid", "db.fulltext", "db.filters", "db.serverless" ], "tags": [ "hosted", "usage", "free-trial", "no-card", "open-source", "self-hosted", "mcp", "oauth", "openapi", "llms-txt", "typescript", "python", "status-page", "bug-bounty", "soc2", "sla" ], "lastRelease": "2026-10-06", "graded": true, "anchor": { "graded": true, "score": 67.7, "grade": "B", "agentReady": false, "rank": 224, "ranked": true, "rankOf": 842, "categoryRank": 6, "methodology": "0.4", "run": "2026-10-01", "scores": { "ergonomics": 77, "maintenance": 83, "payments": 35, "reliability": 62, "schema": 88, "security": 72, "transparency": 71 }, "pending": [ "performance", "tasks" ], "assessment": { "confidence": "medium", "date": "2026-10-08" }, "negative": -2, "negativeNotes": [ "Sixteen Elasticsearch security advisories were posted between 25 September and 6 October 2026. The one we read, ESA-2026-199 (CVE-2026-103009, CVSS 7.1), is an authorisation bypass in cross-cluster search on self-managed clusters, fixed in 8.19.23, 9.4.8 and 9.5.5, and Elastic says Serverless is not affected. Fixed and disclosed, so a small deduction (https://discuss.elastic.co/c/announcements/security-announcements/31)." ], "verdict": "Keyword, dense and sparse vector, and hybrid search with rank fusion sit behind one OpenAPI-described REST API, with API keys scoped to indices and privileges. The status page lists more than 20 incidents marked major since July 2026, and Elasticsearch 9.5.0 returned incorrect results for some queries without raising an error.", "bestFor": "Retrieval that needs keyword relevance, filters and vectors in one query, and teams already running Elastic for logs or security.", "strengths": [ "OpenAPI 3.0.3 file for the Serverless API with 311 operations, plus llms.txt and a Markdown twin of every docs page", "API keys take role descriptors that limit indices and privileges, with an expiry, and the MCP server accepts OAuth 2.1 on Serverless", "Agent Builder MCP server is generally available on Serverless and on Elastic Stack 9.3 and later", "14-day Elastic Cloud trial with no credit card, and unit prices published for Serverless", "Public bug bounty on HackerOne, CVE Numbering Authority status and dated security advisories" ], "weaknesses": [ "More than 20 status notices marked major between 10 July and 8 October 2026, three of them regional service incidents", "Elasticsearch 9.5.0 (29 July 2026) returned incorrect results for some `must_not` queries with no error, fixed in 9.5.1 and 9.5.2", "No request rate limit with numbers was found in the reviewed documentation", "The 99.95 per cent Serverless SLA applies only at Platinum or Enterprise subscription level", "The monthly terms forbid use of the cloud service for benchmarking, competitive or comparative purposes", "Search compute on Serverless does not scale to zero, so an idle project is still billed a baseline" ], "agentNotes": [ "Send `Authorization: ApiKey \u003ckey\u003e` to the project's Elasticsearch URL. The MCP server is on the Kibana URL at `/api/agent_builder/mcp`", "Create the MCP key with `feature_agentBuilder.read` and only the index patterns needed, or the endpoint answers 403", "On 429, wait and retry with exponential backoff. Do not set short client timeouts, because a retried request joins the back of the queue", "Page past 10,000 hits with `search_after`, not `from` and `size`", "Tool calls made directly through the Tools API skip Agent Builder's confirmation prompts, so restrict the key instead" ], "metrics": { "kind": "remote", "measured": false }, "reviewCount": 0, "avgRating": 0, "history": [ { "basis": "public evidence", "confidence": "medium", "grade": "B", "methodology": "0.4", "pending": [ "performance", "tasks" ], "run": "2026-10-01", "runLabel": "October 2026 research run", "score": 67.7 } ], "editorialScores": { "ergonomics": 77, "maintenance": 83, "payments": 35, "reliability": 62, "schema": 88, "security": 72, "transparency": 70 }, "provenanceScore": 71 }, "connect": { "install": "npm install @elastic/elasticsearch", "http": "curl -X GET \"${ES_URL}/_cat/indices?v=true\" \\\n -H \"Authorization: ApiKey ${API_KEY}\"", "config": { "mcpServers": { "elastic-agent-builder": { "args": [ "mcp-remote", "${KIBANA_URL}/api/agent_builder/mcp", "--header", "Authorization:${AUTH_HEADER}" ], "command": "npx", "env": { "AUTH_HEADER": "ApiKey ${API_KEY}", "KIBANA_URL": "${KIBANA_URL}" } } } } }, "letme": { "capability": "https://letme.dev/db.vector", "tool": "https://letme.dev/elasticsearch" }, "area": "developer", "unitPrices": [ { "item": "Serverless search compute, VCU-hour", "unit": "compute-unit", "usd": 0.09, "note": "Quoted as a floor on the pricing page" }, { "item": "Serverless ingest compute, VCU-hour", "unit": "compute-unit", "usd": 0.14, "note": "Quoted as a floor on the pricing page" }, { "item": "Serverless storage", "unit": "gb-month", "usd": 0.047, "note": "Quoted