# Faiss vs Turbopuffer

**Leader by vioscaleAI score:** Turbopuffer

| Attribute | Faiss | Turbopuffer |
|---|---|---|
| **vioscaleAI score** | 57 (35% (low)) | 67.6 (61% (medium)) |
| activity.commits_last_30d | 66 | - |
| adoption.dependent_repos | 5,592 | - |
| adoption.github_stars | 41,146 | - |
| content.faq | `[{"answer":"Faiss is a library for efficient similarity search and clustering of dense vectors. It contains algorithms that search in sets of vectors of any size, up to ones that possibly do not fit in RAM. It is indexed under Vector Databases.","source":"https://faiss.ai","question":"What is Faiss?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"Faiss is open source, so it can be self-hosted and used at no licence cost. It is released under the MIT licence. Pricing changes often, so verify at source before relying on it.","source":"https://faiss.ai","question":"Is Faiss free to use?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"Faiss supports Windows, macOS and Linux. Platforms we have not confirmed are simply not listed here rather than ruled out.","source":"https://faiss.ai","question":"What platforms does Faiss support?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"Yes. Faiss can be deployed self-hosted, so it does not have to run on the vendor's infrastructure.","source":"https://faiss.ai","question":"Can Faiss be self-hosted?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"Yes. Faiss is published under the MIT licence, a permissive licence that generally allows commercial use and modification. Licence terms can change between releases, so verify against the repository for the version you intend to use.","source":"https://github.com/facebookresearch/faiss","question":"Is Faiss open source?","confidence":0.95}]` | `[{"answer":"Vector and full-text search database built on object storage, offering 10x cheaper cost and extreme scalability for AI applications, semantic search, and recommendation systems. It is indexed under Vector Databases.","source":"https://turbopuffer.com/docs/pricing-log","question":"What is Turbopuffer?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"Turbopuffer is a paid product; published pricing starts at $1. There is no free tier. Prices are published openly on the vendor's own pricing page. Pricing changes often, so verify at source before relying on it.","source":"https://turbopuffer.com/docs/pricing-log","question":"How much does Turbopuffer cost?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"We have confirmed browser-based access to Turbopuffer. That is the extent of what we could verify from public sources, so it may well offer desktop or mobile clients we have not indexed.","source":"https://turbopuffer.com/docs/pricing-log","question":"What platforms does Turbopuffer support?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"We have only confirmed a cloud / SaaS deployment for Turbopuffer, so it appears to be vendor-hosted. If a self-hosted option exists we have not found it documented publicly.","source":"https://turbopuffer.com/docs/pricing-log","question":"Can Turbopuffer be self-hosted?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"We have independently confirmed SOC 2, HIPAA and GDPR for Turbopuffer. Certifications we do not list are ones we have not been able to verify from public sources, which is not the same as Turbopuffer not holding them. Always confirm compliance directly before you rely on it.","source":"https://turbopuffer.com/docs/security","question":"What security certifications does Turbopuffer have?","confidence":0.7},{"answer":"Turbopuffer is available worldwide. Its primary market is the United States.","source":"https://turbopuffer.com/docs/pricing-log","question":"Where is Turbopuffer available?","confidence":0.5}]` |
| deployment.options | `{"self_hosted":true}` | `{"cloud":true}` |
| description.long | Faiss is a library for efficient similarity search and clustering of dense vectors. It contains algorithms that search in sets of vectors of any size, up to ones that possibly do not fit in RAM. | Vector and full-text search database built on object storage, offering 10x cheaper cost and extreme scalability for AI applications, semantic search, and recommendation systems. |
| features.capabilities | `{"ann_index":"HNSW, IVF, PQ, multi-index, NSG","deployment":"self_hosted","serverless":false,"quantization":"product","storage_tier":"disk_backed","licence_class":"permissive_oss","product_class":"extension","distance_metrics":"Euclidean (L2), inner product, L1, Linf","horizontal_scale":"single_node"}` | `{"ann_index":"SPFresh (centroid-based)","deployment":"managed","serverless":true,"consistency":"tunable","storage_tier":"tiered","hybrid_search":true,"licence_class":"proprietary","multi_tenancy":true,"product_class":"dedicated_dbms","full_text_bm25":true,"horizontal_scale":"sharded_distributed","metadata_filtering":"pre_filter"}` |
| language.primary | C++ | - |
| license.spdx | MIT | - |
| market.availability | - | `{"primaryMarkets":["US"],"availabilityScope":"global","availableCountries":[],"notAvailableCountries":[]}` |
| platform.support | `{"mac":true,"linux":true,"windows":true}` | `{"cli":true,"web":true}` |
| pricing | `{"type":"open_source","sourceUrl":"https://faiss.ai","retrievedAt":"2026-08-13T20:46:34.341Z"}` | `{"type":"hybrid","plans":[{"free":false,"name":"Launch","summary":"$16/month minimum with usage-based overage","commitment":"monthly","components":[{"kind":"fixed","amount":16,"period":"month","currency":"USD"}],"contactSales":false}],"summary":"From $16/month (Launch plan minimum) with consumption-based billing","currency":"USD","sourceUrl":"https://turbopuffer.com/docs/pricing-log","retrievedAt":"2026-09-18T12:36:43.751Z","startingPrice":{"amount":16,"period":"month","currency":"USD"},"billingPeriods":["month"]}` |
| pricing.free_tier | - | no |
| pricing.model | commercial | commercial |
| pricing.price_level | free | mid |
| pricing.starting_price | - | `{"amount":16,"currency":"USD"}` |
| pricing.transparent | - | yes |
| release.cadence_days | 83 | - |
| release.history | `[{"url":"https://github.com/facebookresearch/faiss/releases/tag/v1.15.1","date":"2026-09-16T19:24:02Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.15.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/facebookresearch/faiss/releases/tag/v1.15.0","date":"2026-08-03T17:10:58Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.15.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/facebookresearch/faiss/releases/tag/v1.14.3","date":"2026-06-13T04:03:53Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.14.3"},{"url":"https://github.com/facebookresearch/faiss/releases/tag/v1.14.2","date":"2026-05-22T20:05:00Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.14.2"},{"url":"https://github.com/facebookresearch/faiss/releases/tag/v1.14.1","date":"2026-03-06T17:49:04Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.14.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/facebookresearch/faiss/releases/tag/v1.14.0","date":"2026-03-03T03:19:33Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.14.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/facebookresearch/faiss/releases/tag/v1.13.2","date":"2025-12-19T23:41:59Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.13.2"},{"url":"https://github.com/facebookresearch/faiss/releases/tag/v1.13.1","date":"2025-12-03T00:02:15Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.13.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/facebookresearch/faiss/releases/tag/v1.13.0","date":"2025-11-12T17:18:44Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.13.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/facebookresearch/faiss/releases/tag/v1.12.0","date":"2025-08-12T16:46:55Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.12.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/facebookresearch/faiss/releases/tag/v1.11.0","date":"2025-04-25T14:13:55Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.11.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/facebookresearch/faiss/releases/tag/v1.10.0","date":"2025-01-31T23:29:10Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.10.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/facebookresearch/faiss/releases/tag/v1.9.0","date":"2024-10-04T21:33:29Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.9.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/facebookresearch/faiss/releases/tag/v1.8.0","date":"2024-03-01T01:04:25Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.8.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/facebookresearch/faiss/releases/tag/v1.7.4","date":"2023-04-20T13:45:29Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.7.4"},{"url":"https://github.com/facebookresearch/faiss/releases/tag/v1.7.3","date":"2022-11-30T15:24:12Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.7.3"},{"url":"https://github.com/facebookresearch/faiss/releases/tag/v1.7.2","date":"2022-01-10T12:19:49Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.7.2"},{"url":"https://github.com/facebookresearch/faiss/releases/tag/v1.7.1","date":"2021-05-28T09:08:34Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.7.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/facebookresearch/faiss/releases/tag/v1.7.0","date":"2021-02-13T14:11:25Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.7.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/facebookresearch/faiss/releases/tag/v1.6.5","date":"2020-12-21T05:24:03Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.6.5"}]` | - |
| reliability.sla_pct | - | 99.95 |
| reliability.status_page | yes | yes |
| security.disclosure_policy | - | yes |
| security.gdpr | - | yes |
| security.hipaa | - | yes |
| security.scorecard | 6.2 | - |
| security.soc2 | - | yes |
| security.vulnerabilities | `{"count":0,"source":"https://advisories.ecosyste.ms/api/v1/advisories?ecosystem=pypi&package_name=faiss-cpu&per_page=100","last_12m":0,"max_severity":null}` | - |

