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Milvus

Vector databases Advanced Open source Open core

A distributed, cloud-native vector database built for high-performance similarity search over billions of vectors.

Strengths

  • Scales horizontally, with separated compute and storage
  • Multiple index types (HNSW, IVF, DiskANN) plus optional GPU indexing
  • Supports dense and sparse vectors, and hybrid search

Weaknesses

  • The distributed architecture demands operational expertise at scale
  • Heavier than an embedded store for small local projects
  • A steeper learning curve than the lightweight alternatives

At a glance

Licence
Apache-2.0
Pricing
Open core
Platforms
Linux, macOS, Docker
GPU required
No

Links

Works with

Related guides

See also

Glossary

Entry last verified 18 August 2026.