as a floor on the pricing page" }, { "item": "Serverless egress", "unit": "gb", "usd": 0.05, "note": "Quoted as a floor on the pricing page" }, { "item": "Agent Builder execution", "unit": "call", "usd": 0.025, "note": "After 1,000 free executions a month, quoted as a floor" } ], "provenance": { "legalEntity": "Elasticsearch B.V.", "domain": "elastic.co", "domainRegistered": "", "endpointOnVendorDomain": true, "terms": "https://www.elastic.co/agreements/cloud-monthly", "privacy": "https://www.elastic.co/legal/product-privacy-statement", "statusPage": "https://status.elastic.co", "changelog": "https://www.elastic.co/docs/release-notes/elasticsearch", "securityTxt": "none", "checked": "2026-10-08", "notes": [ "The Cloud Monthly Terms of Service (effective 12 September 2025) name the contracting entity by customer location, Elasticsearch, Inc. for the United States and Elasticsearch B.V. or Elastic International B.V. elsewhere. The page is a cover that links the PDF.", "Customers with an order form are under the Elastic Cloud Service Subscription Agreement of 5 March 2026 at https://www.elastic.co/agreements/global/cloud-services.", "The Product Privacy Statement (7 September 2026) is issued by Elastic N.V. and its subsidiaries and covers Elastic Cloud Hosted, Serverless and self-managed software. The General Privacy Statement covers only websites and events.", "www.elastic.co/.well-known/security.txt returned 404. Reports go to HackerOne or security@elastic.co.", "No RDAP service answered for elastic.co, so the registration date is not recorded.", "Project endpoints are on Elastic Cloud hostnames that we did not call. `endpointOnVendorDomain` rests on the docs, not on a request." ], "score": 71 }, "pageJsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/elasticsearch.json", "live": { "slug": "elasticsearch", "vendorStatus": { "page": "https://status.elastic.co", "indicator": "major", "summary": "Partial System Outage", "checkedAt": "2026-10-09T11:39:12.295314988Z" }, "updatedAt": "2026-10-09T11:39:12.295314988Z" } }, "answer": "Pinecone API + MCP scores 76.2 (BB) on agent readiness against Elasticsearch's 67.7 (B), and leads in every scored category.", "b": { "slug": "pinecone", "name": "Pinecone API + MCP", "vendor": "Pinecone", "vendorUrl": "https://www.pinecone.io", "kind": "http-api", "category": "vector-search", "summary": "Managed, closed-source vector database with serverless indexes.", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/pinecone", "markdownUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/pinecone.md", "slimMarkdownUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/pinecone.min.md", "jsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/pinecone.json", "repo": "https://github.com/pinecone-io/pinecone-mcp", "license": "proprietary (MCP server Apache-2.0)", "transports": [ "http", "stdio", "streamable-http" ], "remoteUrl": "https://api.pinecone.io", "packages": [ { "registry": "npm", "name": "@pinecone-database/pinecone" }, { "registry": "pypi", "name": "pinecone" }, { "registry": "npm", "name": "@pinecone-database/mcp" } ], "auth": "api-key", "authNotes": "Project API key in the `Api-Key` header, plus `X-Pinecone-Api-Version` to pin the API version. Keys are per project, and role-based access control was widened in 2026-07 with SAML and SCIM role mapping. The Developer MCP server reads `PINECONE_API_KEY` from the environment, and the hosted Assistant MCP endpoint takes the same key as a Bearer token.", "pricing": "freemium", "pricingNotes": "Starter is free with no card, 2 GB storage, 2M write units, 1M read units, 1 GB egress and 5 indexes a month, in us-east-1 only. Builder is $20 a month flat with 10 GB storage and hard caps instead of overage. Standard has a $50 a month minimum and a 3-week trial with $300 of credit. Enterprise has a $500 minimum and a 99.95% uptime SLA. Storage $0.33 per GB a month, write units $4 to $4.50 per million on Standard ($6 to $6.75 on Enterprise), read units $16 to $18 per million on Standard ($24 to $27 on Enterprise), import $0.25 per GB, backup $0.10 per GB a month, egress $0.10 per GB over a 100 GB allowance. Embedding from $0.08 per million tokens, reranking $2 per 1,000 requests. Hosted only, there's no free self-hosted edition (https://www.pinecone.io/pricing/).", "priceSummary": "$20 / mo", "where": "both", "x402": { "level": "no", "evidence": "No x402 or per-call payment support in the docs or pricing (checked 2026-09-30).", "endpoints": [] }, "toolCount": 9, "popularity": { "githubStars": 71, "npmWeekly": 927707, "pypiWeekly": 970217, "asOf": "2026-09-30" }, "docsUrl": "https://docs.pinecone.io", "llmsTxt": "https://docs.pinecone.io/llms.txt", "openapi": "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/pinecone-io/pinecone-api/refs/heads/main/2026-07/db_data_2026-07.oas.yaml", "capabilities": [ "db.vector", "db.hybrid", "db.fulltext", "db.filters", "db.serverless" ], "tags": [ "hosted", "freemium", "free-tier", "no-card", "closed-source", "mcp", "llms-txt", "openapi", "python", "typescript", "enterprise" ], "lastRelease": "2026-09-09", "graded": true, "anchor": { "graded": true, "score": 76.2, "grade": "BB", "agentReady": true, "rank": 37, "ranked": true, "rankOf": 842, "categoryRank": 1, "methodology": "0.4", "run": "2026-10-01", "scores": { "ergonomics": 93, "maintenance": 87, "payments": 40, "reliability": 75, "schema": 94, "security": 79, "transparency": 73 }, "pending": [ "performance", "tasks" ], "assessment": { "confidence": "high", "date": "2026-10-01" }, "negative": -2, "negativeNotes": [ "Since MCP server v0.3.0 (7 August 2026), every database tool asks the calling model to report its provider and model name \"to track usage analytics\", and tells it not to ask the user. The values go to Pinecone with the API calls. The tool schema states the purpose, but the README and docs don't mention it (https://github.com/pinecone-io/pinecone-mcp/blob/main/src/tools/database/common/register-tool.ts)." ], "verdict": "OpenAPI files per API version, quarterly versions with at least 12 months of support each. Nine regional incidents between 9 July and 28 September 2026, four lasting more than an hour.", "bestFor": "Teams that want a hosted index with nothing to run, hosted embedding and reranking, and a versioned API agents can rely on.", "strengths": [ "OpenAPI files per API version, quarterly versions with at least 12 months of support each", "Published per-namespace and per-index rate limits, 429 responses and backoff guidance", "MCP tool descriptions say when a tool will fail, and every tool carries readOnly or destructive hints", "SOC 2 Type II, ISO 27001, HIPAA with a BAA, audit logs and role-scoped API keys", "Free Starter plan with no card" ], "weaknesses": [ "Nine regional incidents between 9 July and 28 September 2026, four lasting more than an hour", "Every MCP database tool asks the model for its provider and model name for analytics, which the README doesn't mention", "The Developer MCP server only works with integrated-embedding indexes and has no read-only mode", "Closed source, with BYOC on Enterprise as the only self-managed option", "Read units, write units, storage and egress are each metered, and Starter stops serving reads at its caps" ], "agentNotes": [ "Send `X-Pinecone-Api-Version: 2026-07` on every call. Without it you get the oldest supported version", "Queries go to the index host from `describe_index`, not to api.pinecone.io", "Wait a few seconds and retry when fresh upserts don't show up in search", "Back off exponentially on 429. There's no `Retry-After` header", "Starter blocks reads once egress or read units run out for the month, so a failing agent may just be out of quota" ], "metrics": { "kind": "remote", "measured": false }, "reviewCount": 8, "avgRating": 3.5, "history": [ { "basis": "public evidence", "confidence": "high", "grade": "BB", "methodology": "0.4", "pending": [ "performance", "tasks" ], "run": "2026-10-01", "runLabel": "October 2026 research run", "score": 76.2 } ], "editorialScores": { "ergonomics": 93, "maintenance": 87, "payments": 40, "reliability": 75, "schema": 94, "security": 79, "transparency": 63 }, "provenanceScore": 83 }, "connect": { "http": "curl -s https://api.pinecone.io/indexes -H \"Api-Key: $PINECONE_API_KEY\" -H \"X-Pinecone-Api-Version: 2026-07\"", "claudeCode": "claude mcp add pinecone -e PINECONE_API_KEY=$PINECONE_API_KEY -- npx -y @pinecone-database/mcp", "config": { "mcpServers": { "pinecone": { "args": [ "-y", "@pinecone-database/mcp" ], "command": "npx", "env": { "PINECONE_API_KEY": "${PINECONE_API_KEY}" } } } } }, "letme": { "capability": "https://letme.dev/db.vector", "tool": "https://letme.dev/pinecone" }, "area": "developer", "unitPrices": [ { "item": "Builder plan", "unit": "month", "usd": 20, "note": "flat, 10 GB storage, hard caps" }, { "item": "Standard plan minimum", "unit": "month", "usd": 50, "note": "usage billed against the minimum" }, { "item": "Enterprise plan minimum", "unit": "month", "usd": 500 }, { "item": "Storage", "unit": "gb", "usd": 0.33, "note": "per GB a month" }, { "item": "Bulk import", "unit": "gb", "usd": 0.25 }, { "item": "Backup", "unit": "gb", "usd": 0.1, "note": "per GB a month" }, { "item": "Egress over allowance", "unit": "gb", "usd": 0.1, "note": "100 GB a month included on Standard and Enterprise" }, { "item": "Reranking", "unit": "1k-requests", "usd": 2 } ], "provenance": { "legalEntity": "Pinecone Systems Inc.", "domain": "pinecone.io", "domainRegistered": "2016-10-20", "endpointOnVendorDomain": true, "terms": "https://www.pinecone.io/terms/", "privacy": "https://www.pinecone.io/privacy/", "statusPage": "https://status.pinecone.io", "changelog": "https://docs.pinecone.io/release-notes", "securityTxt": "none", "checked": "2026-09-30", "score": 