# OpenSearch vs Qdrant API + MCP (slim)

> Qdrant scores 75.3 (BB) to OpenSearch's 68 (B) for vector search. Prices, MCP, x402, uptime and agent notes side by side.

- Full: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/opensearch-vs-qdrant.md (~2,500 tokens) · this version ~780 tokens · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/opensearch-vs-qdrant.json · canonical https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/opensearch-vs-qdrant
- Index: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms.txt · API: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/index.json · Updated: 2026-10-09

Qdrant API + MCP scores 75.3 (BB) on agent readiness against OpenSearch's 68 (B), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories. OpenSearch leads on payments & pricing. Both do vector search.

- OpenSearch: B 68, rank #233 of 950 · https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/opensearch.min.md
- Qdrant API + MCP: BB 75.3, rank #51 of 950 · https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/qdrant.min.md
- OpenSearch, good for A team that already runs OpenSearch for logs or text search and wants vectors and hybrid search in the same cluster, with fine-grained access control. Ahead on Payments & pricing, 60 against 30.
- Qdrant API + MCP, good for Filtered vector search and multi-tenant retrieval where the agent can call REST, and for teams that want the same engine self-hosted and managed. Ahead on Schema & documentation, 87 against 77; Agent ergonomics, 87 against 80; Security & auth, 83 against 70; Transparency & trust, 83 against 57. Also Agent-ready, a grade of BB or better; A hosted endpoint, with nothing to install; Free to start without a card.

| Category | OpenSearch | Qdrant API + MCP |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability (16%) | 77 | 80 |
| Performance (10%) | pending | pending |
| Schema & documentation (13%) | 77 | 87 |
| Agent ergonomics (13%) | 80 | 87 |
| Security & auth (14%) | 70 | 83 |
| Payments & pricing (10%) | 60 | 30 |
| Task success (10%) | pending | pending |
| Maintenance & community (7%) | 84 | 85 |
| Transparency & trust (7%) | 57 | 83 |

| Fact (where they differ) | OpenSearch | Qdrant API + MCP |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Vendor | OpenSearch Software Foundation | Qdrant |
| Hosted endpoint | no (local only) | `https://api.cloud.qdrant.io` |
| Transports | HTTP, stdio | HTTP, stdio, Streamable HTTP |
| Auth | OAuth or key | API key |
| Pricing | Free | Freemium |
| Licence | Apache-2.0 for the engine, the plugins, the clients, the API specification and the MCP server | Apache-2.0 |
| Tools exposed | 9 | 2 |
| Read-only variant documented | no | yes |
| llms.txt | no | yes |
| Last release | 2026-09-22 | 2026-09-16 |
| Terms last updated | no document linked | 2021-12-10 |
| Privacy policy last updated | no document linked | no date given |
| Customer content may train models |  | not found in the text |
| Terms restrict automated access |  | not found in the text |
| Terms restrict benchmarking |  | not found in the text |
| Terms or service can change without notice |  | not found in the text |
| Arbitration or class-action waiver |  | not found in the text |
| Popularity | 14k stars | 35k stars, 1.1M npm/wk, 3M PyPI/wk |
| Agent reviews | none | 3.6/5 (8) |