What is the total cost per semantic search query?

Typical breakdown: embedding 1 query (200 tokens) = $0.000004, Pinecone query = $0.000004, reranking (optional) = $0.0001. Total: ~$0.0001–$0.001 per query depending on configuration.

How does semantic search cost compare to keyword search?

Keyword search (Elasticsearch, Solr) costs $0.000001-0.00001 per query. Semantic search adds 10-100x overhead from embeddings and vector DB. Trade-off is quality vs cost.

How can I reduce semantic search costs at scale?

Cache embeddings for frequent queries, use quantized vectors (int8 reduces storage 4x), batch embed new documents daily rather than in real-time, and use ANN approximation over exact search.

Semantic Search Cost Per Query Calculator

Calculate the total cost per semantic search query including embedding, vector DB lookup, and optional reranking. Optimize your RAG search pipeline cost.

AI & SaaS Tools

SaaS Metrics

AI Compute

AI ROI

LTV:CAC Ratio

ARPU ($/month)

Monthly Churn %

CAC ($)

Gross Margin %

LTV

$3500

LTV:CAC

11.67

Payback

2.9 mo

Health

Healthy ✓

Benchmark: LTV:CAC ≥ 3 is healthy. Payback under 12 months is excellent. Under 1 means you lose money on each customer.

How to Use

Enter the values for the scenario you are assessing. Calculate the total cost per semantic search query including embedding, vector DB lookup, and optional reranking. Optimize your RAG search pipeline cost. Use the semantic search cost result to inform your calculation.

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Embedding Cost

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Pinecone Cost

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RAG Pipeline Cost

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Semantic Search Cost Per Query Calculator

LTV:CAC Ratio

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Frequently Asked Questions

What is the total cost per semantic search query?

How does semantic search cost compare to keyword search?

How can I reduce semantic search costs at scale?