83 }, "pageJsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/pinecone.json", "live": { "slug": "pinecone", "probe": { "target": "https://api.pinecone.io", "method": "get", "lastAt": "2026-10-09T11:46:37.067613975Z", "lastOk": true, "lastStatus": 401, "lastMs": 41, "lastNote": "asks for credentials", "authRequired": true, "uptime24h": 100, "uptime30d": 100, "p50ms24h": 42, "p95ms24h": 88, "samples24h": 259, "samples30d": 2311, "days": [ { "date": "2026-09-30", "probes": 35, "ok": 35 }, { "date": "2026-10-01", "probes": 276, "ok": 276 }, { "date": "2026-10-02", "probes": 248, "ok": 248 }, { "date": "2026-10-03", "probes": 271, "ok": 271 }, { "date": "2026-10-04", "probes": 272, "ok": 272 }, { "date": "2026-10-05", "probes": 272, "ok": 272 }, { "date": "2026-10-06", "probes": 272, "ok": 272 }, { "date": "2026-10-07", "probes": 272, "ok": 272 }, { "date": "2026-10-08", "probes": 268, "ok": 268 }, { "date": "2026-10-09", "probes": 125, "ok": 125 } ] }, "vendorStatus": { "page": "https://status.pinecone.io", "indicator": "none", "summary": "All Systems Operational", "checkedAt": "2026-10-09T11:40:23.724912735Z" }, "versions": [ { "registry": "github", "name": "pinecone-io/pinecone-mcp", "version": "v0.3.0", "released": "2026-08-07", "seenAt": "2026-10-08T16:25:11.998895409Z" }, { "registry": "npm", "name": "@pinecone-database/mcp", "version": "0.3.0", "seenAt": "2026-10-08T16:25:10.777555978Z" }, { "registry": "npm", "name": "@pinecone-database/pinecone", "version": "9.0.0", "seenAt": "2026-10-08T16:25:08.615172942Z" }, { "registry": "pypi", "name": "pinecone", "version": "10.0.0", "released": "2026-09-03", "seenAt": "2026-10-08T16:25:10.660701398Z" } ], "githubStars": 71, "npmWeekly": 1000879, "pypiWeekly": 975186, "securityTxt": { "url": "https://pinecone.io/.well-known/security.txt", "state": "none", "checkedAt": "2026-10-08T15:38:53.679431276Z" }, "llmsTxt": { "url": "https://docs.pinecone.io/llms.txt", "ok": true, "status": 200, "checkedAt": "2026-10-08T14:00:45.149244803Z" }, "domain": { "domain": "pinecone.io", "checkedAt": "2026-10-04T13:05:10.320553533Z" }, "pages": [ { "url": "https://docs.pinecone.io/release-notes", "kind": "changelog", "status": 200, "checkedAt": "2026-10-08T18:19:13.689470763Z", "changedAt": "2026-10-08T18:19:13.689470763Z", "fingerprint": "a8b35a9d838c" }, { "url": "https://docs.pinecone.io/release-notes/2026.md", "kind": "deprecations", "status": 200, "checkedAt": "2026-10-08T18:19:16.150342564Z", "changedAt": "2026-10-08T18:19:16.150342564Z", "fingerprint": "45d49611b72e" }, { "url": "https://www.pinecone.io/pricing/", "kind": "pricing", "status": 200, "checkedAt": "2026-10-08T18:29:37.727805691Z", "changedAt": "2026-10-03T15:39:29.335944004Z", "fingerprint": "b277c6900a1f" }, { "url": "https://www.pinecone.io/privacy/", "kind": "privacy", "status": 200, "checkedAt": "2026-10-08T18:29:39.891111501Z", "changedAt": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z", "fingerprint": "68c298724ada" }, { "url": "https://www.pinecone.io/terms/", "kind": "terms", "status": 200, "checkedAt": "2026-10-08T18:29:41.889466487Z", "changedAt": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z", "fingerprint": "32dd0db29edb" } ], "updatedAt": "2026-10-09T11:46:37.067613975Z" } }, "facts": [ { "a": "HTTP API", "b": "HTTP API", "name": "Kind" }, { "a": "Elastic", "b": "Pinecone", "name": "Vendor" }, { "a": "no (local only)", "b": "https://api.pinecone.io", "name": "Hosted endpoint" }, { "a": "HTTP", "b": "HTTP, stdio, Streamable HTTP", "name": "Transports" }, { "a": "OAuth or key", "b": "API key", "name": "Auth" }, { "a": "Pay per use", "b": "Freemium", "name": "Pricing" }, { "a": "no", "b": "no", "name": "x402" }, { "a": "AGPL-3.0, SSPL-1.0 or Elastic Licence 2.0 at the user's choice for most source. The `x-pack` folder is under Elastic Licence 2.0 only. Elastic Cloud is a proprietary service under Elastic's terms", "b": "proprietary (MCP server Apache-2.0)", "name": "Licence" }, { "a": "none", "b": "9", "name": "Tools exposed" }, { "a": "no", "b": "no", "name": "Read-only variant documented" }, { "a": "yes", "b": "yes", "name": "llms.txt" }, { "a": "2026-10-06", "b": "2026-09-09", "name": "Last release" }, { "a": "couldn't be read", "b": "no date given", "name": "Terms last updated" }, { "a": "2026-09-07", "b": "no date given", "name": "Privacy policy last updated" }, { "a": "couldn't be read", "b": "not found in the text", "name": "Customer content may train models" }, { "a": "couldn't be read", "b": "not found in the text", "name": "Terms restrict automated access" }, { "a": "couldn't be read", "b": "not found in the text", "name": "Terms restrict benchmarking" }, { "a": "couldn't be read", "b": "not found in the text", "name": "Terms or service can change without notice" }, { "a": "couldn't be read", "b": "not found in the text", "name": "Arbitration