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DigitalOcean Managed Weaviate is a fully managed offering of the Weaviate open-source vector database.

Overview

Pricing

Managed Weaviate uses fixed SKUs with compute and storage included in the monthly price. During the private preview, clusters are not billed.

Storage capacity includes both vectors and inverted indexes.

All plans are highly available. Begin on the small plan, validate your workload, and resize up when you have measured demand.

You can review live plan details, including current pricing and enabled regions, by calling the List plans endpoint.

For measured throughput and latency on each tier, see Weaviate benchmarks.

Features

Each Managed Weaviate cluster includes:

• Weaviate 1.37.4: Clusters run version 1.37.4. DigitalOcean upgrades the engine on a managed cadence, and new clusters are always provisioned on the latest supported version.
• Open-source Weaviate API: REST, GraphQL, and gRPC endpoints. Official clients for Python, JavaScript/TypeScript, Go, and Java work without modification. See the client libraries overview.
• Hybrid search: Combine vector similarity and BM25 keyword relevance in a single query using the hybrid search API.
• Automatic backups: Daily backups with a seven day retention period. To see how to restore your cluster using backups, see How to Restore from Backups.
• TLS by default: All connections are secured over HTTPS (port 443) for both HTTP and gRPC.

For a side-by-side comparison of Weaviate, OpenSearch, and PostgreSQL with pgvector, see Choosing an engine.

The full DigitalOcean API workflow for provisioning, configuration, backups, and teardown is documented below.

Availability

During private preview, you can create Managed Weaviate clusters only in tor1 (Toronto, Canada). The enabled_regions field returned by the List plans endpoint shows the current region availability. Choose the region closest to the application that calls Weaviate to minimize round-trip latency.

Feedback and Support

Managed Weaviate is in private preview. APIs, SKUs, regions, and Control Panel elements may change before general availability. Private preview releases may not be suitable for production workloads. We recommend avoiding sensitive workloads in preview features.

To request access or give feedback during the private preview, contact your Customer Success Manager or Solutions Architect.

Our terms of service govern your use of DigitalOcean and cover details of eligibility, content, use, payments and billing, and warranties.

Limitations and Known Issues

The following limits apply during the private preview:

• Opt in to use Weaviate clusters, as access is limited to approved accounts.
• Weaviate clusters aren’t billed during private preview and aren’t covered by a paid support SLA.
• SKU pricing, regional availability, and SLAs may change before general availability.
• Use preview clusters for development and evaluation. Run production workloads on generally available infrastructure.
• You can use the Control Panel to create, connect to, resize, restore, and tag clusters. Listing plans, listing clusters, polling cluster status, retrieving credentials, updating cluster configuration, listing backups, and deleting clusters require the API. Managed Weaviate doesn’t support doctl during private preview.
• Resizing is upgrade-only. You can resize from small to medium or large, and medium to large. Downsizing isn’t supported. For resize guidance, see How to Resize Weaviate Clusters.
• On-demand backups are not available during private preview.

Prerequisites

You need:

• DigitalOcean account: Opted into the Managed Weaviate private preview.
• DigitalOcean API token: With write scope. See How to create a personal access token.
• Project UUID: The UUID of the project that will own the cluster.
• HTTP client: The examples use curl.

Set environment variables for the token and project ID before running the examples:

export DIGITALOCEAN_TOKEN="<your-do-api-token>"
export PROJECT_ID="<your-project-uuid>"

Do not commit either value to source control. Treat the API token like a password.

How to Provision and Connect to a Cluster

You can create a Weaviate cluster using the Control Panel or the API.

The API sections below use https://api.digitalocean.com/v2/vector-databases to manage your Weaviate cluster. Authenticate each request with a DigitalOcean API token in the request headers.

Send a GET request to the plans endpoint to confirm sizing options and the regions enabled for your account:

curl -X GET "https://api.digitalocean.com/v2/vector-databases/plans" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $DIGITALOCEAN_TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json"

The response lists each plan along with its vcpu, usable_memory_mib, disk_mib, pricing, and enabled_regions array.

