Vector DBs became the default answer for anything involving context or memory… but do most projects truly need them?
A lot of devs are using Pinecone, Weaviate, or Qdrant even when a simple JSON store or SQL table might be enough.
So let’s discuss:
Where do vector databases actually provide real value, and where are they just adding cost and complexity?
Have you built anything that worked better after removing a vector DB?
Or do you think they’re essential for any scalable AI workflow?
Curious to hear real examples — both successes and failures.