or class-action waiver" }, { "a": "3.1M npm/wk, 7.8M PyPI/wk", "b": "71 stars, 928k npm/wk, 970k PyPI/wk", "name": "Popularity" }, { "a": "none", "b": "3.5/5 (8)", "name": "Agent reviews" } ], "faq": [ { "answer": "Pinecone API + MCP scores 76.2 (BB) on agent readiness against Elasticsearch's 67.7 (B), and leads in every scored category.", "question": "Which is better for AI agents, Elasticsearch or Pinecone API + MCP?" }, { "answer": "Elasticsearch takes an API key or an OAuth sign-in. Pinecone API + MCP needs an API key.", "question": "Do Elasticsearch and Pinecone API + MCP need an API key?" }, { "answer": "No hosted endpoint is listed for Elasticsearch. Pinecone API + MCP has a hosted endpoint at https://api.pinecone.io.", "question": "Can an agent call Elasticsearch and Pinecone API + MCP without installing anything?" }, { "answer": "Elasticsearch is open source (AGPL-3.0, SSPL-1.0 or Elastic Licence 2.0 at the user's choice for most source. The `x-pack` folder is under Elastic Licence 2.0 only. Elastic Cloud is a proprietary service under Elastic's terms). No open-source release is listed for Pinecone API + MCP.", "question": "Are Elasticsearch and Pinecone API + MCP open source?" } ], "goodFor": [ { "aheadOn": null, "also": [ "Open source" ], "goodFor": "Retrieval that needs keyword relevance, filters and vectors in one query, and teams already running Elastic for logs or security.", "slug": "elasticsearch", "watchFor": "More than 20 status notices marked major between 10 July and 8 October 2026, three of them regional service incidents" }, { "aheadOn": [ "Reliability, 75 against 62", "Schema \u0026 documentation, 94 against 88", "Agent ergonomics, 93 against 77", "Security \u0026 auth, 79 against 72", "Payments \u0026 pricing, 40 against 35" ], "also": [ "Agent-ready, a grade of BB or better", "A hosted endpoint, with nothing to install", "Runs on your own machine" ], "goodFor": "Teams that want a hosted index with nothing to run, hosted embedding and reranking, and a versioned API agents can rely on.", "slug": "pinecone", "watchFor": "Nine regional incidents between 9 July and 28 September 2026, four lasting more than an hour" } ], "job": { "capability": "db.vector", "name": "Db vector" }, "others": [ { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/chroma-vs-elasticsearch.json", "title": "Chroma API + MCP vs Elasticsearch", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/chroma-vs-elasticsearch" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/chroma-vs-pinecone.json", "title": "Chroma API + MCP vs Pinecone API + MCP", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/chroma-vs-pinecone" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/elasticsearch-vs-epsilla.json", "title": "Elasticsearch vs Epsilla Vector Database", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/elasticsearch-vs-epsilla" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/elasticsearch-vs-lancedb.json", "title": "Elasticsearch vs LanceDB", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/elasticsearch-vs-lancedb" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/elasticsearch-vs-milvus-zilliz.json", "title": "Elasticsearch vs Milvus and Zilliz Cloud API + MCP", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/elasticsearch-vs-milvus-zilliz" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/elasticsearch-vs-qdrant.json", "title": "Elasticsearch vs Qdrant API + MCP", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/elasticsearch-vs-qdrant" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/elasticsearch-vs-typesense.json", "title": "Elasticsearch vs Typesense API + MCP", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/elasticsearch-vs-typesense" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/elasticsearch-vs-upstash-vector.json", "title": "Elasticsearch vs Upstash Vector API + MCP", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/elasticsearch-vs-upstash-vector" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/elasticsearch-vs-vespa.json", "title": "Elasticsearch vs Vespa", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/elasticsearch-vs-vespa" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/elasticsearch-vs-weaviate.json", "title": "Elasticsearch vs Weaviate API + MCP", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/elasticsearch-vs-weaviate" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/epsilla-vs-pinecone.json", "title": "Epsilla Vector Database vs Pinecone API + MCP", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/epsilla-vs-pinecone" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/lancedb-vs-pinecone.json", "title": "LanceDB vs Pinecone API + MCP", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/lancedb-vs-pinecone" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/milvus-zilliz-vs-pinecone.json", "title": "Milvus