{
  "plans": [
    {
      "size": "small",
      "vcpu": 1,
      "disk_mib": 3072,
      "usable_memory_mib": 2048,
      "deprecated": false,
      "enabled_regions": ["tor1"]
    }
  ]
}

Create a Cluster

Send a POST request with the cluster name, region, plan size, and project ID:

curl -X POST "https://api.digitalocean.com/v2/vector-databases" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $DIGITALOCEAN_TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "name": "my-vector-db",
    "region": "tor1",
    "size": "small",
    "project_id": "'"$PROJECT_ID"'",
    "tags": ["production", "ml-team"]
  }'

A successful response returns the cluster object with status: "pending" and a null endpoints field. Provisioning typically completes in about 5 minutes.

{
  "vector_db": {
    "id": "a1b2c3d4-e5f6-7890-abcd-ef1234567890",
    "name": "my-vector-db",
    "region": "tor1",
    "status": "pending",
    "size": "small",
    "config": {
      "default_quantization": "rq",
      "enable_auto_schema": true
    },
    "endpoints": null,
    "tags": ["production", "ml-team"]
  }
}

The status field moves through this lifecycle:

Wait for the Cluster to Become Active

Poll the cluster until status is active and endpoints contains the HTTP and gRPC hosts.

curl -X GET "https://api.digitalocean.com/v2/vector-databases/$CLUSTER_ID" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $DIGITALOCEAN_TOKEN"

{
  "vector_db": {
    "id": "a1b2c3d4-e5f6-7890-abcd-ef1234567890",
    "status": "active",
    "endpoints": {
      "http": "https://my-vector-db-abc123.weaviate.digitalocean.com",
      "grpc": "my-vector-db-abc123-grpc.weaviate.digitalocean.com:443"
    }
  }
}

Always read the hostname from the endpoints object instead of constructing it. Hostnames are not stable across cluster recreation.

Retrieve the Weaviate API Token

Fetch the credentials the Weaviate client uses to authenticate. This is a separate token from your DigitalOcean API token.

curl -X GET "https://api.digitalocean.com/v2/vector-databases/$CLUSTER_ID/credentials" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $DIGITALOCEAN_TOKEN"

{
  "user_id": "admin",
  "api_token": "<weaviate-api-token>"
}

Store the api_token in a secret manager. The Weaviate client sends it as a Bearer token on every request.

Connect with the Weaviate Client

Both the HTTP and gRPC endpoints listen on port 443 with TLS. Pass the values from endpoints and the api_token from the previous step to your client. For Control Panel connection details and additional languages, see How to Connect to Weaviate Clusters.

import weaviate
from weaviate.auth import AuthApiKey

client = weaviate.connect_to_custom(
    http_host="my-vector-db-abc123.weaviate.digitalocean.com",
    http_port=443,
    http_secure=True,
    grpc_host="my-vector-db-abc123-grpc.weaviate.digitalocean.com",
    grpc_port=443,
    grpc_secure=True,
    auth_credentials=AuthApiKey("<weaviate-api-token>"),
)

print(client.is_ready())

import weaviate from 'weaviate-client';

const client = await weaviate.connectToCustom({
    httpHost: 'my-vector-db-abc123.weaviate.digitalocean.com',
    httpPort: 443,
    httpSecure: true,
    grpcHost: 'my-vector-db-abc123-grpc.weaviate.digitalocean.com',
    grpcPort: 443,
    grpcSecure: true,
    authCredentials: new weaviate.ApiKey('<weaviate-api-token>'),
});

console.log(await client.isReady());

curl -X GET "https://my-vector-db-abc123.weaviate.digitalocean.com/v1/.well-known/ready" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer <weaviate-api-token>"

How to Manage a Cluster

Once a cluster is active, use the following API requests to list clusters, update configuration or tags, or change the cluster size.

