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Manticore Search vs Vespa

Manticore Search

manticoresearch.com

Vespa

vespa.ai

Side by side

FigureManticore SearchVespa
Price fromFreeFree
Free planYesYes
Free trial—Yes
Open source—Yes
WebYesYes
WindowsYesYes
macOSYesYes
LinuxYesYes
APIYesYes
Self-hostedYesYes
Plans published37
Spec score · Search Databases8.0 (#13)8.7 (#5)
Spec score · Search Engine Software8.1 (#6)8.6 (#3)
Spec score · Site Search Software7.9 (#15)8.6 (#3)
DeploymentThe installation guide provides Linux and macOS installation, Windows installation options, and Docker deployment.Vespa can be self-managed, run with the Vespa Kubernetes Operator, or deployed on Vespa Cloud.
Founded2017Gartner Peer Insights lists Vespa’s founding year as 2023.
HeadquartersChatham, Kent, United KingdomVespa says its headquarters and engineering hub are in Trondheim, Norway.
IntegrationsThe site lists integrations including Logstash, Apache Superset, Grafana, Fluentbit, Kibana, Vector.dev, and Elasticsearch dump.Vespa Cloud Enclave can run applications in customer accounts on AWS, Azure, or Google Cloud Platform.
ProductManticore Search is an open-source search database for full-text, vector, hybrid, real-time indexing, and analytical queries.Vespa is an AI search platform for online data-driven applications that combines retrieval, ranking, machine-learning inference, and real-time serving.
SecurityAuthentication and authorization are opt-in and support SQL/MySQL, HTTP/HTTPS, and replication-related access.The Vespa Cloud security guide describes data-plane requests protected with mutual TLS or, optionally, tokens, and says Vespa.ai has a SOC 2 attestation.
SupportThe Community subscription includes public support channels and a free configuration review by the Manticore core team.The Startup plan includes community support only with no SLA; Cloud plans list unlimited support cases, with response times varying by plan.

Plans

Manticore Search

  • CommunityFree
  • EnterprisePriced on request
  • StandardPriced on request

Manticore Search pricing →

Vespa

  • StartupPrice not published
  • BasicPrice not published
  • CommercialPrice not published
  • EnterprisePrice not published
  • StartupFree
  • Enterprise *$0.18 a month
  • Self ManagedPriced on request

Vespa pricing →

In their own words

Manticore Search

Manticore Search is an open-source database for full-text, vector, hybrid, real-time indexing, and analytical queries. Applications can use SQL, the MySQL protocol, or JSON APIs. Full-text tools include fuzzy matching, query suggestions, filtering, faceting, stemming, lemmatization, synonyms, and highlighting. Vector search uses KNN with HNSW and supports cosine similarity, inner product, and squared L2 distance. Manticore can read from MySQL, Postgres, MSSQL, ODBC, XML, CSV, and TSV, and lists integrations such as Logstash, Apache Superset, Grafana, Fluentbit, Kibana, Vector.dev, and Elasticsearch dump. Installation options cover Linux, macOS, Windows, and Docker. The site recommends WSL2 for compatibility; native Windows binaries require Docker for Manticore Buddy and do not support replication. Authentication and authorization are opt-in. Binary API connections are not secured by SSL, and the manual advises keeping API-capable listeners off the public Internet. The free Community plan includes public support channels and a configuration review. Standard and Enterprise support plans have prices available by inquiry.

Visit manticoresearch.com

Vespa

Vespa is an AI search platform for online applications that use data, retrieval, ranking, machine-learning inference, and real-time serving. It supports vector and tensor search, positional text search, and queries over structured data. Ranking signals can be combined with tensor functions or machine-learned models, including ONNX and XGBoost formats; model inference can use ONNX Runtime. Vespa distributes functions across node clusters and allows cluster size changes without affecting queries or writes. Teams can self-manage deployments, use the Vespa Kubernetes Operator, or run on Vespa Cloud. Local deployment guidance lists Linux, macOS, and Windows 10 Pro on x86_64 or arm64 with Docker Desktop or Podman Desktop. Vespa Cloud includes encryption at rest and in transit, certificates for nodes and endpoints, and automatic operating system patching. Its trial provides $300 in credits without requiring a credit card, then stops the application when credits are used. Cloud plans have quotas, and Startup is limited to development zones. Pricing is listed from $0.05 a month, with metered resource rates.

Visit vespa.ai