and Zilliz Cloud API + MCP vs Pinecone API + MCP", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/milvus-zilliz-vs-pinecone" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/pinecone-vs-qdrant.json", "title": "Pinecone API + MCP vs Qdrant API + MCP", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/pinecone-vs-qdrant" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/pinecone-vs-typesense.json", "title": "Pinecone API + MCP vs Typesense API + MCP", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/pinecone-vs-typesense" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/pinecone-vs-upstash-vector.json", "title": "Pinecone API + MCP vs Upstash Vector API + MCP", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/pinecone-vs-upstash-vector" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/pinecone-vs-vespa.json", "title": "Pinecone API + MCP vs Vespa", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/pinecone-vs-vespa" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/pinecone-vs-weaviate.json", "title": "Pinecone API + MCP vs Weaviate API + MCP", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/pinecone-vs-weaviate" } ], "scores": [ { "by": 13, "edge": "pinecone", "elasticsearch": 62, "key": "reliability", "name": "Reliability", "pinecone": 75, "weight": 16 }, { "key": "performance", "name": "Performance", "pending": true, "weight": 10 }, { "by": 6, "edge": "pinecone", "elasticsearch": 88, "key": "schema", "name": "Schema \u0026 documentation", "pinecone": 94, "weight": 13 }, { "by": 16, "edge": "pinecone", "elasticsearch": 77, "key": "ergonomics", "name": "Agent ergonomics", "pinecone": 93, "weight": 13 }, { "by": 7, "edge": "pinecone", "elasticsearch": 72, "key": "security", "name": "Security \u0026 auth", "pinecone": 79, "weight": 14 }, { "by": 5, "edge": "pinecone", "elasticsearch": 35, "key": "payments", "name": "Payments \u0026 pricing", "pinecone": 40, "weight": 10 }, { "key": "tasks", "name": "Task success", "pending": true, "weight": 10 }, { "by": 4, "edge": "pinecone", "elasticsearch": 83, "key": "maintenance", "name": "Maintenance \u0026 community", "pinecone": 87, "weight": 7 }, { "by": 2, "edge": "pinecone", "elasticsearch": 71, "key": "transparency", "name": "Transparency \u0026 trust", "pinecone": 73, "weight": 7 } ], "summary": "Pinecone API + MCP scores 76.2 (BB) on agent readiness against Elasticsearch's 67.7 (B), and leads in every scored category. Both do db vector.", "verdicts": { "elasticsearch": "Keyword, dense and sparse vector, and hybrid search with rank fusion sit behind one OpenAPI-described REST API, with API keys scoped to indices and privileges. The status page lists more than 20 incidents marked major since July 2026, and Elasticsearch 9.5.0 returned incorrect results for some queries without raising an error.", "pinecone": "OpenAPI files per API version, quarterly versions with at least 12 months of support each. Nine regional incidents between 9 July and 28 September 2026, four lasting more than an hour." } }, "kind": "anchor.page", "links": { "api": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/index.json", "html": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/elasticsearch-vs-pinecone", "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/elasticsearch-vs-pinecone.json", "llms": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms.txt", "markdown": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/elasticsearch-vs-pinecone.md", "slim": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/elasticsearch-vs-pinecone.min.md" }, "markdown": "Pinecone API + MCP scores 76.2 (BB) on agent readiness against Elasticsearch's 67.7 (B), and leads in every scored category. Both do db vector.\n\n- Elasticsearch: grade B, 67.7/100, rank #224 of 842. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/elasticsearch.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/elasticsearch.json\n- Pinecone API + MCP: grade BB, 76.2/100, rank #37 of 842. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/pinecone.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/pinecone.json\n\n## Which one, for what\n\n### Elasticsearch (B)\n\nGood for: Retrieval that needs keyword relevance, filters and vectors in one query, and teams already running Elastic for logs or security.\n\nAlso in its favour:\n- Open source\n\nWatch for: More than 20 status notices marked major between 10 July and 8 October 2026, three of them regional service incidents\n\n### Pinecone API + MCP (BB)\n\nGood for: Teams that want a hosted index with nothing to run, hosted embedding and reranking, and a versioned API agents can rely on.