List All Clusters

Send a GET request to return a paginated list of all vector database clusters in your account:

curl -X GET "https://api.digitalocean.com/v2/vector-databases?page=1&per_page=20" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $DIGITALOCEAN_TOKEN"

Use page and per_page for pagination.

Update Cluster Configuration

Update auto-schema or default quantization with a PUT request:

curl -X PUT "https://api.digitalocean.com/v2/vector-databases/$CLUSTER_ID" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $DIGITALOCEAN_TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "config": {
      "enable_auto_schema": false,
      "default_quantization": "pq"
    }
  }'

The four quantization options are:

• rq (Rotational Quantization, default): Balanced compression and recall.
• pq (Product Quantization): Higher compression with a small accuracy tradeoff.
• bq (Binary Quantization): Maximum compression and fastest search.
• sq (Scalar Quantization): Simple, fast encoding for moderate compression.

Existing collections keep their current settings. The new default applies only to collections created after the update.

Update Tags

You can also manage tags from the Control Panel.

Replace the full tag set with a PUT request:

curl -X PUT "https://api.digitalocean.com/v2/vector-databases/$CLUSTER_ID/tags" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $DIGITALOCEAN_TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{ "tags": ["production", "v2", "critical"] }'

Tags surface in billing and the project view, which makes ownership clear when you operate more than one cluster.

Resize a Cluster

Resize is upgrade-only. You can resize from small to medium or large, and from medium to large. Downsizing isn’t supported. For more guidance on resizing clusters, see How to Resize Weaviate Clusters.

curl -X POST "https://api.digitalocean.com/v2/vector-databases/$CLUSTER_ID/resize" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $DIGITALOCEAN_TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{ "size": "medium" }'

The cluster status moves out of active while the resize runs and returns to active when it completes. Connections may be briefly interrupted during the cutover.

How to Back Up and Restore a Cluster

DigitalOcean creates daily backups automatically and retains them for seven days. On-demand backups are not available during private preview. For guidance on how to restore clusters from backups, see How to Restore from Backups.

List Backups

Send a GET request to return all automatic backups available for a cluster:

curl -X GET "https://api.digitalocean.com/v2/vector-databases/$CLUSTER_ID/backups" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $DIGITALOCEAN_TOKEN"

{
  "backups": [
    {
      "backup_id": "vectordb-abc123-20260115-120000",
      "status": "SUCCESS",
      "started_at": "2026-01-15T12:00:00Z",
      "completed_at": "2026-01-15T12:05:00Z"
    }
  ]
}

Restore from a Backup

Restoring overwrites the cluster’s current state with the contents of the named backup. The database isn’t available for queries during the restore process.

Send a POST request with the backup_id from the list above to start the restore:

curl -X POST "https://api.digitalocean.com/v2/vector-databases/$CLUSTER_ID/backups/$BACKUP_ID/restore" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $DIGITALOCEAN_TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{}'

Restores are asynchronous. Poll the restore endpoint until status is SUCCESS or FAILED:

curl -X GET "https://api.digitalocean.com/v2/vector-databases/$CLUSTER_ID/backups/$BACKUP_ID/restore" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $DIGITALOCEAN_TOKEN"

How to Delete a Cluster

Deletion is irreversible. All data, including backups, is destroyed.

Send a DELETE request to remove a cluster:

curl -X DELETE "https://api.digitalocean.com/v2/vector-databases/$CLUSTER_ID" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $DIGITALOCEAN_TOKEN"

A 200 OK response with an empty body indicates the cluster was queued for deletion.

Error Reference

Common error bodies:

{
  "error": "name must be 3-30 characters, start with a letter, and contain only lowercase letters, numbers, and hyphens"
}

{
  "error": "region 'xyz1' is not available for vector databases"
}

{
  "error": "cannot resize from 'large' to 'small'; only upgrades are supported"
}