## Capabilities (Vector Databases)

| Capability | Faiss | Turbopuffer |
|---|:--:|:--:|
| **Deployment** |  |  |
| Deployment | Self-hosted | Managed |
| Serverless / consumption pricing | ✗ | ✓ |
| **Index** |  |  |
| ANN index (HNSW / IVF / DiskANN / ScaNN / flat) | HNSW, IVF, PQ, multi-index, NSG | SPFresh (centroid-based) |
| Distance metrics (cosine / dot / Euclidean) | Euclidean (L2), inner product, L1, Linf | - |
| **Query** |  |  |
| Metadata filtering | - | Pre-filter |
| Hybrid search (dense + sparse fusion) | - | ✓ |
| Built-in BM25 / lexical | - | ✓ |
| **Storage** |  |  |
| Quantization | Product | - |
| On-disk vs in-memory | Disk-backed | Tiered |
| **Scale** |  |  |
| Multi-tenancy (namespaces / collections / tenants) | - | ✓ |
| Horizontal scale | Single-node | Sharded / distributed |
| **Consistency** |  |  |
| Consistency | - | Tunable |
| **Licensing** |  |  |
| Licence class | Permissive OSS | Proprietary |
| **Classification** |  |  |
| Purpose-built vs feature-of-parent | Extension | Dedicated DBMS |

*Source: vioscaleAI. Generated 2026-10-16T20:14:54.624Z. "-" = undocumented, not absent.*