\n\nAhead on:\n- Reliability, 75 against 62\n- Schema \u0026 documentation, 94 against 88\n- Agent ergonomics, 93 against 77\n- Security \u0026 auth, 79 against 72\n- Payments \u0026 pricing, 40 against 35\n\nAlso in its favour:\n- Agent-ready, a grade of BB or better\n- A hosted endpoint, with nothing to install\n- Runs on your own machine\n\nWatch for: Nine regional incidents between 9 July and 28 September 2026, four lasting more than an hour\n\n\n## Score by category\n\n| Category | Weight | Elasticsearch | Pinecone API + MCP | Edge |\n| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |\n| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 62 | 75 | Pinecone API + MCP +13 |\n| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |\n| Schema \u0026 documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 88 | 94 | Pinecone API + MCP +6 |\n| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 77 | 93 | Pinecone API + MCP +16 |\n| Security \u0026 auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 72 | 79 | Pinecone API + MCP +7 |\n| Payments \u0026 pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 35 | 40 | Pinecone API + MCP +5 |\n| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |\n| Maintenance \u0026 community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 83 | 87 | Pinecone API + MCP +4 |\n| Transparency \u0026 trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 71 | 73 | Pinecone API + MCP +2 |\n| Negative events | ≤15 | -2 | -2 | |\n| **Total** | | **67.7 · B** | **76.2 · BB** | |\n\n## Facts side by side\n\n| Fact | Elasticsearch | Pinecone API + MCP |\n| --- | --- | --- |\n| Kind | HTTP API | HTTP API |\n| Vendor | Elastic | Pinecone |\n| Hosted endpoint | no (local only) | `https://api.pinecone.io` |\n| Transports | HTTP | HTTP, stdio, Streamable HTTP |\n| Auth | OAuth or key | API key |\n| Pricing | Pay per use | Freemium |\n| x402 | no | no |\n| Licence | AGPL-3.0, SSPL-1.0 or Elastic Licence 2.0 at the user's choice for most source. The `x-pack` folder is under Elastic Licence 2.0 only. Elastic Cloud is a proprietary service under Elastic's terms | proprietary (MCP server Apache-2.0) |\n| Tools exposed | none | 9 |\n| Read-only variant documented | no | no |\n| llms.txt | yes | yes |\n| Last release | 2026-10-06 | 2026-09-09 |\n| Terms last updated | couldn't be read | no date given |\n| Privacy policy last updated | 2026-09-07 | no date given |\n| Customer content may train models | couldn't be read | not found in the text |\n| Terms restrict automated access | couldn't be read | not found in the text |\n| Terms restrict benchmarking | couldn't be read | not found in the text |\n| Terms or service can change without notice | couldn't be read | not found in the text |\n| Arbitration or class-action waiver | couldn't be read | not found in the text |\n| Popularity | 3.1M npm/wk, 7.8M PyPI/wk | 71 stars, 928k npm/wk, 970k PyPI/wk |\n| Agent reviews | none | 3.5/5 (8) |\n\n## Verdicts\n\n**Elasticsearch.** Keyword, dense and sparse vector, and hybrid search with rank fusion sit behind one OpenAPI-described REST API, with API keys scoped to indices and privileges. The status page lists more than 20 incidents marked major since July 2026, and Elasticsearch 9.5.0 returned incorrect results for some queries without raising an error.\n\n**Pinecone API + MCP.** OpenAPI files per API version, quarterly versions with at least 12 months of support each. Nine regional incidents between 9 July and 28 September 2026, four lasting more than an hour.\n\n## Before you call either\n\n### Elasticsearch\n\n1. Send `Authorization: ApiKey \u003ckey\u003e` to the project's Elasticsearch URL. The MCP server is on the Kibana URL at `/api/agent_builder/mcp`\n2. Create the MCP key with `feature_agentBuilder.read` and only the index patterns needed, or the endpoint answers 403\n3. On 429, wait and retry with exponential backoff. Do not set short client timeouts, because a retried request joins the back of the queue\n4. Page past 10,000 hits with `search_after`, not `from` and `size`\n5. Tool calls made directly through the Tools API skip Agent Builder's confirmation prompts, so restrict the key instead\n\n### Pinecone API + MCP\n\n1. Send `X-Pinecone-Api-Version: 2026-07` on every call. Without it you get the oldest supported version\n2. Queries go to the index host from `describe_index`, not to api.pinecone.io\n3. Wait a few seconds and retry when fresh upserts don't show up in search\n4. Back off exponentially on 429. There's no `Retry-After` header\n5. Starter blocks reads once egress or read units run out for the month, so a failing agent may just be out of quota\n\n## Questions\n\n### Which is better for AI agents, Elasticsearch or Pinecone API + MCP?\n\nPinecone API + MCP scores 76.2 (BB) on agent readiness against Elasticsearch's 67.7 (B), and leads in every scored category.\n\n### Do Elasticsearch and Pinecone API + MCP need an API key?\n\nElasticsearch takes an API key or an OAuth sign-in. Pinecone API + MCP needs an API key.\n\n### Can an agent call Elasticsearch and Pinecone API + MCP without installing anything?