FAISS vs Qdrant vs pgvector: choosing a vector store for a student or startup RAG project

Students ask me which vector database to use far more often than they ask how to chunk, which is backwards — but the question deserves a straight answer. I have shipped with FAISS, Qdrant and pgvector. None is universally best; each is best at a stage. FAISS: the fastest way to start FAISS is a library, not a server. You build an index in memory,...