# Asymmetric Retrieval: Spend on Docs, Embed your Queries for Free

DevFeed: [Asymmetric Retrieval: Spend on Docs, Embed your Queries for Free](<https://devfeed.tech/articles/asymmetric-retrieval-spend-on-docs-embed-your-queries-for-free-12793.md>)

Original publisher: [Read original article](<https://blog.vespa.ai/asymmetric-retrieval-spend-on-docs-queries-for-free/>)

Author: thomas bjorncs

Published: 2026-03-10T00:00:00Z

Content type: article

Language: en

Sources: [Vespa Blog](<https://devfeed.tech/sources/vespa-blog.md>)

Topics: [Embeddings](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/embeddings.md>), [Latency](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/latency.md>), [API](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/api.md>)

Tags: [ai](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/ai.md>), [api](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/api.md>), [container](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/container.md>), [cost](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/cost.md>), [embedding](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/embedding.md>), [genai](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/genai.md>), [latency](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/latency.md>), [local](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/local.md>), [model](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/model.md>), [models](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/models.md>), [quality](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/quality.md>), [rag](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/rag.md>), [ranking](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/ranking.md>), [vector](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/vector.md>), [voyage-ai](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/voyage-ai.md>)

## AI overview

The article presents asymmetric retrieval using Voyage AI models with Vespa. Documents are embedded once with a high-quality, API-based model, while frequently submitted queries are embedded with a small model running locally. Because the models share a compatible vector space, this approach can eliminate recurring query-embedding API costs, reduce latency, and allow query models to be upgraded independently.

## Source excerpt

Documents are embedded once -- worth the spend for maximum quality. Queries hit you on every request. This is what drives your cost at scale. Asymmetric retrieval with Voyage AI and Vespa. Real numbers, real config.