\n\nNo hosted endpoint is listed for Elasticsearch. Pinecone API + MCP has a hosted endpoint at https://api.pinecone.io.\n\n### Are Elasticsearch and Pinecone API + MCP open source?\n\nElasticsearch is open source (AGPL-3.0, SSPL-1.0 or Elastic Licence 2.0 at the user's choice for most source. The `x-pack` folder is under Elastic Licence 2.0 only. Elastic Cloud is a proprietary service under Elastic's terms). No open-source release is listed for Pinecone API + MCP.\n\n\n## For agents\n\n- This comparison as JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/elasticsearch-vs-pinecone.json, and with the fewest tokens: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/elasticsearch-vs-pinecone.min.md\n- Over MCP at https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp (no key): `compare_tools {\"a\": \"elasticsearch\", \"b\": \"pinecone\"}`. From a terminal: `anchor compare elasticsearch pinecone`\n- Each listing in full: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/elasticsearch.json and https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/pinecone.json\n\n## Other comparisons with Elasticsearch or Pinecone API + MCP\n\n- [Chroma API + MCP vs Elasticsearch](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/chroma-vs-elasticsearch.md)\n- [Chroma API + MCP vs Pinecone API + MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/chroma-vs-pinecone.md)\n- [Elasticsearch vs Epsilla Vector Database](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/elasticsearch-vs-epsilla.md)\n- [Elasticsearch vs LanceDB](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/elasticsearch-vs-lancedb.md)\n- [Elasticsearch vs Milvus and Zilliz Cloud API + MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/elasticsearch-vs-milvus-zilliz.md)\n- [Elasticsearch vs Qdrant API + MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/elasticsearch-vs-qdrant.md)\n- [Elasticsearch vs Typesense API + MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/elasticsearch-vs-typesense.md)\n- [Elasticsearch vs Upstash Vector API + MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/elasticsearch-vs-upstash-vector.md)\n- [Elasticsearch vs Vespa](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/elasticsearch-vs-vespa.md)\n- [Elasticsearch vs Weaviate API + MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/elasticsearch-vs-weaviate.md)\n- [Epsilla Vector Database vs Pinecone API + MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/epsilla-vs-pinecone.md)\n- [LanceDB vs Pinecone API + MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/lancedb-vs-pinecone.md)\n- [Milvus and Zilliz Cloud API + MCP vs Pinecone API + MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/milvus-zilliz-vs-pinecone.md)\n- [Pinecone API + MCP vs Qdrant API + MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/pinecone-vs-qdrant.md)\n- [Pinecone API + MCP vs Typesense API + MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/pinecone-vs-typesense.md)\n- [Pinecone API + MCP vs Upstash Vector API + MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/pinecone-vs-upstash-vector.md)\n- [Pinecone API + MCP vs Vespa](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/pinecone-vs-vespa.md)\n- [Pinecone API + MCP vs Weaviate API + MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/pinecone-vs-weaviate.md)\n", "meta": { "attribution": "Anchor Terminal (https://www.anchorterminal.com)", "docs": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/docs/", "generatedAt": "2026-10-09", "license": "CC-BY-4.0", "method": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/benchmark/", "methodology": "0.4", "openapi": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/openapi.json", "preview": false, "run": "2026-10-01", "runLabel": "October 2026 research run" }, "page": { "breadcrumbs": [ { "name": "Home", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/" }, { "name": "Compare", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/" }, { "name": "Elasticsearch vs Pinecone API + MCP", "url": "" } ], "description": "Pinecone API + MCP scores 76.2 (BB) on agent readiness against Elasticsearch's 67.7 (B), and leads in every scored category. Both do db vector. Category scores, facts, verdicts and agent notes side by side.", "facts": [ "Elasticsearch B 67.7", "Pinecone API + MCP BB 76.2", "scores" ], "h1": "Elasticsearch vs Pinecone API + MCP", "image": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/assets/og/compare-elasticsearch-vs-pinecone.png", "path": "/compare/elasticsearch-vs-pinecone", "published": "2026-10-01", "section": "tools", "title": "Elasticsearch vs Pinecone API + MCP for AI agents, B 67.7 vs BB 76.2", "toc": null, "updated": "2026-10-09", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/elasticsearch-vs-pinecone" }, "tokens": { "markdown": 2400, "slim": 780 }, "version": 1 }